Reviews videotapes of three professional writers composing several essays from start to finish, both by hand and by computer. Discusses similarities and differences among the completed essays. Finds that writing appears to be governed by deep cognitive models that are little influenced by the mode of text production or by the writer's preference…

Finds developmental changes in both cohesive harmony and holistic writing quality in the writing of first graders, suggesting that cohesive harmony may be a sensitive measure of textual quality. Finds no consistent relationship between measures of cohesive ties and cohesive harmony. Suggests that cohesive harmony is a viable tool for discourse…

Describes a writing assignment which allows students to exercise creativity communicating set facts while utilizing narrative techniques covered in class (sentence variety, dominant impressions, narrative action, detailing, etc.), and in which peers judge how effectively and consistently the information was communicated, illuminating the…

Presents a study that asked business professionals and business faculty to critique and evaluate a set of writing samples. Analyzes results from the two groups. Finds that both groups emphasize organization, but professionals also emphasize wording/style, content, and sentence structure more than do faculty, who emphasize conciseness,…

This article discusses the use of a writing assessment rubric to structure writing instruction with examples from two classes of children who are deaf. It considers strategy modifications, using rubrics for instruction, and creating and using rubrics. Tables provide detail for a universal-type rubric, a modified universal-type rubric, a writing…

This article presents and discusses an informal tool, the Idea Development Instrument, for teachers to use with students with learning disabilities to guide writing instruction, to evaluate writing samples, and to provide specific feedback in the area of idea development in written compositions. The assessment instrument is appended. (Contains…

Explores the dynamics of writing college application essays. Analyzes four high school seniors' think-aloud protocols as they composed the essays and college admissions officers' remarks as they read the essays. Finds that successful essayists were able to balance the requested self disclosure and the unstated deep institutional concern for…

Discusses the relationship of assessment and computers as two technological forms that share positivist assumptions about their value-free roles as instruments with application for solving large-scale problems independent of context. Offers suggestions for using computers to deliver, organize, review, and share assessment procedures that include…

Examines relationships between writing instruction and functional composition performance of third-year secondary education Dutch students. Finds that, of 36 instructional characteristics, effective ones included instruction and exercises in writing functional texts, writing for a specific purpose, tailoring to a particular audience, global rating…

Presents research on writing assessment situations in mathematics classes with high school students who are following a science-oriented curriculum. Emphasizes the importance of taking cognitive and didactic points of view into account for the analysis of students' work in problem solving. Contains 21 references. (Author/ASK)

Argues that student self-assessment and reflection need to be central components of writing instruction and that the response sequence between teacher and student should routinely include them. Offers examples of this sequence with two students, and presents nine specific classroom strategies that put self-assessment and reflection at the center…

Describes connections between art forgers and assessment practices of student writing in schools. Ponders how students might be encouraged to work more like masters than forgers. Argues that teaching strategies for reflection brings authenticity and encourages reflection in students about their work. Discusses techniques students can use to…

Presents a holistic method for describing basic writers and their writing to encourage classroom research at two- and four-year colleges and enables comparisons of basic writers across institutions. Offers some preliminary results from the pilot study to illustrate the type of findings this approach yields and highlights the importance of such…

Provides an overview of the development of a new Writing Attitude Survey, for use with groups or individuals, to learn about grade 1-12 students' attitudes toward writing. Offers directions for using the survey, suggestions for application in classrooms and research studies, and a reproducible copy of the survey with a scoring sheet. (SR)

Notes that writing assessment has become an important specialty within composition studies with links to such "suspicious partners" as educational research, statistics, and politics and with profound effects on public policy and educational funding. Discusses the modern era of writing assessment beginning during the fall of 1971 an its…