This study: (1) examined assumptions made about development of second-language writing skills by the teaching profession, as reflected in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines, and (2) investigated the relationship between those assumptions and actual skills development, as reflected in the work…

This book is addressed to those about to embark on the teaching of second language writing as well as to those already engaged in the field. Teachers are dedicated to postering growth in writing; researchers want to investigate the questions that shed the greatest light on the problem in the field. The concerns of both these groups are addressed…

This guide for college teachers, written from a British perspective, focuses on economic and efficient practices for assessing students. The guide groups various practices under 10 major strategies: (1) decide whose interests assessment is serving; (2) avoid over-sampling the course; (3) avoid over-questioning; (4) avoid over-reading student work;…

This study explored the meaningfulness of "student" scores derived from assessment of student portfolios. Nine elementary teachers documented the instructional support they provided for the writing assignments of each of six target students. Support ratings captured dimensions used to assess students' writing progress…

The central role of teachers' interpretive assessments in guiding the growth of young writers is explored. Theories of reader response and literary criticism have been used to design a framework that integrates what is read with what is written. The current context of writing assessment is explored, and some of the other authors' efforts to…

A study examined Maryland high school teachers' attitudes toward specific individual characteristics of the Maryland Writing Test as well as their overall attitudes toward the test. Subjects, 538 English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies teachers in Maryland's 176 public high schools, responded to a survey designed to elicit…

A study examined student responses to teacher comments on a student essay. First-year students at the Citadel, an all-male military school, imagined they wrote a paper on which a teacher had made 16 comments (eight positive and eight negative, eight having implied answers, eight having open-ended answers) and then rated those comments based on how…

In this collection, English language arts teachers describe methods they use to increase their students' interest in and appreciation of writing. The book focuses on the benefits of using portfolios in assessing student writing and incorporation of the revision process into writing. The 16 essays drawn from the elementary, secondary, and, college…

As part of the American school reform movement, administrators are searching for ways of measuring students' skills and progress within the system. This book focuses on the qualitative assessment possible through the use of student portfolios, particularly at the college level. It begins with a critical examination of multiple-choice, standardized…

This guidebook is designed to help teachers think about the important role of assessment in guiding students' narrative writing, with an emphasis on the close connections among curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The assessments that are given as examples stem from a long-term collaboration between the Center for Research on Evaluation,…

In the spring semester of 1997 an ethnographic study of the teaching of personal narrative at Boston College was conducted. A doctoral student worked with an undergraduate who wrote a personal narrative about her alcoholic father. Two issues arise when teaching autobiographical writing: potential problems with psycho-cognitive distance between…

Intended for both beginning and experienced teachers at the secondary and college levels as well as teacher educators and assessment teams, this book reviews strengths and weaknesses of the major types of writing assessment, both for large-scale evaluations and for the individual classroom. The book includes: practical examples, applications, and…

A study examined the problems that four graduate students of various linguistic and cultural backgrounds encountered during their initiation to the written discourse community of American academia during their first year of graduate study in the United States, and how these problems were dealt with. Qualitative data including participant and…

Essays for the Graduate Management Admissions Test must be written with a word processor (except in some foreign countries). The test sponsors, the Graduate Management Admissions Council, believed that this is fair because some word processing skill is a prerequisite for advanced management education. Furthermore, it might also be unfair to…

This document begins with a presentation of research results concerning teachers' comments on student papers. It asserts that positive comments are usually more helpful than negative ones, teachers should play different roles when responding to papers (such as average reader, coach, or editor), comments should be written in the first person and…