Examined whether writing and working memory (WM) were related to general or process-specific system, whether WM tasks operated independently of phonological short-term memory (STM), and whether WM predicted writing variance beyond that predicted by reading. Found a four-factor model reflecting phonological STM, verbal WM span, executive…

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…

Notes that 32 preschool children were trained to a high level in phonemic awareness over a 12-week period, and then in kindergarten, the children were taught 10 real words using either decoding and encoding techniques or a whole word method. Finds that children taught decoding and encoding techniques were superior in reading and writing compared…

Determines whether French immersion programs result in detrimental effects on the ability of children in such programs to read and write in English. Finds that writing in English and French is fairly comparable across languages and that there is a transfer of processing behavior across languages. (MG)

Advocates making large-scale writing assessment consistent with the view that writing is fundamentally about making and sharing meaning. Argues that this is possible through a writing portfolio system of assessment. Describes how such a portfolio program was begun at the University of Michigan to assess beginning students. (HB)

A professor/researcher reflects on the first decade of the 40-year history of this journal and selects one article typical of many during that decade, characterized by large sample sizes and statistical comparisons of achievement among Alberta students. The article selected examines writing achievement among approximately 2,000 rural and urban…

Describes holistic scoring as one of the biggest breakthroughs in writing assessment. Suggests that the technique's high interrater reliability coefficients partly explain holistic scoring's popularity. Argues that validity has been largely neglected. Concludes that more must be learned about the uses and effects of holistic scoring. (SG)

Teachers using the self-regulated strategy development approach instruct students in task-specific strategies along with more general strategies for regulating the students' strategy use and the learning process. Examines the components, stages, and characteristics of such an approach, along with its effectiveness in helping students with learning…

Argues that findings from interviews with basic writing students cast new light on the responsibilities teachers have toward basic writers. Suggests that teachers must help students understand what it means to be a basic writer and can help writers contest and refute their labels through the curricula in the writing courses. (NH)

Describes outcomes of a national investigation in the United Kingdom into linguistic characteristics of writing in GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) English examination. Argues that greater precision in describing writing will promote better teaching and learning. (NH)

Suggests that Canada's public education system continues to successfully enculturate and educate students of varying abilities and vocational aspirations. Claims that if the Ontario Literacy Test succeeds in undermining public confidence in the present system, the Harris government will have set the stage for the system's demise by creating a…

Haiku--the short, often nature-oriented poetry form--is generally intended to engage the reader in a single aesthetic moment. Every word, every syllable, counts, resulting in the reader being drawn quickly and intensely into the poet's unique experience. While legal analysis surely differs from haiku, in both its form and its substance, students…

The purpose of this study was to learn whether there have been any changes in writing instruction across K-12 education in the past three years. A three-year time frame was chosen to structure the study as it included the time period subsequent to the College Board's first announcement of the SAT writing section (the 2002-03 academic year). The…

This article shares the results of a 3-year study of the use of threaded discussion groups within intact eighth-grade classrooms in a middle school in Southern California. Using mixed-methods data collection and analysis, it addresses questions about how technology may be used effectively to create engaged writers and how student access to…

Charter schools are publicly funded but operate outside the regulatory framework and collective bargaining agreements characteristic of traditional public schools. In return for this freedom, charter schools are subject to heightened accountability. This paper estimates the impact of charter school attendance on student achievement using data from…