This paper specifies the assessment of those general discourse skills that are needed for effective writing by students in grades one through six. The general discourse skills include planning/organizing, elaborating, proofreading, and editing. An introductory section provides background materials, including explanations of how the skill…

This paper specifies the assessment of those writing skills needed by first through sixth grade students to produce specific discourse products, including descriptive writing, narrative writing, expository writing, persuasive writing, poetry, personal letters, and business letters. An introductory section provides background materials, including…

Although the importance of writing is well recognized, it is largely neglected in the elementary curriculum because of the current emphasis on reading; to change this trend, teacher educators must influence teachers to adopt positive attitudes toward writing. They should help teachers derive satisfaction from writing experiences, demonstrate…

Designed to be immediately useful and practical for language arts teachers in the secondary schools, the six articles in this monograph are illustrative not only of methods but of pedagogical processes that are the components of successful teaching. The first article offers more than 20 ways of motivating and involving the nonreader and describes…

A review of the literature on assessing communications skills is presented. Communication skills are dividied into five areas: reading literacy, writing literacy, functional literacy, oral communication, and listening. Within each area, a definition is given, current assessment views are listed, and descriptions of relevant research are provided.…

Observing that the lecture/discussion instructional technique resulted in high failure rates among students taking technical composition, an instructor at Madisonville Community College (Kentucky) implemented a new course system designed to provide individualized instruction. The system called for two fifty-minute lectures per week attended by all…

This curriculum was completed during phase III of Project SEARCH, a nationally validated project designed to humanize elementary and secondary education by creating, developing and implementing innovative models in the curriculum through an integration of the humanities and the arts. Project SEARCH is an attempt to help students apply both…

The College Outcome Measures Project/American College Testing Program (COMP/ACT) Writing Assessment is described, and issues of validity and reliability in the assessment of writing samples using qualitative rating scales are explored. COMP/ACT is composed of three role-playing tasks in the social sciences, natural sciences, and arts, which are…

This is one in a series of eight discussion pamphlets produced by the Writing Across the Curriculum Project dealing with some of the issues connected with writing in the schools and their relation to learning. This pamphlet explores differences between students' talk and their writing in school contexts. It notes the value of expressive…

The purpose of this research was to identify and analyze student writing strategies and procedures. Six male college students, three high scorers and three low scorers on the Differential Aptitude Test, were videotaped while they wrote their regular English class assignments, two summaries and two essays. For each writing session, the students…

A STUDY OF THE NATURE AND UTILITY OF TYPES OF ESSAY ANTHOLOGIES DESIGNED FOR FRESHMAN COMPOSITION COURSES WAS CONDUCTED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE (1) WHAT ARE THE RATIONALES, ORGANIZATION, CONTENT, AND INSTRUCTIONAL APPARATUS OF THE MOST WIDELY ADOPTED READERS, (2) HAVE THE RATIONALES FOR THEIR USE VARIED SINCE SUCH TEXTS APPEARED, AND (3) IS THE…

IN DISCUSSIONS OF THE "ILL-DEFINED" TERMINAL ENGLISH COURSE TWO QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED--WHO ARE THE TERMINAL STUDENTS AND WHAT SHOULD THE TERMINAL COURSE TRY TO ACCOMPLISH. ALTHOUGH MANY SCHOOLS ALLOW TERMINAL STUDENTS TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES, A MORE "SUITABLE" ARRANGEMENT IS FOR THE COLLEGE TO IDENTIFY TERMINAL STUDENTS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR…

FOR A REPORT ON COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN FRESHMAN COMPOSITION THE ASSOCIATION OF DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH OBTAINED SYLLABI AND COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FROM DIRECTORS OF FRESHMAN COMPOSITION IN 66 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. AMONG THE DATA ASSEMBLED FOR THE FULL REPORT (AVAILABLE AS TE 500 190) IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FRESHMAN ENGLISH PROGRAM AT THE STATE…

FOR A REPORT ON COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN FRESHMAN COMPOSITION, THE ASSOCIATION OF DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH OBTAINED SYLLABI AND COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FROM DIRECTORS OF FRESHMAN COMPOSITION IN 66 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. AMONG THE DATA ASSEMBLED FOR THE FULL REPORT (AVAILABLE AS TE 500 190) IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FRESHMAN ENGLISH PROGRAM AT THE…

FOR A REPORT ON COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN FRESHMAN COMPOSITION, THE ASSOCIATION OF DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH OBTAINED SYLLABI AND COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FROM DIRECTORS OF FRESHMAN COMPOSITION AT 66 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. AMONG THE DATA ASSEMBLED FOR THE FULL REPORT (AVAILABLE AS TE 500 190) ARE THE DESCRIPTIONS OF FRESHMAN ENGLISH PROGRAMS AT FOUR…