Recommends teaching students the exploratory essay as a means of contributing to the larger effort of revitalizing the humanities by restoring the spirit of inquiry to a place of currency and honor and by educating people to communicate freely with one another. (EL)

Traces the lack of rhetorical and stylistic criticism of twentieth-century English nonfiction both to a heightening of the traditionally low status accorded to nonfiction created by massive technical and scientific change and to its very recentness and claims that the lack of criticism calls into question generalizations about modern prose on…

Three groups of students were tested on the same material in three different forms of examination. They performed better in multiple-choice and in cued essay questions than in uncued essay questions. (Author/LBH)

There has been much discussion of what students need to know to write effectively. An example of criteria is the requirements for the Writing Sample of the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP). Students, unless exempted, must write an essay that meets this standard before they can receive an associate diploma or enroll in junior-level courses in…

An essay test is now an integral part of the computer based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL-CBT). This paper provides a brief overview of the current TOEFL-CBT essay test, describes the operational procedures for essay scoring, including the Online Scoring Network (OSN) of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), and discusses major…

This document contains 51 poems, essays, and short stories that were authored by adult student writers throughout Ohio. The works were selected from 130 pieces of writing submitted by the students of 51 adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) teachers who encouraged their submission for presentation at the first Ohio Literacy Resource…

This paper outlines ways other than drills that students can practice reading methods. Flash cards, software programs, essay projects, and synonym hunts are examples of enjoyable ways for students to practice. In a more formal method of introducing words, a teacher writes words on the board and discusses them before assigning a story with the new…

Although computer-based testing is becoming popular, many of these tests are limited to the use of selected-response item formats due to the difficulty in mechanically scoring constructed-response items. This limitation is unfortunate because many constructs, such as writing proficiency, can be measured more directly using items that require…

The North Carolina Writing Assessment, which is part of the state's End-of-Grade testing program, requires students in grades 4 and 7 to write essays in response to a standardized prompt. This report contains results for the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS). Fourth grade writing assessment scores across North Carolina rose in 1999, and in…

This study used Project Essay Grade (PEG) to evaluate essays both holistically and with the rating of traits (content, organization, style, mechanics, and creativity) for Web-based student essays that serve as placement tests at a large Midwestern university. In addition, the use of a TopicScore, or measure of topic content for each assignment,…

Shortened version of a paper presented at the Fall 1967 meeting of the Iowa Council of Teachers of English (ICTE). (DS)

Contains abstracts dealing with elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education from the October-December 1982 issues of the "Current Index to Journals in Education." Subject areas covered include administration, collective bargaining, computers, copyright, desegregation, deregulation, employment, finance, foreign countries, handicapped,…

High school students can study the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt using primary and secondary sources, including biographies, autobiographies, diaries, interviews, and memoirs. Afterwards, students should prepare their own evaluative essays on Roosevelt. This approach will help them to understand a highly complex president. (CS)