In the Dutch Educational Assessment Program, the students' language proficiency is measured in grade 9, at age 15. Writing performance is measured through several performance-based writing tasks, rated on numerous aspects such as content, style, organization, punctuation, spelling and grammar. As a consequence, national performance levels are…

This teacher's guide was developed to help teachers improve learning by incorporating writing into mathematics instruction. The document is divided into three sections. The issue of why writing should be utilized in the mathematics classroom is addressed in the first section. The topics discussed include why students should utilize writing in…

This guide provides descriptions of standards for assessing students' skills in French as a second language, accompanied by samples of student work in the four language skills (listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, and speaking) at each of nine competency levels. An introductory section discusses basic principles in reporting…

This study investigated the collaborative interactions of junior high school boys (N=36) with learning disabilities while engaged in writing stories using a word processor. Half the subjects were of Anglo-American background and half of Mexican-American background. Each subject worked in two dyads, ethnically homogeneous and ethnically…

The rubrics are designed for productive use (speaking and writing) of English and Spanish in two-way bilingual immersion programs. The rubrics were developed by classroom teachers working in elementary school Spanish partial immersion programs, in consultation with a special education teacher, reading specialist, middle school partial immersion…

A study examined the feedback associated with "author's chair" to determine the opportunities provided for students to learn about literacy. Subjects, six boys and three girls between the ages of 8 and 10 in a self-contained classroom for students identified as learning disabled, were exposed to a process-oriented approach to writing instruction…

This packet contains selected papers from a conference on writing centers: "Inner-City Writing Centers in St. Louis Public Schools" (Carmen Charleston); "Non-traditional Students in the Writing Lab" (Marilyn Cozad); "Cooperation between the Writing Center and Student Support Services" (Coralyn Dahl and Rita Worrall);…

Articles in this journal issue focus primarily on evaluation in the language arts and oral communication. Following an introduction to the two themes, the articles discuss the following: (1) pop quizzes in literature, (2) holistic scoring, (3) self-evaluation strategies in prewriting and rewriting, (4) what not to do in student/teacher…

This research examined the results from direct and indirect writing assessments to determine the most effective method of discrimination. The New Jersey State Department of Education developed a test for ninth-grade students which was designed to measure the ability to apply writing mechanics to written text and to communicate effectively in…

This document is the annual report on the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) established by legislation in 1978. In 1988, the tests and the monitoring of the instructional components were completed on time. The tests include: (1) first grade readiness; (2) tests for grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8; and (3) the Exit Examination required…

This report describes and presents the 1984-85 results of the norm-referenced and criterion-referenced testing programs used in the Los Angeles Unified School District (California) to evaluate student progress and to identify instructional areas needing remediation. The norm-referenced Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), Form U, is used to…

Some of the ways authentic writing assessment can be used in education are discussed. Using the Illinois Writing Program (IWP) as an example, this digest also looks at some of the goals, solutions, and experiences of a program that is implementing authentic writing assessment. New directions in authentic assessment are aimed at going beyond…

Evaluation of bilingual education programs is limited by the absence of appropriate standards against which program success may be gauged. Normative and criterion models have been used, inadequately. The current paper revisits the normative model, and examines the relative advantages of using norms based on the performances of…

Part of an annual series offering teachers and researchers a list of scholarly writing on English and its teaching, this volume cites over 3,800 titles drawn from publishers, periodicals, Dissertation Abstracts International, and the ERIC database. The volume lists each work once, annotates all citations, provides cross references when…

The provincial results of the English 33 Achievement Test administered June 8, 1982, as part of the Student Achievement Testing Program of Alberta Education are presented in this report. Following a list of the requirements of Part A (written expression), the first section describes the categories used to assess total expression and the scoring…