One of a series of 20 literary magazine profiles written to help faculty advisors wishing to start or improve their publication, this profile provides information on staffing and production of "Ragnaroc X," the magazine published by St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, Georgia. The introduction describes the literary magazine contest (and…

A survey was conducted among community college and university faculty to obtain information on writing task assignments and evaluation in classes (excluding English classes) taught during the first two years of postsecondary education. It was found that faculty in two- and four-year colleges commonly require only essay responses in tests and…

Instructional methods and rationales for all phases of the writing process are presented in this curriculum guide for grades one through eight. The first section of the guide presents 10 steps that comprise a process approach to writing based on research into the way writing happens. This is followed by descriptions of the various domains of…

An overview of the research needed on the new Test of Written English (TWE), a section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), looks at research needs in the areas of test validity, test reliability, topic development, and equating. Suggested topics for study include: the uniqueness of the construct measured by the test, in…

A longitudinal study of advanced senior high students' writing abilities indicates that, over a three-year period, students exhibit significantly improved writing skills. Follow a continuous program of writing enhancement, graduating seniors exit the system with reasonable or better than reasonable skills in essay organization, sentence formation,…

This manual lists skills in the area of writing (including composition, mechanics, and structure/usage) considered essential for pupils to progress to the next higher level of achievement. The skills, described in terms of behavioral objectives, are listed according to grade, and grades kindergarten through 12 are covered. Students at the lower…

A scoring rubric transition study is described. It was designed to evaluate possible drift in scoring the Maryland Writing Test from year to year (when using a modified holistic scoring method), to evaluate strategies for revising swing rubrics from narrative and explanatory writing while maintaining original scoring standards, and to establish…

A study was conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to analyze the college's assessment of students' reading and writing skills, investigate the relationship between assessment scores and grades in specific content courses, establish the relationship between developmental course completion and content course grades, and measure…

This study compares the results of an indirect measure of writing ability, the Florida State Student Assessment Test, Part I (SSAT-I), and the Production Writing Assessment (PWA). Both instruments were administered to 10th graders in Dade County (Florida) during the spring of 1987. The SSAT-I is an untimed test containing a section indirectly…

Intended for use by public relations instructors, this paper examines computer assisted feedback systems for student homework and subjective examination questions. Specifically, it explores commercially available computer software and hardware programs that permit instructors to interact with student ideas and with their own past entries in an…

A study compared written texts produced by hand, by typewriter, and by word processor for differences in improvement in creativity and writing skills. Subjects included six college students--two with high creative ability, two with average creative ability, and two with low or weak ability. During a training period, the subjects were required to…

To evaluate the use of semantic organizers as a means of improving the prewriting techniques of composition students, a study was made of two separate groups of college freshman composition students during an intensive, five-week writing workshop. Data were also collected from case studies of students in the experimental group, including frequent…

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports suggest that the issue of declining quality in American education may be more complex than media accounts have portrayed it. If one looks at isolated communication skills, it appears that many students understand the fundamentals of reading and writing. The results also…

Designed for the classroom teacher, this composition handbook suggests ways in which the teacher can integrate composition activities with the Macmillan language program. The first part of the handbook examines the following research findings: (1) students learn to write by writing, (2) a variety of writing experiences is necessary, (3) the…

To help committed student writers make the transition from school-sponsored to self-sponsored forms of discourse, an advanced expository writing course combines student-chosen writing assignments with a pedagogical structure that promotes a sensitive and critical response to prose. The class is organized into writing groups containing four or five…