Presents workable strategies for observing, tracking, and reporting student progress in the elementary writing classroom. The article offers tips and techniques for ongoing evaluation (observing writers as they write, conferencing, and student self-evaluation). It also includes a teacher-guided tour of a real Vermont student's writing portfolio.…

Analyzes the quality and content of written messages sent from nine schools and three district offices to residents of their respective communities. Analysis of 594 communiques indicates that they are usually quite functional, although typically dull and targeted toward society's mainstream. Ideas for improvement are discussed. (SLD)

Perceptions of 48 preservice elementary education teachers concerning their own writing were examined. The weaknesses and difficulties that these University of Saskatchewan (Canada) students admitted concerning their own writing have implications for teacher education. Improvement of university students' writing should be a joint venture of…

Summaries of six language-related research projects are presented from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Topics include reading proficiency evaluation instruments, computer-assisted language learning, English-for-Special-Purposes instructional design, editing strategies for college English-as-a-Second-Language student compositions, genre…

Discusses issues of fairness in the evaluation of bilingual writers. Warns of problems posed for them by the process approach to writing instruction. Describes a case study which suggests that even assessment procedures claimed to be holistic are biased against bilingual students. Compares one student's Spanish and English writing samples, noting…

A study investigated the ability of educationally disadvantaged and limited-English-proficient University of Cape Town (South Africa) students to write about science research projects. Analysis of students' reports showed a strong relationship between task presentation methods, specific task-completion guidelines, and quality of writing. Poor…

Reports a study carried out on a sample of final exam essays written by native-speaking Arabic students of English attending the freshman English course in the English-as-a-foreign-language program at the Lebanese American University. Examines what analytic and holistic scoring using one evaluation instrument can tell teachers about their…

Examines the case of two classes that used online posting of student papers to facilitate peer response critiquing. Reveals how many women may feel that choosing a male pseudonym is necessary for credibility; and sheds light on the readers' responses to particular identities. Considers the significance of gender choices in terms of classroom…

This article introduces a special issue dealing with selected aspects of writing disorders. It provides an overview of following articles and issues confronting the written language field, including definitional issues, assessment issues, neurodevelopment components, brain-behavior linkages, lifespan issues, and interventions. Recommendations are…

Investigates the nature of cohesion, content, and grammar emergent in children's essays, with emphasis on understanding of cohesion and coherence. Conceptual definitions of these constructs are summarized into a picture-based narrative writing task for elicitation and scoring criteria for quantification. First and second graders from an immersion…

The availability of multi-media technologies in education has made the option of independent learning increasingly attractive. Whilst independent learning presents learners with a more flexible learning context, it also presents new challenges in assessment in that the onus is placed upon the learners themselves to monitor and evaluate their own…

Peer review has become commonplace in composition courses and is increasingly employed in the context of telecommunication technology. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effects of anonymous and identifiable electronic peer (e-peer) review on college student writing performance and the extent of critical peer feedback. Participants…

This article presents a comprehensive model of daily, classroom informal writing assessment that is constantly linked to instruction and the characteristics of proficient writers. Methods for promoting teacher, student, and parent collaboration and their roles in dialoguing, conferencing, and reflection are discussed. Strategies for including…

This study is an interim follow-up to an investigation of how computer use influences the writing process used by high school students on a direct writing assessment (Wolfe and others, 1994). Whether students with less comfort and experience with word processors would receive lower scores on word-processed essays than those with more comfort and…

Portfolios are developmental pictures of students' progress, providing alternative ways to evaluate both products and processes of students' learning. Portfolios also serve as vehicles for involving students in self-evaluation and goal-setting. This sourcebook was written to help teachers begin to use portfolios as an authentic assessment method.…