Using data from a study that examined the writing of basic skills and regular college freshman students on three separate tasks, this paper discusses the effect that translating a generalized task into one that engages personal commitment by the writer has on the cognitive strategies employed to respond to that task. After a discussion of the…

Intended to make the educational community aware of how research has defined acceptable practice in writing assessment, this annotated bibliography examines research about writing evaluation. Divided into five sections, the first section of the bibliography surveys some psychological and linguistic studies of the development of students' writing…

Writing researchers must be concerned with whether the instruments they are using are constructed as soundly as possible and, if so, whether they are performing the necessary analytic procedures to interpret the results correctly. To examine the logic in the construction of J. A. Daly and M. D. Miller's Writing Apprehension Test and the incomplete…

In a study designed as a pilot project to test a taxonomy of noun phrases (NPs) and indicate results to be expected from a larger subsequent survey, 13 essays from a basic writing class and 10 essays from an advanced composition class were analyzed for four NP types: (1) those requiring earlier text information for full interpretation, (2) those…

This special journal issue focuses on writing in the elementary school. Topics discussed in the various articles include (1) a technique for teaching persuasive composition, (2) writing in the second and third grades, (3) correlating writing assignments with the study of literature, (4) a problem solving approach to composition, (5) the Virginia…

Writing samples from 20 college students were examined for the quantitative and qualitative changes that occurred between their freshman and junior years. The writing samples were analyzed quantitatively for mean length of T-unit and subordinate clauses per T-unit and holistically for focus, organization, development, and coherence. These analyses…

Various claims have been made about the efficiency of different composition scoring schemes. This paper reports the results of a systematic analysis of the robustness of holistic scoring, analytical scoring, and an obective diagnostic test, Davidson's "Test of the Ability to Subordinate." Compositions from an advanced English as a Second…

The work involved in preparing writing skill specifications that could be used to determine bilingual students' entry into and exit from bilingual programs is described in this paper. The first section of the paper details the steps involved in identifying the critical writing skills required in grades one through six, while the second section…

Evidence from a variety of sources suggests that systematic differences can be found in the ratings given to student essays as a function not only of the student's skills but also of aspects of both the student's background and the background of the rater. Additionally, the nature of the prompt which provided the central theme of the essay might…

Intended for writing instructors at all educational levels, the chapters in this collection discuss the philosophy and principles of the teaching of writing in an effort to capitalize on the current public interest in writing. Chapter topics are (1) the basics of teaching writing; (2) teaching the composing process; (3) writing assignments and…

This is a guide designed for professionals who need to assess the literacy ability of adults. The three general categories of literacy skills which are distinguished include generic literacy skills, everyday skills, and job-related skills. Functional literacy has been defined in various ways, therefore, the assessment of it is very difficult. The…

It is often difficult for students in public relations writing courses to understand precisely how their various writing assignments are being evaluated. It is important, therefore, for teachers of these courses to develop a systematic method of evaluating all writing assignments. One method of doing this is to concentrate on elements common to…

Based on the Bay Area Writing Project, The Jefferson Parish (Louisiana) Writing Project (JPWP) was developed, focusing on improving writing instruction and writing itself. Each year, one public high school becomes a demonstration center for intensive staff development, school-wide writing assessment, and workshops for teachers at neighboring…

The results of a national survey to determine the current status of statewide writing assessments are presented in this report. Various sections of the report provide (1) an explanation of terms commonly associated with writing assessment; (2) a brief account of the status of states' writing assessments; (3) individual summaries of administrative…

Constructed on the premise that the teacher with a written assignment to evaluate seeks procedures and activities for remediating the errors present in that assignment, this handbook is designed as a tool for the teaching of remedial composition in grades five through twelve. The handbook is composed of a checklist and a diagnostic grid, followed…