Discusses various informal measures of writing proficiency. (FL)

Educators who teach students to write often teach students to create using the writing process. Students are encouraged to brainstorm topics, write a first draft, revise based on the response from a teacher or fellow student, proofread, and generate a final draft. Teachers maintain that students are often motivated by the use of technology to…

Intended for new and experienced teachers in grades K-8, this book takes readers through a process of thinking about how to put portfolios into action. The book models a process for making decisions about the type of portfolio, what to place in it, how to structure the interactions with it, and how to use it to evaluate student progress and report…

This manual contains a description of the procedures to be used when administering the Nevada fourth- and eighth-grade Proficiency Examinations in Writing, along with detailed instructions to be read to students. Test administrators should make sure that students understand these instructions thoroughly before the testing session so that students…

This paper reports on the preliminary stage of a research project examining the kinds of writing that teachers are required to produce as part of their study when undertaking masters-level courses in education. The paper states that of particular interest is the way in which the particular writing these writing teachers do for these courses…

This study evaluates student attitudes about the use of portfolios in an English composition course. During the course of a semester, students in an English 101 course at Central Arizona College compile a portfolio of their compositions. Included in the portfolio is a rewrite of the first assigned paper (P-1). The P-1 paper was due the second week…

Describes the effects that institutionalization of peer tutoring is having on the teaching-learning relationship. (MM)

Reviews the research literature on the teaching of writing. Lists practices and procedures that the research shows to be either helpful or of dubious value. (AEA)

Recounts the year-long interaction between teachers and teacher consultants during efforts to evaluate student writing, to survey teacher practices, and to survey student attitudes toward writing. (RL)

Examines the writing of five administrators and six caseworkers in a county social services agency to determine their sensitivity to rhetorical issues and writing style. (HOD)

Papers from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement examine the theoretical considerations and cognitive processes of written composition, writing curriculum analysis, school writing domain specifications, the interrelationships of writing task specifications, and scoring of compositions. An analysis of writing…

Scores on a multiple-choice language test involving recognition of language errors were related to those on writing samples, scored atomistically for the same language errors and holistically for communicative effectiveness and correctness. Results suggest the need for clear limits in generalizing from one assessment to others. (Author/GK)

Investigated the utility of a hierarchical moral development model, derived from Piaget and Kohlberg, for analyzing moral attitudes expressed in the persuasive writing of 30 children, ages 7-13. Concluded that a cumulative stage theory of moral development is more appropriate than a discrete stage theory for analyzing children's writing.…

Suggests adapting teacher-written responses on children's compositions to their individual differences as an effective way to promote educational progress. Written comments can take the form of reaction to the child's ideas, encouragement, correction, or evaluation/instruction. (AEA)

The "6+1" model of writing assessment identifies the traits of good writing as ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. Examples of the model's nationwide spread include Arizona preservice teachers who tutor middle school students to familiarize themselves with the model, and a former…