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)

A study explored how students of differing writing abilities (high, middle or low) approached a revising task that called for both editing (surface level changes) and revising (meaning level changes) and the effect that marking error location had on students' ability to detect and correct the two kinds of errors. Subjects, 12 seventh graders, were…

Describes outcomes of a national investigation in the United Kingdom into linguistic characteristics of writing in GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) English examination. Argues that greater precision in describing writing will promote better teaching and learning. (NH)

This brochure makes a case for devoting more attention to writing, and demonstrates through recent research results that the National Writing Project (NWP) has had a positive impact on teachers and students across the country. Independent national scorings of student writing show that NWP student improvement out paces that of students in carefully…

An action research project developed a program for improving writing skills. The targeted population consisted of second through fifth grade students in two districts in growing middle to upper class communities, located in suburbs southwest of Chicago. The need for improving writing skills was evidenced by classroom teacher observations,…

A collaborative writing process was found to be helpful in the development of literacy learning in a second-grade classroom. Steps of the collaborative writing process evolved through class discussions and included: (1) brainstorming for topics; (2) setting up a folder to collect writing; (3) prewriting; (4) writing; (5) sharing and revising; (6)…

Asks undergraduate students to respond to a series of questions by hand and using a word processor. Finds that some students felt profoundly disadvantaged writing by hand, and students who felt uncomfortable on the computer wrote longer and better developed responses in that medium. Suggests that a computer-assisted tutorial may act like L.…

Noting that Oregon has been a pioneer in developing assessments which require actual student writing, this booklet includes a collection of student essays and shows how they were evaluated by teachers. The sample essays in the booklet are useful in staff development activities and may also be shared with students, serving as models to help…

Noting that Oregon has been a pioneer in developing assessments which require actual student writing, this booklet includes a collection of student essays and shows how they were evaluated by teachers. The sample essays in the booklet are useful in staff development activities and may also be shared with students, serving as models to help…

This paper reports the early stages of a 3-year evaluation of the Early Intervention Programme in Scotland. The Early Intervention Programme is a high-profile government initiative which receives major government funding (60 million pounds sterling over 5 years) and is designed to improve standards of literacy and numeracy in the first 2 years of…

Each of the 161 National Writing Project sites offers an intensive institute every summer and invites distinguished local teachers of writing from all grade levels, from kindergarten through university, to attend. The institute focuses on these teachers, examining their exemplary classroom practices, supporting their work with research studies,…

This action research project describes a program to increase the basic writing ability and improve the attitude of sixth grade students. The targeted classroom was located in a unit district 45 miles northwest of a large metropolitan area. The district's population consists of a large amount of minority students and low-income families. Evidence…

This annotated bibliography is intended to help teachers of composition improve writing quality of entering college students. The main body of the report is preceded by a brief summary of sources for faculty interested in examining the causes attributed to the decline in college students' writing skills, including: "National Assessment and the…

This report describes a program for motivating primary students to improve their writing skills. The targeted population consists of first and second grade students located in a large urban area. The need for improving writing skills is evidenced by classroom teacher observations, class participation, writing assessments, and student journals.…

This study describes a program designed to improve students' writing skills in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consists of third and fifth grade elementary students in two separate communities ranging from low to middle class, located in two midwestern suburbs of a large city. Evidence for the existence of the…