SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 19
Download to read offline
DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 048 844 JC 710 080
AUTHOR Cohen, Arthur M.
TITLE A Procedure for Assessing Students" Ability to Write
Compositions.
PUB DATE 71
NOTE 18p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
California Educational Research Association, April
29-30, 1971, San Diego, California
EDRS PRICE
DESCRIPTORS
EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29
Composition (Literary), *Composition Skills
(Literary), Evaluation Methods, *Evaluation
Techniques, *Junior Colleges, Observation,
*Performance Criteria, Performance Specifications,
*Writing Skills
ABSTRACT
This investigation developed a procedure for scoring
English compositions that would be simple enough for use by junior
college instructors with minimal statistical assistance, and still
yield data that would allow sound inferences regarding student
placement procedures and assessment of instructional effects.
Twenty-one instructors from 14 junior colleges developed a scoring
key that included 19 dichotomous criteria and learned to use it
reliably. They collected pre- and post-compositions from students in
their classes during the first and last week of the fall semester,
and scored the compositions without their knowing the student's name,
course level, institution, or whether the composition was a pre- or
post-sample. Comparing class means, significant differences were
found between remedial and transfer groups and between pre- and
post-test performance on item clusters relating to "content" and
"organization," but not on "mechanics." The procedure was found to be
feasible for use in departmental settings. (Author/CA)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION
& WELFARE
OFFICE OF EDUCATION
THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED
EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR
ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF
VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECES
SARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU
CATION POSITION OR POLICY.
Paper Presented at The Annual Meeting
California Educational Research Association
April 29, 1971
-41"
CO
CO
O
41"
A PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSING STUDENTS' ABILITY
C:3
L&J TO WRITE COMPOSITIONS*
Arthur M. Cohen
ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges
University of California, Los Angeles
The problem was to develop a procedure for scoring English
compositions that would be simple enough for use by junior college
instructors with minimal statistical assistancelyet yield data that
would allow sound inferences regarding student placement procedures
and assessment of instructional effects.
Twenty-one instructors from 14 junior colleges developed a
scoring key that included 19 dichotomous criteria and learned to
use it reliably. They collected pre- and post-compositions from
students in their classes (total N = 878) during the first and last
week of the Fall Semester, and scored the compositions without thr
knowing the students' names, course level, institution, or whether
the composition was a pre- or post-sample.
Comparing class means, significant differences were found between
remedial and transfer groups and between pre- and post-test performance
on item clusters relating to "content" and "organization" but not on
"mechanics." The procedure was found to be feasible for use in depart-
mental settings.
0
*The full study will be reported in detail in a monograph by
Arthur M. Cohen, M. Stephen Sheldon, and James Chadbourne, to be
gt.) published in fan, 1971 in the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges/
11.7
American Association of Junior Colleges Monograph series.
1
Many arguments may be raised regarding the need for valid studies
of instruction in written composition in the junior college. Most of
these arguments revolve around the contention that although English
composition is a required course in nearly all colleges, the instructors
assigned to the task find it impossible to agree on what constitutes
good writing, how it should be taught, or even if it should be taught
(Bossone, 1966, 1969). Several studies have called for continuing in-
quiry into the nature and effects of teaching composition - -as for example
those reported by Shugrue (1970), Archer (1965), and Weingarten and
Kroeger (1965). However, the question of what students learn in the
courses--if anything--is still hotly debated.
Student learning in English composition classes is typically
assessed in various ways. Scores on alternate forms of various normative
tests may be compared or grade marks issued by the instructors examined.
However, these types of measures lack several key elements. The grade
marks tell little about student learning: Were they issued in response
to students' participation in class? Did they depend on written assign-
merzs, on performance on quick score tests, on the preparation of research
papers? Were they based on the common practice of combining various types
of measures into a single score? When one instructor grades his students
according to how well they learned to write, is he applying the same
standard as his colleague? The standardized tests have different types
of problems. First, they offer, at best, analogous assessments of
students' ability to write; second, and most important, the instructors
doubt their veracity. As Stake points out, "...indirect measurement of
achievement is irrelevant, even offensive, to many curriculum developers
and supervisors of instruction. They want to know what has been learned.
They want to know what deficiencies remain in student understanding. The
standardized test does not tell them" (1967, p 6).
If the indirect measure of achievement is "irrelevant" to the
curriculum developer, it is anathema to the instructor who maintains that
no one knows his students as he does! The instructor frequently insists
on relying on his own judgment even if that judgment is reported out in
the form of grade marks which subsume a variety of student skills.
Accordingly, in the usual junior college situation, an unbridgeable gulf
exists between the institutional researcher who is charged with validating
placement procedures and assessing the efficacy of instructional tech-
niques and the English instructor who wants no part of any outsider's
studies. If the researcher expectr. the instructors to attend to his
findings, to change their procedures accordingly--or even to acquiesce to
his collecting data directly from their students--the instructors must
be convinced that his research design is valid in their terms. They must
understand the design, believe it will aid their own instructional opera-
tions, yield data of use to them. One way of gaining their support--or
at least mitigating their dissatisfaction--is to involve them in the
design and conduct of the study itself. This means implicating them at
every step of the way, not merely reporting the results to them or soli-
citing their aid as data tabulators. In many investigations, even when
the instructors have been involved in decisions regarding the measurable
variables, the collection of data, and the analysis of results, the de-
signs employed have lacked one or more crucial elements; hence, the
2
findings have been equivocal. Sound experimental design and the in-
structors both must be satisfied.
