Describes holistic scoring as one of the biggest breakthroughs in writing assessment. Suggests that the technique's high interrater reliability coefficients partly explain holistic scoring's popularity. Argues that validity has been largely neglected. Concludes that more must be learned about the uses and effects of holistic scoring. (SG)

Teachers using the self-regulated strategy development approach instruct students in task-specific strategies along with more general strategies for regulating the students' strategy use and the learning process. Examines the components, stages, and characteristics of such an approach, along with its effectiveness in helping students with learning…

A study examined the writing practices, attitudes, and beliefs about the importance of writing at work of "basic" writers and "strong" writers. Subjects were graduates of Francis Marion College for the years 1984 to 1989. Questionnaires were returned by 119 of the 182 basic writers (identified through placement in remedial…

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,…

Reflecting advances in the understanding of language, learning, and the complex literacy demands of a rapidly changing democratic and technological society, this booklet provides a set of standards to guide decisions about assessing the teaching and learning of reading and writing. After an introduction that presents an overview of what is meant…

A case study explored the issue of writing at transition, by describing the types of writing tasks a group of four pupils did at the end of Year 6, and at the beginning of Year 7. The range of writing activities has not changed much in the last 20 years, in spite of the introduction of the National Curriculum. The data indicate a mismatch of…

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…

This study examined student writing over the past decades. The National Study of Writing Instruction addressed questions through analyses of existing data sets, particularly those from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which include background questions on instructional practices in U.S. middle and high schools. NAEP…

During the summer of 1990, a university English education professor in Indiana responded to the writing of 20 fourth through seventh graders via a computer installed in his home. The students wrote daily anything ranging from a 3-line haiku to 10-20 computer-screen stories. The classroom teacher took the students through the steps in the writing…

Providing information to help develop students' sense of narrative and to show them specific test-taking strategies, this publication is helpful to teachers as they ready their students for the North Carolina Fourth Grade Writing Assessment. The publication provides materials on generating ideas for writing, selecting topics, revising, developing…

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…