The authors surveyed graduate programs to see how they use the Graduate Record Examination Analytic Writing (GRE-AW) Test. Only 35% of the graduate programs that responded use the GRE-AW test in their admission policy; of the programs not using it, most do not plan to do so. The programs using the GRE-AW rated it as medium or low in importance in…

Describes how the College Board has approved a series of changes to the controversial SAT; a writing test will be added, along with new approaches on reading and math questions. (EV)

This paper is an examination of statewide district writing achievement gain data from the Nebraska Statewide Writing Assessment system and implications for statewide assessment writing models. The writing assessment program is used to gain compliance with the United States No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB), a federal effort to influence school…

This article explores the use of scoring rubrics in the context of deteriorating material conditions of writing instruction. The author hopes to offer a consideration of rubrics that enables a revision of rubric designs, in order to facilitate teacher response to student writing, and that offers suggestions for uses of rubrics that account for…

This paper provides information about New Mexico High School Competency Examination (NMHSCE), a minimum competency test. Its purpose is to meet a state mandate. It will be replaced by the Grade 11 Standards Based Assessment/High School Graduation Assessment (SBA/HSGA) in spring 2011 as the state's high school exit exam. The NMHSCE was administered…

This study examined the reliability of scores assigned to the essays written by Kentucky students to meet the University Writing Requirement (UWR) at Eastern Kentucky University. Two sets of essays, 50 each, on the same prompt that had been read and scored in 1989 and 1997 by trained UWR scorers were read by 7 UWR scorers in 2000. A correlation…

Discusses the heavy demand on teachers and students for making sense of writing test scores. Illustrates the interpretive demands of going beyond writing test scores to make sense of the scores. Suggests that these demands point to the need for professional development in this area. (RS)

Discusses various reasons why teachers should pay attention to religious writing from students. Uses examples taken from proficiency exam reader-training sessions. (NH)

Used an analytic rubric to score 120 writing samples from Georgia's 11th grade writing assessment. Raters augmented scores by adding a "+" or "-" to the score. Results indicate that this method of augmentation tends to improve most indices of interrater reliability, although the percentage of exact and adjacent agreement…

Presented at the national conference for AERA (American Educational Research Association) . This study examined whether there are distinct differences in the demographic characteristics, HSGPA, first-year college performance, and second-year college retention rates among students who have discrepant CR-W performance.

In order to motivate university students to improve their English proficiency, the Hong Kong government decided to adopt a common exit English language test for all graduating students. In the process of selecting a suitable measure for this purpose, an empirical study with a sample of over 240 students was conducted to compare two English…

This paper provides information about Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) and Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT). The purpose of the exams is to: (1) Ensure that students qualifying for a diploma have mastered essential core academic content and skills. All students seeking a Georgia high school diploma must pass the GHSGT in four…

This paper provides information about Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and TAKS (Accommodated) Phasing in End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments. The purpose of the tests is to: (1) Meet a state mandate; (2) Provide schools with student academic diagnostic information; (3) Determine prospective high school graduates' mastery of the state…

This paper provides information about Washington Assessment of Student Learning and the new High School Proficiency Exam. The purpose of the exam is to: (1) Determine prospective high school graduates' knowledge and skill levels relative to those needed for entry-level employment and postsecondary education; (2) Determine prospective high school…

No published studies have sufficiently focused on essay topic writability from the perspective of college writers of the new millennium including native English speakers and ESL speakers. In this study, 500 college writers in Metro Toronto in Canada were interviewed to uncover if they found some essay topics easier than other topics. The results…