Sixty-five organizations responded to a survey designed to gather data for use in curriculum development in organizational communication. A five-item questionnaire was used to elicit information concerning (1) competencies needed for specialists in an organizational communication center or department; (2) educational background desirable for such…

Because there is concern with undergraduate writing deficiencies, and because college of education faculties are sometimes unclear as to what specific problems students encounter, a study attempted to determine what specific problems in students' writing are encountered by education professors at the University of Saskatchewan. Another goal of the…

The broad context of curriculum planning, staff development, and administrative decision making is the focus of this handbook for developing school writing programs. The guidelines and activities included in this handbook are meant to be suggestive; the ideas presented in this handbook will, in most cases, need to be shaped to suit the…

A study was conducted at Catonsville Community College (CCC) to investigate whether academically poor students register later than academically able students. Students taking required placement tests in April through September 1988 provided the database for the study. Variables included their testing date; scores on English, reading, writing, and…

This booklet by a committee appointed to assess the teaching implications of the Reading and Writing tests of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT) is intended to provide ways of helping teachers assist students to improve their skills in reading and writing by, in part, pinpointing the major weaknesses of students taking…

The Pennsylvania Writing Project (PAWP), a regional outreach service of West Chester University, is described in this report. Among its basic assumptions are that: there is a nationwide need to improve the writing skills of school graduates; a pervasive problem is in the teaching of writing; colleges, universities and schools share a common…

The cross-disciplinary writing program at West Chester University (WCU), Pennsylvania is a long-range, three-part program designed to increase the amount, variety, and quality of writing done by undergraduates at WCU. It focuses on enhancement rather than remediation and provides for: writing emphasis courses each semester in traditional liberal…

This set of materials for a cultural writing curriculum for adult basic education students (5-8 grade level) consists of a teacher's guide and student manual (videotape and an audiocassette complete the set). The materials are intended to develop the adult learners' writing and reading competencies through their active involvement with the…

Intended for reading teachers, this book of articles about reading and writing was written by teachers who intended to ask new questions about reading instruction. It bases its practice on a teaching philosophy in which teachers expect their students to work together, not segregated into proficiency groups. The first section contains articles…

A study examined composition textbooks to determine any trends in composition instruction from 1900 to 1959. The study period was divided into three periods--1900 to 1917, 1918 to 1935, and 1936 to to 1959--and three textbooks from each period were content analyzed. A categorical framework was formulated, permitting allocation of tasks found…

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…

To determine the effects of peer tutoring on tutors and tutees in middle school English classes, a study was conducted using pretest and posttest data of 120 students in a Mississippi middle school gathered from the following: (1) the California Achievement Test, 1977 Edition, Forms C and D; (2) teacher-assigned grades in English classes; (3)…

A study was conducted to examine the communication reticence of high school students enrolled in required speech and writing courses. Approximately 200 students completed the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA), the Unwillingness-to-Communicate Scale (UCS), and the Writing Apprehension Test (WAT). Data were then analyzed to…

This project seeks to bring an immediacy and interest to historical events through the use of Hollywood feature films. Some of the films used to promote interest in history are "Inherit the Wind,""All the President's Men,""The Birth of a Nation," and "Reds." Films used in the class should be available on videocassettes because they are less…

Six university English departments collaborated in this examination of the differences between multiple-choice and essay tests in evaluating writing skills. The study also investigated ways the two tools can complement one another, ways to improve cost effectiveness of essay testing, and ways to integrate assessment and the educational process.…