Pedagogical shifts that incorporate multimodal and digital literacies challenge the world in which literacy teachers have lived and worked. Effective professional development (PD) experiences may increase teachers' knowledge and enlarge their teaching paradigms about writing instruction. The current study explored ways PD might encourage teachers…

This study explores the practical effects of lexical and collaborative learning on improving reading comprehension and analytical writing skills among twelfth-grade students in Chinese language classes. A sample of 30 students aged 17 to 19 was selected from a public high school in China. The Chinese Reading Comprehension Skills Test Paper…

In this work, we explore the use of digital technologies and statistical analysis to monitor how Italian secondary school students' writing changes over time and how comparisons can be made across different high school types. We analyzed more than 2,000 exam essays written by Italian high school students over 13 years and in five different school…

This study explores using transfer learning in machine learning for natural language processing (NLP) to create generic automated essay scoring (AES) models, providing instant online scoring for statewide writing assessments in K-12 education. The goal is to develop an instant online scorer that is generalizable to any prompt, addressing the…

The simple views of reading (SVR) and writing (SVW) provide useful foundations for the interpretation of psychoeducational achievement batteries. Research has established that oral language, decoding, and transcription explain significant variance in reading comprehension and written composition, respectively. However, the specific task demands of…

Both of us were drawn into the writing assessment field initially through our lived experiences as schoolteachers. We worked in radically different contexts -- Martin was head of a languages department and teacher of French and German in the late 1990s in the UK, and David was a Grade 12 teacher of Academic English in Alberta, Canada, at the turn…

This mixed-methods study attempts to explore the effects of TBLT on the development of Iranian high school students' writing skills. To this end, two entire classes were selected in Shahed high school in Borujerd City, Iran. The groups went through pre-test, intervention, post-test, and delayed post-test procedures. In addition, using a classroom…

A prompt can be used as a medium to help students write a descriptive text. There is a lack of research on the type of prompts which can help students formulate and organize their ideas. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether there was a significant difference in the score of idea formulation and organization in a descriptive text between…

This study provides significant advances in the understanding and utility of writing assessment for progress monitoring writing instruction. We explored the validity of a new writing tool that asks students in Grades 3 through 8 to read and respond to informational passages. The written response is then scored for writing fluency. Results…

Poor college readiness is a persistent challenge today in the United States that may be overcome in part with the help of a learning model from the past. The purpose and of this quantitative comparative study focused on determining if a statistically significant difference existed in the 2018 SAT Total, Mathematics and Evidenced-Based Reading and…

Researchers frequently evaluate rater judgments in performance assessments for evidence of differential rater functioning (DRF), which occurs when rater severity is systematically related to construct-irrelevant student characteristics after controlling for student achievement levels. However, researchers have observed that methods for detecting…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with NWEA for the development of the 2024 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2024 Grades 6 and 7 English Language…

Writing is one of the most crucial skills for EFL students and also one of the most difficult to acquire. Many students face difficulties when it comes to writing in English. To address this challenge, this study examined whether or not combining inquiry-based learning with visual literacy could enhance EFL students' writing proficiency in four…

This longitudinal study (2002-2014) investigates the stability of rating characteristics of a large group of raters over time in the context of the writing paper of a national high-stakes examination. The study uses one measure of rater severity and two measures of rater consistency. The results suggest that the rating characteristics of…

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) provides automatic writing feedback and scoring to support student writing and revising. The purpose of the present study was to analyze a statewide implementation of an AWE software (n = 114,582) in grades 4-11. The goals of the study were to evaluate: (1) to what extent AWE features were used; (2) if equity and…