Traditionally, feedback to writing is written on drafts or given orally in roving or more formal conferences and is considered a significant part of instruction. This paper locates written response within an assessment for learning framework in the writing classroom. Within this framework, quality of response was defined in terms of providing…

Teaching foreign language writing often lacks adjustments to the requirements of today's students of the "Internet Generation" (iGen): traditionally teachers set a--not very inspiring--topic, a deadline and then return a discouraging, manually underlined and/or annotated text without systematic labeling. The annotated document is then…

A study of the implementation of boy-friendly strategies for teaching writing was conducted in order to determine if the strategies would improve the writing achievement of fifth grade boys, thereby narrowing the gender achievement gap in writing. The strategies were categorized in four modalities: self-efficacy, perception/attitude, performance,…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the four assessments for entrance into an academic middle school gifted English program were accurately predicting success, as measured by students' grades each nine-week grading period. Some students were dismissed from the program each year because they could not maintain the required minimum average…

This paper reports on a study examining the effects of visualizing online writing activities on student behaviors and learning outcomes. A design-based research approach was adopted to develop and integrate theory and practice in natural educational settings (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012). The study was conducted in an 18-week, semester-long…

Data is reported as percentages based on proficiency in the subject. "Low-income" on this data sheet means students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Reading data is from 2009 National Center for Education Statistics assessments and writing data is from 2002 and 2007. A brief list of references and resources is included.

Moderate to high percentages of Wake County Public School (WCPSS) students demonstrated grade-level performance on K-5 assessments in 2009-10. Results indicate very slight changes from prior years. The percentage of students proficient in reading book level and mathematics strands increased very slightly since 2007-08. Modest declines in…

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the distinctness and reliability of analytic (or multi-trait) rating dimensions and their relationships to holistic scores and "e-rater"[R] essay feature variables in the context of the TOEFL[R] computer-based test (TOEFL CBT) writing assessment. Data analyzed in the study were holistic…

The advent of No Child Left Behind led to increased teacher accountability for student performance and placed strict sanctions in place for failure to meet a certain level of performance each year. With instructional time at a premium, it is imperative that educators have brief academic assessments that accurately predict performance on…

This study aimed to ascertain the current level of writing apprehension experienced by Saudi prospective EFL teachers and their current level of essay writing ability. It also aimed to assess the impact of peer reviewing on their writing apprehension level and essay writing ability. Data collection was carried out via two instruments: Second…

This study explores the extent to which students in a community college remedial English as a second language (ESL) course engaged with a class wiki and the relationship between their pattern of engagement over time and success in exiting remediation. Participants included 47 students in two sections of ESL writing during the spring 2009 semester.…

For purposes of the present study, it was hypothesized that field (in)dependence would introduce systematic variance into EFL learners' performance on composition tests. 1743 freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students all majoring in English at different Iranian universities and colleges took the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The…

In this article, leaders of the North Carolina Writing Project explore whether students of teachers who attended Writing Project summer institutes out-performed other teachers' students on state writing tests. The authors accordingly developed a test to compare the writing of those students with the writing of students of non-writing project…

The purpose of this case study is to document the ways in which fifth-grade students in a historically, low-performing school learned to write from a teacher who did not emphasize test-taking processes. The study demonstrates how these instructional practices in a writing workshop context positively affected the student performance on a statewide…

In today's society, writing with paper and pencil has largely been replaced by writing using a computer. Students are expected to compose on a computer as they move through school and into the workforce. Reflecting the changes in technology, eighth- and twelfth-grade students taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing…