This report presents the results of the evaluation of the 1988-89 Comprehensive Instructional Management Systems-Communication Arts (CIMS-CA) program, which focused on developing a holistic communication arts curriculum and staff development program reflecting the most recent research for students in kindergarten through eighth grade;…

A one-year qualitative study examined the ways in which two at-risk beginning readers and writers developed in a classroom where teaching strategies most commonly identified with whole language were used. The students, 6-year-old "Josh" and 7-year-old "Jenny," were enrolled in a transitional class composed of students who had…

Since its inception in 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been regularly assessing the nation's students in public and private schools, serving as a barometer of educational attainment. This report in brief is excerpted from "NAEP 1992 Trends in Academic Progress," which presents trend data in science,…

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…

This report discusses in detail the 1988-89 evaluation study developed by the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Technology Assessment and the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) administration for the purpose of determining the impact of the ACOT project on students, teachers, and parents. Both student achievement in writing and…

A study investigated the effectiveness of an adapted Writing to Read (WTR) program that focused on the writing process and included the "Stories and More" software for literature-based emphasis. Over 1000 writing portfolio samples were collected from kindergarten through second grade students in 29 classrooms in 6 California school…

The writing assessment used in grade 10 of the Cherry Creek, (Colorado) schools is described. Over the past 3 years, the focus of the assessment has changed from an assessment heavily weighted on multiple-choice items, with minimal constructed response tasks, to an assessment based entirely on a written product. Students are provided with multiple…

In this article we examine student performance on mandated tests in grades 3, 4, and 5 in one state. We focus on this interval, which w e term "the fourth grade window," based on our hypothesis that students in grade four are particularly vulnerable to decrements in achievement. The national focus on the third grade as the critical…

This study focused on a particular course entitled Raising Standards in Writing and attempted to discover if it did impact on pupil attainment and change teachers' practices. The course was provided by a Local Education Authority and used National Literacy Strategy materials. It was developed in the context of the British government's concern…

This paper presents case studies of four students' experiences with writing in a fourth/fifth grade classroom. The paper focuses on the following questions: What is the relationship between children's social and intellectual identities and their successes or struggles in writing? How do writing instruction and assessments mediate that…

As the nation celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the 1954 Brown Decision, it is important to examine the achievement gap between children attending resegregated public schools and their counterparts attending integrated schools. The achievement gap is directly impacted by four specific interdependent types of deficits: moral, human capital,…

A study examined student writing portfolios to determine improvement of student writing due to instructional changes under the guidelines and standards established for the Kentucky Writing Program. A random sample of 1991-92 and 1994-95 fourth-grade portfolios were analyzed, 10% from each of the 8 elementary schools in the Muhlenberg County school…

Four papers describe a study of the use of holistic writing assessment procedures in a pretest and posttest manner to determine improvement of 10th graders' writing skills. "Problem and Context" (James E. McLean) briefly describes the project and introduces the other three papers. "Holistic Scoring Procedures for Scoring Writing…

The Writing to Read Program (WTR) objectives for 1988-89 included: to extend and support the implementation of the WTR program in New York City elementary schools; to promote the reading and writing achievement of kindergarten, first-, and second-grade students; and to introduce students in early childhood to computer technology. In 1988-89 the…

This metanalysis reviews 32 studies that compared 2 groups of students receiving identical writing instruction, with only 1 group using word processing for writing assignments. Word processing improved the quality of student writing but did not improve student attitudes. Suggestions are given for using word processing more effectively. (SLD)