Composition theorists concerned with students' academic writing ability have long questioned the application of voice as a standard for writing competence, and second language compositionists have suggested that English language learners may be disadvantaged by the practice of emphasizing voice in the evaluation of student writing. Despite these…

This study examines discussions of model papers in a high school Advanced Placement English classroom where students were preparing for a high-stakes writing assessment. Much of the current research on talk about writing in various contexts such as classroom discourse, teacher-student writing conferences, and peer tutoring has emphasized the…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of formulaic writing such as the five-paragraph theme (FPT) or essay for the purpose of earning high scores on high-stakes writing assessments. This qualitative descriptive study analyzed more than 1000 essays from Delaware Grade 8 and 10 writers, written for a statewide…

Explores the effects of a high-stakes, direct writing test on three teachers and their students. Suggests that an emphasis on test preparation diminished the likelihood of the teachers' engaging in reflective practice that is sensitive to the needs of individual students, and that the high-stakes assessment process discounted the validity of…

Explores how writing instructors at "City University" grappled with crises of standardization in evaluation of students' portfolios. Details the two most severe experiences in multiple breakdowns in the project of standardization: crises of textual representation and crises of evaluative subjectivity. Examines conflicting interpretations…

Examines the relationship between teachers' perceptions of gender-related differences in grade 6 students' narrative writing and teachers' scoring of five student narrative papers. Finds that teachers observed gender-related narrative writing characteristics that were consistent with researchers' analyses of children's narrative writing. (PA)

Examines student responses to their teachers' written comments on their papers. Finds that students are equally interested in getting responses on content, purpose and organization as on sentence structure, wording and correctness; and students prefer specific comments with explanations over negative comments or comments that seek to control their…

Reflects on a long career concerning teaching and testing at the secondary and college level. Talks about the relationship between secondary school testing and preparation, college entrance standards, and trends in college course organization and testing. (TB)

Uses 90 postsecondary writing instructors and their rankings of 9 student essays to determine whether they have biases for a Greco-Latinate or Anglo-Saxon vocabulary. Raises questions about assessment practices, teaching methods, and possible effects on students who are exposed to teachers who variously favor a Greco-Latinate or an Anglo-Saxon…

Describes research studies related to the study and teaching of literature, writing, and English teacher education. (HOD)

Using a random sample of 493 persuasive papers written by 17-year-olds during the 1978-79 National Assessment of Educational Progress writing evaluation, a study investigated the relationships among features of textual cohesion and primary trait assessments of writing quality and coherence, with manuscript length held statistically constant. (HOD)

Examines the language of writing groups at fifth, eighth, and eleventh grade levels to determine what students say when they critique one another's work. Analysis of idea units revealed that the highest proportion focused on the content of writing. The rubric for coding ideas is appended. (HOD)

Observations of four students, from their second through fourth grades, as they evaluated compositions revealed, among other findings, that (1) affective responses tend to dominate quality judgments, (2) the number of criteria children used in arriving at quality judgments increased over time, and (3) evaluation criteria are used in both planning…

Lists and annotates books and articles on the following topics: (1) writing contexts; (2) status surveys; (3) writing instruction; (4) writing processes; (5) text analysis; (6) writing assessment; (7) writing and learning; (8) language processing; (9) language development; (10) language interrelationships; and (11) language and schooling. Also…

Describes the changes basic writers made to an impromptu in-class essay when the essays were taken home and revised. Suggests that some basic writers have sophisticated revising skills, and that assessment which allows time for revision can give these students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills. (RAE)