Shows how to assure fairness in grading essay exams by having students place a code number instead of their names on their essays. Notes that student reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Argues that the approach can be used in a wide variety of educational circumstances. (RS)

Discusses three measures of process assessment, describing checklists, conferences, and self-assessment that focus on the writing process and what writers do as they write. (SR)

Describes an approach to teaching the essay exam unit in a university reading and studies skills class. Notes that students grade their own essay answers. (SR)

Suggests class activities in three short articles including: (1) "Students Evaluate Reading," by Lenore Sandel; (2) "Solving Verbal Analogies," by Edward J. Dwyer; and (3) "Becoming Testwise," by Dean Schoen. (RS)

Describes an instrument, the College Reading Specialist Competency Checklist, that assesses the competencies of reading and study skills specialists. (HOD)

Lists suggestions for alternative methods of evaluation that will bring teaching and evaluation methods into close correspondence (as opposed to following creative teaching with a memorization test). Contends methods of evaluation should become part of the learning process, not just measure recall of information given by the teacher. (SKC)

Describes a content area writing lesson which uses a process approach to promote independent student writing and to aid retention. Uses the Predict, Organize, Rehearse, Practice, Evaluate (PORPE) strategy which provides teacher modeling of effective strategies, guided student practice, and feedback. (RS)

Argues that informal assessment is an important bridge between formal assessment and classroom instruction. Notes that one way to keep an informal record of a student's progress is to maintain a portfolio, a collection of student work that reveals both affective and cognitive growth. (RS)

Maintains that teacher-based assessment can be a powerful tool. Defines "informed" assessment, describes its features, and discusses conditions that must occur if teacher-based assessment is to reach its full potential. Discusses strategies that help teachers make day-to-day assessment more meaningful and credible. (SR)

Describes the Luiten, Ames, Bradley Readability Variation Method for estimating the variation within a text. Concludes that it is practical and relatively accurate. (HOD)

Describes how a high school chemistry teacher used reading, writing, discussion, and cooperative presentations to reshape examinations so as to teach students as well as assess them. Describes how students had multiple opportunities to express understanding of chemistry concepts and how the teacher could assess students' abilities to communicate…

Contributors offer a writing activity that can help students sharpen their awareness of how authors structure stories, and a scale that can serve as a guide to content area teachers for textbook selection. (HOD)

Presents three ideas for teaching content area writing, noting that such writing is most productive when assignments are based on real subject area topics and authentic styles. (HOD)

Proposes adapting holistic scoring to oral retellings of stories as a means of developing students' concepts of interrelationships and their higher levels of comprehension. (FL)

Maintains that college reading programs can use a comprehensive model of assessment, not as a testing or accountability issue, but to reflect current research and match the program to the students. Examines the characteristics of a comprehensive assessment model and discusses such a program designed by the authors. (SR)