Stepwise regression yielded a 13-variable model for predicting writing performance that included psychological, stylistic, and demographic variables. (FL)

Six participants in the Third International Conference on the Teaching of English share their views on the contributions made during the conference. (HOD)

Examines typical elementary school teachers' marks on student writing assignments, which place greater emphasis on mechanics at the expense of content. Suggests ways in which writing program effectiveness might be improved by shifting focus to the development of creative and effective content, during which mastery of mechanics will occur…

Suggests two ways to make grading of writing easier, fairer, more helpful to students: first, using minimal grades or fewer levels of quality, and, second, using criteria that spell out the features of good writing sought in the assignment. Discusses minimal grading techniques in contexts of low-stakes writing, high-stakes writing, the final…

Describes a study in which 12 students' papers were critiqued by both WordPerfect's "Grammatik" grammar checking software and by real English/business communication professors. Finds significant limitations to the effectiveness of the software as a guide for student writers. (SR)

Dynamic assessment is described as a framework for the educational diagnosis of writing disabilities that is consistent with process models of writing instruction. Procedures use interview and response-to-instruction paradigms to study children's abilities and their knowledge of procedures for writing. Diagnostic protocols are outlined and…

Discusses the four-week summer Memphis (Tennessee) Urban Writing Institute, during which a furor erupted over the dilemma of grading. Provide a number of approaches to grading students' writing, including minimalist grading, cassette grading, collaborative grading, and portfolio grading. Suggests that teachers consider the grading dilemma and…

Discusses ways teachers in Indiana can use performance assessment at every grade level to provide students feedback for effective learning in writing. Reviews teaching strategies to help young learners get a good start in developing writing skills. Discusses ways that teachers can continuously assess student progress and focus instruction to help…

In a study of criteria for and reliability of grading of college essays in introductory psychology, 16 essays were marked by 12 faculty and 20 graduate students. Analysis found that two content attributes (facts, examples) accounted for 82% of variance in grading by faculty, while five stylistic measures accounted for the remainder. Both faculty…

Discusses the use of computer-generated text analysis to provide diagnostic information regarding students' writing. Describes a study of 12 stories written by grade 6 students in the United Kingdom that used computer-generated text analysis to determine whether the writing met the criteria for National Curriculum levels of attainment for the…

This study compared alternative measures of early writing performance with 15 second-grade students in a summer program for students at risk. Two- to three-minute samples were obtained of word copying, sentence copying, word dictation, and sentence dictation. Writing from word and sentence dictation correlated best with global judgments of…

Compares evaluation criteria for writing held in two contexts; explores the criteria used to evaluate English-language student writing by German and United States secondary school teachers; and compares the rank ordering of three essays given by teachers from these three groups. Presents results that have important implications for writing…

Considers the development of an inter-rater reliability correlation comparing the judgments, or scores, or each judge to see if their observations are similar. Presents a case study of the Northville Public Schools' data for the 2000 MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) Writing Test. Concludes that in this case study the state fails both…

Discusses specific problems (arising in the context of a writing center visit) that writing assignments have caused students. Considers problems in teachers communicating objectives with students, unspecific teacher comments on students' papers, lack of examples for the writing assignment, overemphasis on grammatical correctness, unspecified…

Describes a composition course in which students questioned their placement in remedial instruction based upon holistic evaluation of a single essay. Notes that, when students were assigned to judge the same essays, results correlated closely with the earlier evaluations. Suggests that the exercise made students more open to peer response and…