This paper assessed the relationships among holistic writing ability, the Test of Standard Written English, and four tests of organizational ability. Findings showed a significant correlation between writing ability and the tests. It was concluded that tests assessing organizational strategies ought to be included in assessments of writing…

Contains citations for journal articles, books, dissertations, and materials in the ERIC system on the subjects of writing, language, literature, and teacher education. (SRT)

Reviews the range of data gathered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 1984 concerning the reading and writing levels of 11th-graders. Discusses observable trends, differences between white and minority student scores, student perceptions about their reading and writing skills, and implications of the data for educational…

Describes a study comparing the grading predelictions of English instructors from two- and four-year colleges. Study findings, based on grades given to a set of five themes by instructors from both settings, showed community college instructors to be a letter grade more lenient than university instructors. (DMM)

Reports findings of a study conducted to determine whether the amount of training and experience readers have had in using a particular grading scale correlates with their judgments about the quality of an essay, and whether the amount of training and experience affects the consistencies of their judgments. (EL)

Reports a study of the written English of native Arab learners which investigated: (1) the extent to which judgments of intelligibility and naturalness differed; (2) the extent to which error type and linguistic context affected the intelligibility, naturalness and interpretability of devian utterances; and (3) the basis for native speakers;…

Describes an elementary school creative writing program involving lay-readers, which leads to increased creativity, more enthusiasm for writing, and better writing skills. (DCS)

Suggests that a teacher's awareness of students' body language provides a context in which to place students' written work. (DF)

Describes some of the key intellectual actions that underlie the process of revision in writing and that most affect its practice. Provides a working model of revision and discusses diagnosing problems and devising solutions. (HTH)

Proposes a seven-stage model to assist in the process of synchronizing the rhythm of teachers' activities with those of their students. (DF)

As writing spreads across the curriculum, faculty members are becoming aware of the extent to which writing is a mode of learning, a way of incorporating new knowledge and of interpreting and analyzing. Effective ways in which a teacher can respond to student writing are discussed. (MLW)

Explores writing research on the composing process regarding the relationship of the topic selected to the score obtained, the relationship of the score to the use of both an outline and a rough draft, and the relationship of the amount of revision to the quality of essays obtained. (EL)

Describes a program of the Graduate College at Iowa State University that features an "English examiner" who screens incoming students for writing ability. (FL)

A number of studies have found that essays are scored higher when preceded by poor quality scripts than when preceded by good quality scripts. This study investigated the effects of scoring procedures designed to reduce the influence of context. Context effects were found irrespective of the scoring procedure used. (Author/PN)

The values of learning to express oneself in writing are noted, major components of writing (psychological factors, content, and craftsmanship) are identified, and approaches to evaluating written language disorders through formal and informal methods are described. Intervention information focuses on hierarchial skills, motivation, content area…