In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of New York eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Northeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from the…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of North Carolina eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Southeast region of the United States and the nation (using data…

This report describes the writing achievement of Rhode Island eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Northeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from the NAEP national assessments). In Rhode Island, 2516 students from 50 public schools and 434 students from 20 nonpublic schools were…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of Washington eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the West region of the United States and the nation (using data from the…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of West Virginia eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students in the Southeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from…

In 1998 for the first time, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) administered a writing assessment at the state level. This report describes the writing achievement of Virgin Islands eighth-grade students and compares their overall performance to students nationwide (using data from the NAEP national assessments). In the Virgin…

The book examines why college students still write poorly and why various attempts to redress such poor writing skills have failed for the most part by presenting 19 essays by leading writing professionals, English professors, educational theorists, teachers, and curriculum designers. The essays describe what students can and cannot do in the…

This packet assists Michigan teachers in improving writing instruction and student performance based on a better understanding of the holistic scoring guides used for the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) grades 5, 8, and 11 High School Proficiency Test (HPST) writing tests. The packet includes actual scored student papers (released…

The purpose of this writing sampler is to familiarize Delaware teachers and students with the major writing portion of the Delaware Student Testing Program. Included for each grade level (3, 5, 8, and 10) are the original prompt and an example of exemplary student work. Although the intent was to include student work for each of the rubric score…

Evidence about students' performance in writing persuasive/argumentative discourse is examined through a review of the literature. Results suggest that students write narrative or descriptive reports better than argumentative reports. Questions of the difficulty and development of teaching persuasive/argumentative writing are considered, and…

This review of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test--Revised (often used with learning-disabled students) notes the addition of a Written Expression subtest, replacement of most items to reflect current curricular content, and use of updated norms. The test also measures: general information, reading recognition, reading comprehension,…

Thirty-three gifted fourth graders received writing strategy instruction and were given a goal of learning to use the strategy of writing paragraphs. The children who received feedback on their progress achieved better writing outcomes and transfer than children who did not. These children judged their self-efficacy for writing improvement higher…

Two experiments involving 60 fifth graders and 40 fourth graders investigated how goal setting and progress feedback affect self-efficacy and writing achievement. The process goal with progress feedback had the greatest impact on achievement outcomes. Self-efficacy was highly predictive of writing skill and strategy use. (SLD)

Reviews classroom-based studies on alternative literacy assessment. Suggests that alternative assessments in some cases tapped elements of the reading process that are more difficult to assess through traditional testing practices and created an impetus for some teachers to explore certain instructional issues. Finds little information on the…

A Colorado elementary school used its assessment program to measure everything that affected student performance; they then changed or cut anything that did not improve achievement. Teachers routinely instructed and pretested each child at his/her achievement level. The result: high gains on the 1998 Colorado State Assessment. (MLH)