TR 22. Promises of Coherence, Weak Content, and Strong
Organization: An Analysis of the Student Texts, by
Margaret Kantz (Reading-to-Write Report 3). This report
describes the ways that readers saw the structures in a
set of freshman essays and discusses the problems the
judges had in agreeing on how some students had
interpreted the writing assignment. Analysis of students'
organizing plans suggests that both students and teachers
may sometimes confuse coherence strategies (for text) with
knowledge transformation strategies (for content). May,
1989; 35 pages; $4.00.
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TR 23. Students' Self-Analyses and Judges' Perceptions:
Where Do They Agree? by John Ackerman (Reading-to-Write
Report 4). This report summarizes student accounts of how
they composed a first draft and then compares and
contrasts how students and teachers evaluated the same
essays. Students' self-analysis checklists showed a strong
shift in perception for students in the experimental
training condition, but a tellingly low agreement with
judges' perceptions of the texts. May, 1989; 29 pages;
$4.00.
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TR 41. Evaluating Text Quality: The Continuum from
Text-Focused to Reader-Focused Methods, by Karen A.
Schriver. Noting that even experienced writers often need
help in diagnosing text problems, Schriver discusses the
strengths and limitations of three methods for evaluating
text quality: (a) text-focused (including computer-based
stylistic analysis programs), (b) expert-judgment-focused,
and (c) reader-focused. She concludes that reader-focused
approaches offer the best opportunity for detecting
problems in a text. March, 1990; 36 pages; $4.00.
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TR 46. Plain Language for Expert or Lay Audiences:
Designing Text Using Protocol-Aided Revision, by
Karen A. Schriver. This paper addresses both critics and
proponents of the "plain language" movement, arguing for a
redefinition of plain English and suggesting a method for
assessing whether or not a text is indeed clear to its
intended readership. Using two case studies, Schriver
details the process of protocol-aided revision, which uses
reader feedback to help writers to modify texts for expert
or lay audiences. She also provides a cognitive model of
the process of protocol-aided revision. February, 1991; 38
pages; $4.00.
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TR 58. Composition in the Context of CAP: A Case Study
of the Interplay Between Assessment and School Life,
by Peggy Trump Loofbourrow. This study examines the impact
of a large-scale writing assessment, the California
Assessment Program (CAP), on the life of one junior high
school, analyzing how teachers and administrators at the
school prepared students for the eighth-grade assessment.
Loofbourrow finds that teachers' interpretations of the
assessment, influenced by their own education, experience,
and teaching philosophy, result in significant differences
in writing instruction in individual classrooms. Winner of
NCTE's Promising Researcher Award. January, 1992; 30 pages;
$4.00.
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TR 61. The Development of Writing Abilities in a
Foreign Language: Contributions Toward a General
Theory of L2 Writing, by Guadalupe Valdes, Paz Haro, and
Maria Paz Echevarriarza. This paper contributes to a
theory of foreign language writing by examining current
assumptions about the development of writing skills in a
foreign language embedded in the ACTFL Proficiency
Guidelines. The authors test these assumptions by
analyzing writing produced by university students studying
Spanish at three levels of proficiency. April, 1992; 30
pages; $4.00.
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TR 65. Student Portfolios and Teacher Logs: Blueprint
for a Revolution in Assessment, by Robert C. Calfee
and Pam Perfumo. This report reviews the concept of
alternative assessment in a specific situation: teacher
assessment of student achievement in the language arts in
the elementary grades. Calfee and Perfumo first present
preliminary findings from a survey of portfolio practice
in selected elementary programs throughout the United
States. They then present a new concept, the Teacher
Logbook, designed to support and effectuate the portfolio
approach, and to connect portfolios to other facets of
teacher professionalization. April, 1993; 12 pages; $3.50.
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TR 69. Implications of Cognitive Psychology for
Authentic Assessment and Instruction, by Robert
Calfee. Calfee offers a brief sketch of developments in
the psychology of learning and thinking over the past half
century, provides a few thoughts about the forks in the
road that now confront U.S. educators (continuing a
tradition of "managed" schooling versus a radical
transformation in the teaching profession), focuses on
testing and assessment (probably the point of greatest
tension at present), and describes an assessment model
that relies on teacher judgments for both internal and
external accountability. May, 1994; 22 pages; $4.00.
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OP 27. Evaluating Writing: Linking Large-Scale Testing
and Classroom Assessment, by Sarah Warshauer Freedman.
Freedman focuses on two currently distinct kinds of
writing evaluation: large-scale testing at the national,
state, district, or school level; and classroom assessment
by teachers looking at the writing of their own students.
To help bridge the wide gap between teachers of writing
and the testing and measurement community, Freedman
describes several portfolio assessment programs that offer
potential models for ways to strengthen both large-scale
evaluation and classroom instruction. May, 1991; 20 pages;
$3.50.
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OP 28. A Social Perspective on Informal Assessment:
Voices, Texts, Pictures, and Play from a First
Grade, by Sarah Merritt and Anne Haas Dyson. This paper
focuses on a first grade classroom in a multi-ethnic urban
school and discusses the ways in which Merritt, as the
classroom teacher, informally assesses the progress of her
students. Merritt and Dyson show how a teacher, like an
archaeologist gathering artifacts, can use the materials
produced in a classroom's social community to search for
clues that make clear how and what children are learning
and how teachers might best support that learning.
September, 1991; 24 pages; $4.00.
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OP 38. School Reform through Examinations: Lessons from
the British Experience, by Sarah Warshauer Freedman.
Recent calls for national achievement examinations for
American students appear to be modeled on the British
examination system. In this paper, Freedman considers the
effects of the British examination system on what and how
students learn in one area of the curriculum, English
language and literature. She presents evidence that
suggests that a system of high-stakes examinations, even
well-designed performance-based examinations, presents a
flawed foundation on which to build an educational reform
movement. She further argues that a stronger foundation
for educational reform will likely come through working
with teachers and school administrators to rethink and
reshape the curriculum as well as the organization of the
school, with testing following from, not leading the
reform effort. June, 1994; 12 pages; $3.50.
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OP 39. Ahead to the Past: Assessing Student Achievement
in Writing, by Robert C. Calfee. This paper, written in
non-technical language for a general audience, outlines
recent developments in the area of assessment. Calfee
provides a brief history of assessment methods, including
the development of standardized achievement tests and the
evolution of alternative forms of assessment such as
writing portfolios. He then summarizes a Center survey of
portfolio practices in classrooms across the nation,
demonstrating how portfolios are understood and
interpreted in a variety of ways. He then discusses the
role of students and parents in alternative assessment and
concludes with observations about where the portfolio
movement is headed. August, 1994; 10 pages; $3.50.
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