Evaluations of IBM's Writing to Read program for kindergartners and first graders are reviewed. The 21 kindergarten studies evidenced a median effect size of 0.23; however, in many cases this effect may be a result of comparisons with nonacademic programs. Across 13 first grade studies, the median effect size was 0.00. (TJH)

Describes a study of undergraduates at West Virginia University that was conducted to investigate the effects of computer-based instruction on writing performance and writing apprehension. Computer anxiety is measured, appropriate software is discussed, and the quality of pretreatment and posttreatment essays are compared with essays written…

This study is an interim follow-up to an investigation of how computer use influences the writing process used by high school students on a direct writing assessment (Wolfe and others, 1994). Whether students with less comfort and experience with word processors would receive lower scores on word-processed essays than those with more comfort and…

A study examined methods for helping students earn their Literacy Passport, mandated for all students by the Virginia Department of Education, prior to entering the ninth grade, beginning in grade 6. Teachers were trained at North Accomack Elementary School (Virginia) in the use and implementation of the writing process and in writing to a prompt.…

A study investigated the effects of strategy instruction on the reading and writing abilities of sixth-grade middle-school students with delayed literacy. An experimental group of 10 sixth-grade, English-speaking inner-city students in the midwestern United States was matched on race, gender, and reading comprehension test scores with 10…

This study assessed how goal setting and progress feedback affect self-efficacy and writing achievement for 20 male and 20 female fourth graders. Children received writing strategy instruction and were given a process goal of learning the strategy, a product goal of writing paragraphs, or a general goal of working productively (control condition).…

The description of achievement levels is important to the process of reporting student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). A process was designed to develop achievement level descriptions (ALDs) for writing and civics. To begin, focus groups were conducted in each of the four NAEP regions for both writing and…

Developmental and criterion reading and writing measures were administered to 300 primary-level students, revealing that elimination of IQ in the definition of learning disabilities would dramatically affect who is identified as learning disabled. A two-stage assessment model analyzing absolute criteria without IQ and relative criteria with IQ is…

This study examined the relationship between intelligence as defined by a verbal and nonverbal combined score, obtained on the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test and final grades received in the following six academic subjects: reading, math, spelling, science, English and social studies. The sample for this study consisted of 159 elementary students…

Classroom observations and in-depth interviews were used to study nine first-grade teachers who were nominated by language arts coordinators as being either outstanding or typical in their ability to help students develop the skills of beginning literacy. Based on observational measures of year-end student reading and writing achievement and on…

This study organized in 2 sections examined the progress of 32 New Zealand children during their first 3 years at school. Their achievement levels in reading, mathematics, and writing were examined based on interviews with the children, their teachers, and their parents; school records; notes; and video recordings. Section 1 deals with perceptions…

Based on a survey conducted in 1992 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a study examined the types of writing students performed in school, the quality of their classroom writing, and the relationship between their classroom writing and their performance on the NAEP writing assessment. A nationally representative subgroup of…

A study determined whether participation in a project using personal computers in the classroom to teach the writing process enabled students to improve their writing performance. One middle school from each of Delaware's 16 districts participated in the program. The project goals were incorporated into a set of four process and three outcome…

A year-long study examined the effects of a computer-based reading project on students' attitudes and performance in reading and writing. Subjects (73 "at-risk" eighth-grade students in an inner-city school in Paterson, New Jersey) were randomly divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group used a software package…

Students in an Ohio community (363 males and 332 females) took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the spring of their eighth-grade year and the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test (ONGPT) in the following fall of their ninth-grade year. The scores from both tests, for a period of 3 consecutive years, were correlated to determine the predictability of…