Six essays exploring the uses of the humanities in public programs are presented. They relate to the traditional and current interests of the disciplines, and discuss matters that bear on the conduct of projects and the activities of participating humanists in state programs. They are the result of a study of the concepts and practices in the…

The views of incoming college freshmen at the College of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, about the adequacy of their preparation in language were assessed as part of the college's annual 1978 entrance testing program. Students were asked to write an essay on this topic, along with a second essay about the value of a college education, which is described…

The quantity and type of writing demands in the undergraduate curriculum, as reported by students enrolled at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University in fall semester of 1977, are investigated. The study is based on reports of students enrolled in 27 class sections of two freshman English courses, Elementary Composition I and Introduction to…

The relationship between children's performance on a standardized achievement battery and compositional writing performance was examined. One hundred thirty-eight writing samples were collected from fourth-grade students. Compositions were scored for both mechanistic and holistic qualities. Four subscores on the Metropolitan Achievement Test were…

The collective theme of these seven essays calls for a new perspective on science and technology so that they are dedicated to the pursuit of truth and human liberties rather than to power, control, and exploitation. The authors of the essays are with various international development and research centers and projects in seven countries. John…

A group of about 200 students in Malmo, Sweden, was followed through three grades of elementary school (grades 4, 5, and 6) in order to observe the development of their composition writing skills. The project involved three problem areas. (1) "How does the written language develop and how is it viewed by judges?" The data gathered shows…

This collection is composed of objectives and evaluation items in poetry, novel, short story, drama, and essay for Senior High, Grades 10-12. Each objective contains four elements: (1) the objective, (2) measurement items, (3) means for judging the adequacy of the student response, and (4) an IOX (Instructional Objectives Exchange) acceptability…

Presented are more than 275 articles on 19 topics which can be arranged into readers on selected topics at the request of any educator. Assembled by the Poynter Center at Indiana University, Poynter Readers are compilations of articles that relate to a particular institution, e.g., law, or to several institutions that affect the lives of American…

This document is a compilation of 74 items that were written by Ohio adult basic and literacy education students and presented at the Sixth Annual Ohio Writers' Conference. The compilation is organized in seven sections titled as follows: (1) "Beautiful Ohio: Visions of What Used to Be" (7 poems and essays commemorating famous historical…

The purpose of this study was to examine, describe, evaluate, and compare the rating behavior of faculty consultants who scored essays written for the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition (AP® ELC) Exam. Data from the 1999 AP ELC Exam were analyzed using FACETS (Linacre, 1998) and SAS. The faculty consultants were not all…

Discusses changes on the European university scene since 1968, when students protested against university administration and capitalism, and describes some plans, programs, and problems in improving higher education. Problems are mainly due to general economic conditions, aggravated by the students' own insistence on higher enrollments and lower…

Six essays submitted to Harvard University (Massachusetts) by applicants for the class of 2000 are presented. Topics include a refugee's experiences, a football player's passion for musical theater, the death of a sister, a mother's influence, living in China, and a renaissance-English poetic lament about being a dog. (MSE)

Recommends including essay questions on state economics examinations to prevent misclassification of students. Briefly reviews the literature arguing that certain groups of students do poorly on multiple choice tests. Discusses California's experience with adopting a combined-format type test. (MJP)

The effects of dictation and explicit instruction in planning on the composing skills of 42 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders with learning disabilities were studied. The combination of dictation and instruction in advanced planning resulted in more complete and qualitatively better essays than those written by comparison students. (SLD)

Four fifth grade students with learning disabilities were taught a strategy to facilitate setting product and process goals, generating and organizing notes, continued planning during writing, and evaluating goal attainment. Strategy instruction had a positive effect on students' essay writing and knowledge of the writing process, and effects were…