Assessment of higher order literacy skills encounters three initial problems aside from assessment methods: (1) definition of literacy; (2) range of skills to assess; and (3) whether or not higher order literacy can be assessed independently of a particular content area. Regardless of definitions, the general performance areas to be covered must…

To research the implications of portfolio assessment for student learning and teacher methodology, a teacher examined the interplay of reflection and evaluation in her expository writing class of 12. In a semester-long intermediate-level class, students wrote a draft of a paper each week, with each paper then going through multiple drafts.…

Assessment activities for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction, contributed by classroom teachers, are organized according to the primary or predominant emphasis of the activity. Those in the first part of the book focus on alternative methods of assessment, including portfolios, journals, logs, and conferences. The second part discusses…

In July 1992, American College Testing convened a 5-day meeting to set achievement levels in writing for grades 4, 8, and 12 to be recommended for use in reporting the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Sixty-six panelists (teachers, non-teacher educators, and non-educators) attended the meeting and participated in the…

An informal study explored the dynamics of the task of writing college application essays, which urge self-revelation but are judged by omnipotent admissions committees. Four students in the top 17% of their class of 194 in a predominantly white suburban school completed think-aloud protocols as they drafted a response to an application question…

Focusing on work of interest to college English teachers and researchers, this book offers an annual classified listing of scholarship on written English and its teaching at the college level. The book cites 1,656 articles, books, dissertations, and papers that, with few exceptions, were published during the 1992 calendar year. It furnishes…

To elicit some written comments about student views of revision, an English professor surveyed about 100 students in several different composition classes regarding what they would do if given the opportunity to revise a class paper. More than 80% of the responses explicitly mentioned errors in spelling, mechanics, or grammar. Several students…

In order to become empowered and autonomous writers, students need to learn self-evaluation techniques to help them revise their writing instead of simply editing it. Basic writers and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writers especially need concrete aids that can guide them, at least in the initial stages of learning, to write in a mode in…

This summary report is the third of three reports (Preliminary, Final, and Summary) of the findings of the 1988 Provincial Writing Assessment in Manitoba, Canada for grades 4, 8, and 11 of English language schools. It contains a brief description of the study along with recommendations. The report notes that the 1988 Writing Assessment was the…

This final report is the second of three reports (Preliminary, Final, and Summary) of the findings of the 1988 Provincial Writing Assessment in Manitoba, Canada for grades 4, 8, and 11 of English language schools. It contains an overview of the purposes, procedures, and a detailed presentation of the findings and recommendations of the Writing…

The point of view that teachers use in responding to students' writing affects the kinds of dramatized presences that teacher responses create. Such presences make available a range of reading and writing roles that students may adopt or reject. For a dramatic presence to be felt by a reader, a writer must select and sustain a clear means of…

This report describes the procedures used to collect, describe, and evaluate school-based writing in a special pilot portfolio study conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to explore portfolios as an alternative method of assessing students' writing achievement. The report has three main purposes: (1) to explore…

In continuing and building upon past efforts, the National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy, in collaboration with researchers and practitioners around the world, is forging new theoretical and pedagogical directions in writing and literacy. The Center's research projects and activities aim to respond boldly and straightforwardly to…

A study examined the oral comments of writing groups at different grade levels to determine if students are actually able to talk about writing, what kinds of comments they make about each other's writing, and what effects their comments have on the composing process. Nine groups of from four to six members in the fifth, eighth, and senior high…

A study examined peer group writing evaluation in the classroom. Freshmen in expository writing classes were trained at the beginning of the semester to respond first to the ideas in the essays, and only after giving the writer feedback on this level were they to help the writer with mechanics and syntax. After being divided into groups of four or…