Considers awareness, form, and use of notation by normally achieving and school-identified learning-disabled first-grade students. Finds that young normally achieving children spontaneously recorded and organized information, whereas learning-disabled children were more tentative in the use of notation. Suggests that the performance of…

North Carolina ninth graders in an agriculture and natural resources course were divided into 102 controls and 97 experimentals. The experimental group exhibited higher achievement, retention, and writing confidence in a groundwater protection unit using the writing to learn method. (SK)

Examines relationships between writing instruction and functional composition performance of third-year secondary education Dutch students. Finds that, of 36 instructional characteristics, effective ones included instruction and exercises in writing functional texts, writing for a specific purpose, tailoring to a particular audience, global rating…

Examines the mechanics of a large-scale writing portfolio assessment at the University of Michigan, including its impact on matriculation and placement; students' reactions to the requirement; and instructors' evaluation of the efficacy of placements under the new system. Examines the scoring process used by readers to assess portfolios, and…

Analyzes think-aloud protocols with native speakers of English learning French or German. Shows that as the writer's experience with the language increases, fluency increases, the average length of strings of words proposed between pauses or revision episodes increases, the number of revision episodes decreases, and more of the words proposed as…

This study investigated the influence of online discussion forums on student achievement in reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and critical thinking in English as Second Language (ESL) instruction. Fifty-four senior high school students participated in this study and were divided into three groups. Data were collected from achievement…

The present research investigated the impact of environmental education (EE) programs on student achievement in math, reading, and writing by comparing student performances on two standardized tests for environmental education schools and schools with traditional curriculum. Quantitative analysis was used to evaluate the impact of the EE programs.…

A study examined the relations among the diversity of the social groupings in which children participated in home literacy events and the social groupings, oral language, and literacy in first-grade literacy events. Subjects, 35 children in two first-grade classrooms in the same school district in a small city in the southeastern United States,…

A study investigated the influence of goal setting and progress feedback on self-efficacy and writing achievement among gifted children. Thirty-three fourth graders who previously had been identified as academically gifted in language arts received writing strategy instruction over 20 sessions and were given a goal of learning to use the strategy…

This study was conducted to determine whether the writing skills, as measured by the University Writing Requirement (UWR), of Kentucky high school graduates who had participated in Kentucky's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) writing portfolios had improved in comparison with their peers in the past who had not done the writing…

Literacy in the military has seen drastic changes since the World War II era and even the Vietnam era. Qualification tests are stricter and literacy programs are more available than before. Literacy in the military is crucial in a technological world. In today's armed forces, many soldiers concentrate on the technical aspect of combat through…

As part of the test development process, this technical report is intended to present technical information from the tryout and pilot stages of the Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) in Communication Arts: Writing. There are four major parts to this report. Part 1, Evolution of the HSPT in Communication Arts: Writing, introduces the…

Examines effects of grouping practice on written Chinese achievement among heritage learners in college Chinese classes. Subjects were two groups of heritage students, a homogeneous group and a heterogeneous group. Results suggest in college level Chinese language classes, tracking based on linguistic background can improve heritage students'…

Presents an analysis of teachers' perceptions of themselves as writers with the goal of understanding how teachers' writing ability affects their work and qualifications as writing instructors. Places 32 teachers participating in a 3-day inservice writing workshop into 3 separate "identity concepts" (categories) and a fourth miscellaneous group.…

Shows that high school students who took a specialized high school course in intensive journalistic writing passed the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Examination at higher rates (from 1991 to 1997) than did test-takers who took AP English Composition courses as a preparation for the exam. (SR)