This position statement from the Conference on College Composition and Communication begins with a "foundation claim": in all situations calling for writing assessment, the primary purpose of the specific assessment should govern its design, implementation, and the generation and dissemination of its results. It describes 10 assumptions about…

The purpose of this booklet is to provide administrators, teachers, and students in Alberta, Canada, with samples of students' writing that exemplify the criteria used to score students' written responses on the June 1991 Grade 9 Social Studies Achievement Test. The Grade 9 Social Studies Achievement Test consisted of two parts: Part A: Multiple…

The summary information in this report provides teachers, school administrators, students, and the general public in Alberta, Canada with an overview of results from the June 1998 administration of the English 33 Diploma Examination. The information in the report is most helpful when used in conjunction with the detailed school and jurisdiction…

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…

In response to a state-wide request in 1986-87 from the governor of Missouri, public institutions of higher education undertook assessment projects related to their students' basic skills. English faculty at Missouri Western State College conducted a composition assessment project in which they used timed holistically scored writing as a means of…

This handbook presents an overview of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and a description of the Writing Assessment. Districts are encouraged to use the procedures and methods described to create prompts and score writing samples as part of their district-level assessment program. After an introduction and overview of the Pennsylvania…

This booklet contains some examples of the assessment items used in the fifth English language survey of the Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP). The examples in the booklet are intended to provide teachers with a clear idea of the range of items used in the survey in the hope that they will provide material for personal professional…

This handbook guides teachers through nine workshops designed to share strategies for success on writing tests. The workshops in the handbook give practical ideas that can be implemented in the elementary classroom to set the stage for test success without compromising children's growth as writers. Following a foreword by Michael R. Sampson and…

The personal statement as an indicator of writing skill was evaluated by comparing personal statements with standardized essay measures of writing ability for 475 graduate students. Correlations of the essay and the personal statement with nontest indicators of writing skill indicate that the traditional essay was more highly related to nearly all…

Summarizes recent developments in the use of technology in schools and state-level testing programs. Presents results of two studies, one with 114 students and one with about 200 students, that indicate that written tests administered on paper underestimate the achievement of students accustomed to working with computers. (SLD)

Describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 writing assessment, Includes average scores and achievement-level results for the United States and the states, for demographic subgroups, and for students in a variety of contexts. Also examines the framework and content of the assessment. (Author/SLD)

Peer review has become commonplace in composition courses and is increasingly employed in the context of telecommunication technology. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effects of anonymous and identifiable electronic peer (e-peer) review on college student writing performance and the extent of critical peer feedback. Participants…

A study examined the issue of language correctness in Alberta's English 30 diploma examination papers written in January and June 1993 which received a score of "satisfactory" on matters of convention. A total of 160 papers (which received either a score of "satisfactory" on all scoring categories, scores of "limited"…

Designed to provide an experience as close as possible to the actual assessment, this paper presents the revised model of assessment in writing for the Michigan High School Test (HST). The revisions incorporated into the paper reflect the testing transition from the High School Proficiency Test to the HST. Session 1 looks at how well students can…

This report is designed for educators who are involved in teaching, developing, or evaluating curriculum in the elementary schools. It describes the content and application of Florida's fourth grade writing test, and it offers suggestions that might be helpful in preparing students for the assessment. The 1990 Florida legislature mandated the…