To study grading standards and consistency within the English department, 1600 freshmen at Rockland Community College were asked to complete a uniform exit essay at the end of English 101. After developing criteria for grading the papers, members of the department marked their own papers and one other set. Eight months later, 240 of the papers…

Reform in English studies is compromised by our tendency to talk like dilettantes, but behave like philologists. (JH)

The home mission of the University English department is the teaching of reading and writing, and its foreign mission is the "converting" to a higher literacy of those outside the English department, especially those who teach English in the high schools and other subjects at the college level. Potential high school English teachers'…

Little attention has been paid in composition journals and professional conferences to the practical problems associated with a writing program director's efforts to introduce an innovative composition curriculum within a traditional English department. A collaborative, problem solving approach to curriculum change is a practical way to proceed…

The objectives, programs, and procedures of the English department at Maine Township High School South in Park Ridge, Illinois, are set forth in this handbook. The 14 sections cover the following areas: the department philosophy; the community and the student body; the purposes and objectives of the district's educational program; departmental…

Six articles report on problems confronting English teaching and scholarship. Selections are by (1) William M. Gibson and Edwin H. Cady, who survey the present state of textually accurate editions of American authors; (2) John C. Gerber, who writes on the success of 20 Commission on English Institutes conducted during the summer of 1962 as…

The nine essays in this document are concerned with "what, ideally, should make well-balanced, efficient programs in English for students in grades 9-12 in the comprehensive secondary schools of the future." James Sledd maintains that leaving teachers free to guide students in reading good books and in writing is more important to a successful…

Basic language skills required for work in the university are discussed regarding listening comprehension, varying standards of students' English, literature instruction, the function of English studies in the universities, English for science majors, and student resentment. (LBH)

Points out that graduate programs in English should prepare students to meet the actualities of the employment market and the needs of departments that may hire them. (GW)

Discusses the relationship between research in writing (i.e., research in "composition" or "rhetoric and composition") and English departments. Attempts to clarify writing research, asserting that English departments do not understand or approve of this type of research. (MM)

The English Department at Carnegie Mellon believes they are creating a new-wave curriculum. Theoretical questions are becoming the center of undergraduate study. Scholars want students to think about the political, social, and historical forces that end up shaping a writer's vision, the written work, and the reader's interpretation. (MLW)

Discusses what is wrong with graduate schools in English, including lack of creativity, the irrelevance of much of the training for the doctoral degree, the attention paid to obscure points of literary scholarship, and the emphasis on publishing instead of good teaching. Notes the similarity to criticisms made 45 years ago. (EL)

Describes the writing evaluation of an 11th-grade English class in which precourse and postcourse samples are graded by a team of English teachers. (EL)

Directions for change and growth for the college English teaching profession are suggested. Elimination of elitism and concentration on the teaching of reading and writing skills are stressed. (RM)