An attempt is made to wrestle with the question of critical pedagogy, trying to refine and make more explicit the author's political vision; the idea of pedagogy as a form of cultural politics; and teachers as cultural workers. Eight essays are divided into two sections. The four essays of Part 1 try to draw together a statement about efforts to…

A study examined the responses of 10 students taking Miami University's 1990 College Composition Proficiency Exam which asked students to evaluate their own learning experiences with teaching, learning, and knowledge in and out of school. Scores ranged from 2 to 12; all 10 of the examined essays received a score of 11. Five students were male, and…

A framework is presented for syllabus design in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. A case is given for a discourse level focus in the ESL classroom, from beginning stages of learning through advanced levels. Following this, three rhetorical modes (critical analysis of fiction, truth-searching logical conversation, and classical…

This book provides a collection of essays on the practical applications of experiential cross-cultural education, as well as specific exercises, simulations, and other activities. Its intent is to provide a guide in assessing the educational impact of this type of experience. The essays are divided among three parts: Ideas; Activities; and…

This booklet is a collection of writing by ninth-grade students taken from the 1987 and 1988 Canadian Territorial Achievement Tests. The booklet's 70 pieces of writing include essays on education in the Northwest Territory, narratives on how the best laid plans can go wrong, humorous treatments on uses for chewing gum and the best ways to keep…

Historically, the Composition Program at Eastern Washington University (EWU), a comprehensive university in Cheney, WA, required a single essay sample from each composition student as the final exit exam; in practice, a student passed or failed the course based on an in-class argumentative essay, written in three consecutive class periods. Such a…

A study focused on teaching students to write effectively in time-pressure situations, particularly on essay exams. Thirteen sections of freshman composition (205 students) were divided into two treatment groups. Half of the classes completed the exam-taking unit in a standard freshman text. The other half of the classes worked through an inquiry…

The Association of American Medical Colleges is conducting research to develop, implement, and evaluate a Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) essay testing program. Essay administration in the spring and fall of 1985 and 1986 suggested that additional research was needed on the development of topics which elicit similar skills and meet standard…

This study is an attempt at a cohesive characterization of the concept of essay reliability. As such, it takes as a basic premise that previous and current practices in reporting reliability estimates for essay tests have certain shortcomings. The study provides an analysis of these shortcomings--partly to encourage a fuller understanding of the…

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 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…

Even though several national testing firms have developed measures to evaluate the effectiveness of baccalaureate education, there continues to be a general reluctance on the part of faculty in colleges and universities to accept these measures as criteria on which to evaluate educational programs. Some of the resistance appears to lie in the lack…

By dividing poor families into groups based on the reasons for their poverty, a system of income support can be developed that is both effective in reducing poverty and compatible with basic American values about personal responsibility and work. Social values dictate that individuals must take responsibility for their situations and that all…

The use of confirmatory factor analytic procedures to examine the dimensionality of writing skills as measured by a large-scale direct writing test was illustrated. Internal construct validity evidence about the nature of writing skills measured by the test was provided. Data used were scores assigned by about 100 trained professional raters on a…