A study examined the effect of computer-assested instruction on fourth graders' writing skills. Two fourth grade classes from one elementary school in New Jersey participated in the study. One class (the experimental sample) was taught to use the computer as a writing tool, while the other class (the control sample) used only pencil and paper. Both classes were given a pretest and a posttest. Holistic scoring was used to score the paragraphs. Results indicated a significant improvement in writing skills in the experimental class as compared to that of the control class. (Contains four tables of data and 17 references. Appendixes contain a survey and test scores. (Author/SR)