Study tested influence of writing self-efficacy, writing apprehension, and writing aptitude on 181 ninth-grade students. Aptitude and self-efficacy had direct effects on performance. Girls and boys did not differ in aptitude or performance, but girls reported lower writing self-efficacy. Native English-speaking Hispanic students had lower aptitude…

A national study examined the essay performance of 17-year olds (n=288), relating their written composition and writing motivation scores to 9 previously studied educational and environmental influences on learning (e.g., age, motivation, mass media, peer groups, home). Results indicate that writing performance is much less predictable then…

It is essential for students to think clearly about fundamental biological concepts. One of the benefits of writing is that it promotes and enhances thinking. If students can write clearly, they are thinking clearly. Writing helps to connect new knowledge with prior knowledge and promotes the construction of knowledge. Writing-to-learn activities…

The tables presented in this document show the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) results for the past two years. Twenty-four tables show results as percent at each performance level and percent passing, as well as percent of students tested. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

This publication contains Arizona public schools' academic standards for high school. The contents of this document contain: (1) The Arts Standard 2006--High School; (2) Comprehensive Health Education Physical Activity Standards 1997--Proficiency and Distinction (Grades 9-12); (3) Foreign and Native Language Standards 1997--Proficiency and…

Grade-level and achievement-level differences were studied in control-related beliefs and relations between students' beliefs and their reading and writing achievement for 364 students in grades 4, 7, and 10. Results suggest that beliefs characteristic of particular achievement levels are not simply reflections of age or grade level. (SLD)

Data on the writing achievement of 11th-grade students in 1990 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) may help answer the question of who is right: employers and educators who say students are poorly prepared in writing, or parents and students, who are more positive about the results of the writing preparation students receive…

As part of the mandate of the Alberta Government's Student Evaluation Branch to monitor changes in student achievement, the Humanities Diploma Examinations Unit compared the written work from 1984 and the 1990 English 30, Social Studies 30, and English 33 Canadian provincial diploma examinations. Full-length essays written by over 30,000 students…

Intended for English-language arts teachers, principals, curriculum and testing specialists, and superintendents, this handbook assists educators in preparing students for California's writing assessment. The handbook begins with a program overview and a discussion of writing assessment and the curriculum. The handbook then provides high school…

The Florida Writing Assessment was implemented in grades 4, 8, and 10 in 1998 as required by the Florida legislature. The assessment is designed to measure students' proficiency in writing responses to assigned topics within a designated testing period. This report contains writing assessment results for the whole state, school districts, and…

This booklet, which concerns student writing on a social studies examination given to Alberta (Canada) students, addresses two major purposes. First, the booklet illustrates and compares two important levels of expectations, or standards, that have been set for student writing on this examination: satisfactory and excellent. Second, it provides…

This second annual report for the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System examined students' achievement indicators among groups that vary in gender, race, and economic status. The graphic format displays the extent of some of the gaps in academic achievement among the groups examined that existed in the 1993-94 school year, and compares…

This report summarizes the level of academic achievement, and the extent of racial and gender gaps in that achievement, of students in North Carolina's Wake County Public School System (WCPSS). The comparison was conducted using 1993 End-of-Grade (EOG) tests; low income group EOG test performance; 1993 writing tests and high school writing…

This study provides a developmental perspective on achievement goal orientations in writing using data obtained from 1266 students ranging in age from 9 to 17. The strength of task goal orientation decreased from elementary school to middle school and then increased in high school; performance-approach goals decreased from elementary school to…

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…