The effect of the quality of preceding essays on judgments of the quality of a subsequent essay was investigated. Inservice teachers as judges failed to produce consistently and unambiguously biased judgments. Results suggest the presence of a positive bias and the absence of a negative bias. (Author/PN)

Discusses the results of a survey to gather information on the state of the art of testing writing proficiency at the college level. According to the results, many respondents did note positive side effects of the unprecedented growth in testing, particularly its influence on the direction of writing curricula. (HTH)

Proposes that writing instruction at the intermediate level of second language study should be kept to a minimum. Gives examples of the kinds of brief derivative exercises that are most beneficial. (EKN)

Four experiments that elicited both high school and college writing teachers' evaluations of prose styles (nominal versus verbal) and a typing test that examined the processing of nominal-verbal prose revealed that nominal styles, though they are more indirect and can be too inflated and too abstract, are preferred as indications of writing…

Until experimenters can achieve some measure of control over access to information associated with their writing stimuli and outcome measures, research in composition will have a difficult time providing meaningful information on the unique effects on writing of such things as training programs, ethnicity, previous education, and sex. (HOD)

Reports the results of a study in which copies of two student themes were given to university and community college composition instructors for grading. (HTH)

Describes a "focused holistic" method of writing evaluation, which considers a total piece of writing, but in terms of predefined criteria. Provides sample evaluations. (HTH)

Examines the sometimes puzzling behavior of writing teachers as they look for errors in language usage. Questions whether many of these teachers would notice the occurrence of certain features they call errors if they were not searching for errors in the first place. (RL)

Having writers ask questions about their own papers promotes commitment to the revising and proofreading process. Students can ask teachers or peers the following: (1) What do you like about my paper? (2) What questions do you have about my paper? (3) What kinds of polishing does my paper need? (RL)

Shows that teachers' written responses to student writing are usually concerned with form and that two kinds of responses are most often used: (1) evaluation--usually of a general nature (a grade or "well written") and (2) instruction--usually focusing on specific language structures by correcting mechanical errors. (HOD)

Examines how readers react to a journalist's ethnicity. Finds that (1) a Hispanic author was highly likely to be associated in readers' minds with a glowing article about Hispanics but was unlikely to be credited with authorship of a positive article about Anglos; and (2) the Hispanic author was evaluated no differently than was the Anglo-American…

Analyzes 208 comments written at the end of student papers by 10 teaching assistants at Penn State. Analyzes a second sample containing end comments written earlier at other universities. Identifies 16 primary genres, falling into 3 groups: judging genres, reader response genres, and coaching genres. (PA)

Explores the ability to construct a theory of writing assessment based on an understanding of the nature of language, written communication, and its teaching. Looks at current practices at universities that have been using assessment procedures that are site-based, practical, and have been developed and controlled locally. (TB)

Advocates a holistic method for evaluating assignments. Notes how the system reflects the evaluation procedures used in business for determining the success of a written communication by assigning numbers (0,1, or 2) for unacceptable, acceptable, and excellent work respectively. Explains that this system not only reduces the time commitment of…

Explains the rubrics the author has developed to assure some degree of consistency in grading among instructors and teaching assistants in various sections of the same writing course. Finds these rubrics particularly useful for evaluating individual student performance in group projects. (SG)