This study examines the feedback practices of 110 EFL teachers from five different countries (Cyprus, France, Korea, Spain, and Thailand), working in secondary school contexts. All provided feedback on the same student essay. The coding scheme developed to analyse the feedback operates on two axes: the stance the teachers assumed when providing…

National assessments of U.S. high school students' writing and other verbal abilities do not show that literacy has declined substantially in recent years. In fact, scores have been relatively stable since the 1980s. The proportion of students with solid writing and reading abilities has held fairly steady but remained small during the past 25…

Suggesting many ways (not just one way) to understand what children are doing with language and literacy, this book presents essays that address the need for alternative perspectives as well as anthropological, socio-psycholinguistic, and reader response perspectives in assessing children's language and literacy. After "Introducation: What Is an…

In the mid-1980s, partly through new developments in curriculum and instruction, a new assessment option has arisen under the banner of alternative assessment. The basic idea appears in several guises: "authentic assessment" (implying that standardized tests are not authentic), "performance tests," and "portfolios." The goal of writing portfolios…

The advent of writing-across-the-curriculum programs at the college level has necessitated the development of institutional measurement schema to internally assess their pedagogical and curricular efficacy and to externally demonstrate to concerned constituents that specific institutions are effectively fulfilling the educational mission for…

This paper summarizes the 1986 findings of Kyoko Oi on the distinctive features of differences in discourse pattern between English and Japanese, using results from the argumentative English as a Second Language (ESL) writing of 87 Japanese students in Japan. Specifically, the study aims to examine whether the inner-argumentative analysis will…

A study investigated how future teachers viewed themselves as writers and writing teachers and how these identities were being addressed in teacher education programs. Subjects, 226 student teachers at Middle Tennessee State University, responded to a questionnaire designed to measure both writing apprehension and beliefs about the role and…

In 1990 the Kentucky legislature passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). The law mandates the use of performance-based assessments, including portfolios in mathematics and writing. This paper presents findings of a case study of a fourth-grade classroom teacher's experiences in implementing instructional changes to help students produce…

This booklet illustrates and compares three important standards (levels of expectation) set for diploma examination writing in Social Studies 30: excellent, proficient, and satisfactory. Sample papers are used to illustrate the scoring criteria for group leaders and markers are presented, along with accompanying commentaries, or rationales, that…

Noting that portfolios contain the students' best efforts at writing and mathematics problem-solving skills, this pamphlet discusses issues surrounding Vermont's portfolio assessment program from the parent's point of view. The pamphlet discusses reasons to use portfolios, how portfolios differ from traditional ways of looking at students' writing…

Offering guidance on diagnostic and developmental techniques, this teacher's guide helps teachers to assess pupils' understanding and day-to-day progress in writing and to identify appropriate next steps to help pupils make progress. The teacher's guide examines the process of writing, offering guidance on classroom activities relating to…

A teacher at Western Illinois University, who had resisted using the portfolio system in a writing classroom, developed a shorter portfolio unit to incorporate the best aspects of portfolios without many of the disadvantages. By the beginning of the fifth week of the semester, the students had written three papers, participated in a peer exchange…

This digest reviews writing assessment--what it means and how it works--at a selected number of colleges and universities in the United States. The digest discusses outcomes assessment, placement testing, placement and the writing process, and end-of-course evaluation. The digest concludes with a brief reminder for college-bound students of what…

Assessment of higher order literacy skills encounters three initial problems aside from assessment methods: (1) definition of literacy; (2) range of skills to assess; and (3) whether or not higher order literacy can be assessed independently of a particular content area. Regardless of definitions, the general performance areas to be covered must…

To research the implications of portfolio assessment for student learning and teacher methodology, a teacher examined the interplay of reflection and evaluation in her expository writing class of 12. In a semester-long intermediate-level class, students wrote a draft of a paper each week, with each paper then going through multiple drafts.…