Describes the rationale and procedure for using student writing portfolios in lieu of proficiency writing exams to determine student placement at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. (HTH)

Presents guidelines given to students to help make peer group discussions of writing more effective. (HTH)

Summarizes and evaluates the major direct methods of assessing writing ability (holistic scoring, analytical scoring, and primary trait scoring) and the most popular indirect methods of predicting students' ability to write (T-unit analysis and a variety of published standardized tests). (EKN)

Describes a grading option used by technical writing faculty members at Ohio State University that allows students to complete reports on their own in order to learn to work without supervision. (FL)

Scoring systems for direct writing assessment are described. In holistic scoring, a global quality judgment of the writing sample is made. Primary trait scoring, developed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is conducted in accordance with specific goals. Analytic scoring identifies characteristics and quality of writing. These…

Offers suggestions for reinforcing the teaching of writing as process by approaching the evaluation of writing as process. (FL)

In this electronic age, handwriting seems to have lost its place in America's classrooms. But while today's students do use the computer for many projects, ultimately they need to have legible handwriting--for employment applications, loan applications, formal social correspondence, note taking, and test taking. Here, the authors call for a…

This paper reports on the myriad difficulties in getting rid of an unsatisfactory writing examination in place at Western Washington University. First, the paper provides background information on how and why the exam (the Junior Writing Exam) came to be adopted in the 1980s (as a diagnostic test only) and explains what the exam was meant to…

Describes how the Longview (Washington) public schools and Washington State University faculty developed a procedure involving a test essay to screen job applicants for writing skills. Concludes that problems exist in finding applicants with the necessary writing skills and that the tests generated uneasiness among the existing staff. (Author/RW)

Concludes that the rhetorical specification approach to developing essay examination topics (giving writers information about the purpose of a composition, its audience, speaker, and subject) may not be the best way to elicit good writing. (JL)

Contributors discuss the following topics: (1) holistic reading in the composition class, (2) the teaching assistant as apprentice, and (3) the status and functions of college faculty adjuncts. (HTH)

Examines the modes of self-evaluation of writing quality as reported by professional writers, college students, writing instructors, and publishers. Suggests that writer resistance to self-evaluation may be healthy and that such evaluation should not come prematurely. However, without such evaluation, writers gain little from having written. (HTH)

Argues that peer review is a necessary prelude to teaching students how to revise their own writing. Outlines a peer review procedure and provides a copy of an assignment sheet used by students in evaluating each other's compositions. (FL)

Examines the types of problems identified for students using the services of a writing laboratory. (HOD)

A college freshman level sentence-combining treatment consisting of one paragraph rewriting exercise for 12 consecutive weeks resulted in significant gains in average words per clause and words per T-unit. (HOD)