A comprehensive review was conducted of writing research literature and writing test program activities in a number of testing programs. The review was limited to writing assessments used for admission in higher education. Programs reviewed included ACT, Inc.'s ACT™ program, the California State Universities and Colleges (CSUC) testing program,…

In 1999, the City University of New York (CUNY) abolished remedial programs in its four-year colleges and began to rely on standardized test scores as criteria both for exiting remediation and for admission to bachelor's programs. By doing that, the university has in effect eradicated its three-decade-old "open admissions" policy, argue…

With a Finnish-speaking majority and a Swedish-speaking minority, Finland offers a striking contrast in the kinds of cross-linguistic influence that can occur in the acquisition of English in a multilingual setting. While much previous research has looked at the differences between Finnish and Swedish influences, our study compares Swedish…

Gossip has mainly been investigated as an oral discourse practice, one that serves as a mechanism to reaffirm relationships and to construct, monitor and maintain social norms and values within communities. This study investigates how a group of Aboriginal English speaking teenage girls constructed norms, values and identities in their email…

This monograph consists of 13 chapters featuring a diverse range of perspectives centralizing student standpoints about their experiences in higher education and access programs. Chapter 1, "Student Perspectives on College Readiness" (Jeanne L. Higbee), provides the results of a survey of developmental education students regarding college…

Cost-effective classroom teaching strategies are provided for teachers working with students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders in inclusive settings from late elementary through early high school levels. Section 1 discusses the importance of learning strategies and includes an overview of strategic learning in the…

This report, mandated by Ohio's 119th General Assembly, examines the fairness and appropriateness of the state's ninth-grade proficiency test. Under the assumption that it is indeed fair and appropriate to have a single, statewide graduation standard for all students, the study focuses on the issue of whether the test, as developed and…

A study investigated how students of English as a second language (ESL) improved their use of learning strategies through awareness-raising in group interviews and informal training. Subjects were 68 Taiwanese university students in two freshman English classes. Subjects responded to an English learning strategy questionnaire in the beginning and…

This evaluation reports on a project that used word processing in process writing as a method for teaching written Norwegian to Norwegian students in grades 5 and 8. Process writing refers to the process of writing and rewriting or the various stages of producing written text. Students start with a first draft and work gradually toward a finished…

A collection of essays on bilingualism and its relationship to development of reading and writing skills includes: "Awareness of Text Structure: Effects on Recall" (Patricia L. Carrell); "Second-Language Readers' Memory for Narrative Texts: Evidence for Structure-Preserving Top-Down Processing" (Yukie Horiba, Paul W. van den…

The 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) monitored the performance of students in American schools in reading, mathematics, science, and writing. The sample consisted of more than 145,000 public and private school students in grades 4, 8, 11, and 12. This technical report provides details of instrument development, sample…

This learning module was developed during a project to deliver workplace literacy instruction to individuals employed in the more than 50 businesses related to the activities of the Port of Baltimore. It contains a sample of individual lessons that the project instructors used in individualized tutorial sessions with students working on reading,…

This guide is designed for Alberta (Canada) parents of French immersion students beginning formal English language instruction for the first time. In question-and-answer format, it discusses issues commonly of concern to these parents. Issues addressed include the following: why English instruction is introduced in the second or third year of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has measured students' progress toward higher achievement since 1969, assessing students in public and nonpublic schools in various subject areas on a regular basis. The NAEP has also collected background information about students to provide a context for interpreting assessment results and…

The discussion of technology in the classroom, particularly for second language instruction, looks at: current practices in technology-enhanced schoolrooms or learning centers; benefits and liabilities of technology-mediated language learning; and the as yet unrealized promise of computer-assisted language learning for the student and the teacher.…