Presents a response refuting Leonard Moskovit's essay on the use and misuse of the referent "this," arguing that his analysis of 28 examples and resulting principles for evaluating broad referents are in error. Includes Moskovit's defense of his essay. (HTH)

This report presents results from an internal evaluation conducted between September 1981 and August 1982 of abstracts published by the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system. A brief introduction describes the study methodology and reviews limitations, indicating that 526 evaluations of 349 abstracts were conducted by personnel at…

An exploratory study of the effects of essay length on scoring reliability is presented. While results fail to confirm statistically a length effect that is either overall or in individual scorers, it is suggested that such an effect may emerge in a larger sample. Further research is suggested on the effects of length and grade level on marking.…

Offers guidelines and illustrations for developmental writing teachers to help them implement holistic assessment of student writing. Presents a rationale for separating assessment and placement. Discusses the design of writing tasks and the training of raters. Includes a sample scoring rubric. (DMM)

Shows how to assure fairness in grading essay exams by having students place a code number instead of their names on their essays. Notes that student reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Argues that the approach can be used in a wide variety of educational circumstances. (RS)

Presents a primary-trait scoring instrument intended for journalism teachers to use in assessing students' editorials by breaking down the analysis into three essential components: claims, data, and warrants. Applies the instrument to two student essays. (SR)

Suggests that the portfolio bandwagon began with a series of unexamined assertions against existing practices. Concludes that the challenge of writing teachers is to develop valid and reliable methods of assessing student writing, based on clearly defined purposes, and to educate the various publics about the complexities of that challenge. (RS)

Proposes that writers evaluate works in progress guided by their internal standards. Finds that writing samples from students whose judgments of good writing matched those of their readers were rated significantly higher than the writing of students whose judgments disagreed. (SR)

Describes how to develop a computer critiquing system for student feedback, producing individualized student feedback from a preestablished master list of critical comments. Discusses developing the master feedback list, setting up the merge process, special applications of computerized responses, and assessing its advantages and disadvantages.…

Argues that poststructural literary theory raises concerns about the validity of holistic scoring. Concludes that, in the case of large-scale writing assessment, failure to consider the implications of poststructural theory can result in reliable but hardly valid readings of students' essays. (PRA)

Presents an interview with English professor and Pulitzer Prize Award winning poet Gary Snyder. Discusses his writing processes, journal writing, writing instruction, and writing evaluation. (SR)

A study of stories written by 10-12 year-olds attempted to interpret the authors' meaning and intention by using three modes: primary reading, speculative questioning, and reflective reading. The modes led to multiple layers of meaning, revealing subtlety and complexity and overturning the reader's position. (SK)

This article describes how readers from a graduate program in anthropology evaluated student writing in a general education course. Readers voiced the concerns of their discipline when they focused on the stance writers assumed and how they made value judgments.

Writing across the curriculum has been a pedagogy associated with faculty development since the earliest days of the movement. Carleton College, an early adopter of WAC pedagogy and faculty development, has, in the last decade, added portfolio assessment to the combination with positive results. Among the unexpected consequences has been a…

While formal, standardized assessment instruments provide valuable and necessary information about students' various abilities and skills, the use of informal and qualitative assessment approaches has the benefit of leading directly to instruction based squarely on an individual student's needs, strengths, and existing skills. This article…