The differential performance of black and white college freshmen on a direct measure of writing skills, the essay portion of the American College Testing Program's Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP), was studied. The data consisted of responses of a sample of 998 black and 3,727 white examinees to two individual prompts for…

Language Development Support Systems (Project LDSS) offered 215 limited English proficient (LEP) students at two New York City elementary schools the opportunity to improve their English skills through special language learning centers. These language learning centers were established at both schools and provided students with instruction in…

As part of an examination required by the Alberta (Canada) Department of Education in order for 12th grade students to receive a diploma in French, this booklet contains the composition component of the January 1987 tests. Divided into three essay questions for a total writing time of two and one-half hours duration, parts one and two of the test…

A study skills course offered through Project Start, a summer program for high-risk incoming college freshmen at Ball State University, Indiana, is described. While primarily designed for students who were denied regular admission because of low high-school rank and low Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the program also allows previously…

A dialogue journal is a written conversation in which a student and teacher communicate regularly over a period of a semester or a school year. The student may write as much as he chooses on any topic, and the teacher responds, introduces new topics, offers observations, clarifies, and asks and answers questions. Teachers use dialogue journals to…

A technique designed to make the classroom use of videotapes for second language teaching for specific purposes more efficient is described. The technique begins with a classroom review of basic vocabulary and structures, which is then tested with a computer exercise. A second stage requires discussion and memorization of vocabulary and phrases…

In spring 1984, the Language Arts Department of University College, University of Cincinnati, began requiring all third-term Freshman English students to pass an exit test in order to receive credit for their final English course. The exit exam, which was part of a joint effort with the other five English Departments within the University,…

The cognitivist view of composition suggests that if students are supplied with a set of writing strategies, they will learn to think in more complex and powerful ways, observing their own ideas and writing from another person's viewpoint. On the other hand, some social critics argue that composition teachers need to help their students enter into…

Evaluation results for the College Bound (C.B.) program at New York City public schools are presented. The C.B. program seeks to improve reading and mathematics skills of high school students who are 2 or more years below grade level and to prepare these students for college. It includes basic skills instruction in reading, career and college…

A small group activity involving the study of a cultural group is presented. The assignment consists of four activities: making a map, giving an oral report, choosing a writing activity, and participating in a skit about a cultural group. The assignment lists seven step-by-step procedures and grading criteria. Student groups choose among 12…

To determine how writing, as compared to other learning activities, affects both good and poor writers' ability to remember factual information and transfer learning, a study (1) investigated the effectiveness of a writing activity requiring students to develop compositions by synthesizing information read, and (2) explored the correspondences…

Containing a review of recent research on critical reading and six appendixes detailing course tasks and assignments in an introductory literature course, this essay aims to help teachers develop students' ability to read and write about literature critically. The essay, which focuses on how these course tasks coincide with the findings of recent…

Observations of a 12-year-old boy provide an in-depth look at the writing of a successful adolescent writer, as it developed over a 2-year period. The subject was interviewed once a week in his home. In addition to the information obtained in interviews, his texts were analyzed for formal features. Three factors emerged as particularly…

This study was an examination of the usefulness of a statistical regression approach to identify prospective Engineering and Information and Computer Science (ICS) applicants most likely to succeed at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). The specific purpose was to determine the extent to which preadmissions measures such as high school…

Many writing teachers agree that peer review is a beneficial experience for student writers. Recently, this experience has also been made available to faculty members at San Diego State University through a faculty writers' workshop. In the workshops, listeners give constructive criticism while at the same time pointing out what works well and…