Since many instructors seem to believe--perhaps rightfully so --
that it is not desirable to measure analogous behavior, any experimental
procedure must incorporate equivalents--that is, compositions written
under classroom conditions as samples of student performance. And,
because the instructors do not trust the judgment of anyone other than
themselves in reading these compositions, they must be employed in the
composition scoring. In addition, instructor bias--intended or otherwise- -
must be mitigated through multiple blind scoring; the instructors must not
know whose paper they are reading and whether it was written prior to, or
subsequent to, instruction. Nor should they know in whose class it was
written or the "level" of the students. The design must also insure re-
liability of reading or at least mitigate the effects of unreliability.
In other words, extreme care must be taken to keep the instructors in-
volved at every step of the way without allowing them to prejudge the
results.
This is a report of an investigation which directly involved junior
college English instructors in designing and conducting a study of student
learning. The experimental procedures maximally involved the instructors,
while yielding reliable and valid measures of their students' abilities to
write compositions. The study was based on the assumptions that one of
the major purposes of composition courses is to enharme students' ability
to write compositions; that this change in ability can be measured by
assessing compositions written prior to, and again after, instruction;
and that compositions can be validly assessed using a multiple blind
technique. The design was developed at a workshop sponsored by the League
for Innovation in the Community College at UCLA. Twenty-one instructors
from fourteen junior colleges met for two weeks. They selected topics
on which their students would write, developed a scoring key, familiarized
themselves with the categories in the key, and committed themselves to
conducting the investigation. The investigation was subsequently coordin-
ated by the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges with statistical analyses
made by M. Stephen Sheldon.
THE DESIGN
The instructors selected a pair of topics because one "before"
and one "after" composition had to be collected from each of their students.
Certain topics were avoided--for example, those that might tend to invite
triteness and those that would be biased against students who might prefer
not to reveal personal matters or who might not believe the presenting
statements. The instructors also decided that rhetorical devices should
not be suggested. The topics they chose were "What makes a good adver-
tisement?" and "What makes a good entertainer?" The instructors also
developed a scoring key (Figure 1) and practiced using it on sample
compositions.
At the beginning of the fall term, the investigator prepared blue-
books with instructions to the students noted on the cover (Figure 2) and
sent them to the instructors. During the first week of the semester each
0
Figure 1
YES NO
SCORE SHEET
Content I. 1. Ideas themselves are insightful.
2. Ideas are creative or original
3. Ideas are rational or logical.
4. Ideas are expressed with clarity.
Organization II. 5. There is a thesis.
6. Order of thesis idea is followed throughout
the essay.
7. Thesis is adequately developed.
8. Every paragraph is relevant to the
thesis.
9. Each paragraph has a controlling
idea.
10. Each paragraph is developed with
relevant and concrete details.
11. The details that are included are
well ordered.
Mechanics III. 12. There are many misspellings.
13. There are serious punctuation
errors.
14. Punctuation errors are excessive.
15. There are errors in use of verbs.
16. There are errors in use of pro-
nouns.
17. There are errors in use of modi-
fiers.
18. There are distracting errors in
word usage.
1111111111
19. The sentences are awkward.
CODE NO.
4
3
Figure 2
Code Number
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENT
1. Fill in the form below:
Name
(LEAVE BLANK)
LAST NATO; FIRST NAME MIDDLE INITIAL
School
Course
Date
Sex: Male Female
Have you a high school diploma?
Have you attended any college
prior to this term?
Yes No
Yes No
under 17 17 18
Your age: (Check one)
12 20 21 22 23-26 27-30 31-35 36
2. Write a composition in thin bluebook.
Write in ink on one side of the page only.
Write on alternate lines.
You are to write on the topic: (to be selected
by participating instructors)
5
instructor randomly distributed the bluebooks to his students. Half had
the notation, "Write a composition on the topic, 'What makes a good ad-
vertisement?'"; an equivalent number called for the student to write on
the "entertainer" topic. Thus, half of each instructor's class wrote on
one topic at the beginning of the term and half on the other. These com-
positions were collected and sent to the investigator.
At the end of the semester, each student received a bluebook with
his name and the directive, "Write on the topic, 'What makes a good en-
tertainer (if he wrote previously on 'advertisement')' ?" and vice versa.
Each student, then, wrote on both topics, preparing one composition before
instruction began, the other at the end of the course. These compositions
also were sent to the investigator who removed all identifying marks from
each, entered its author's name on a list,and assigned a code number to it.
The code numbers did not reveal the time when, or by whom--or the college
at which - -the composition was written.
Because each instructor had used the students in one or more of his
awn classes as subjects, there were a total of twenty-four classes; five
of these were considered pre-college English and the remaining nineteen,
normal college classes for which the students received credit that could
be transferred to four year institutions. In order to lessen the number
of compositions that had to be scored, a random half of each of the pre-
and post-test essays were selected. Student absence, drop-out, and other
factors reduced the number of students who wrote compositions at the end
of instruction as compared with the number who had written at the beginning.
For the pre- test, 535 essays were scored--105 from remedial classes and
430 from the college English classes. The post-test sample consisted of
343 essays--47 from the remedial English classes and 296 from the transfer
courses. Within the total groomp, 184 students had both pre- and post-test
essays scored.
So that each participating instructor would score an approximately
equivalent number of compositions from each class, the bluebooks were
mixed together prior to distribution. Then, using the key he had helped
develop during the workshop, each instructor scored approximately 50
compositions. He did not know whether the composition was a pre- or
post-test essay, whether it was from a remedial or transfer class, or,
indeed, what student or college was represented. The scoring sheets
were then returned to the investigator for tabulation.
6
The Criterion Variable
Though much effort had gone into the development of the scoring key,
until the study was conducted, there was no way of determining the key's
reliability, validity, or internal consistency. In order to get some indi-
cation of reliability, four freshmen essays were duplicated and read indepen-
dently by 15 instructors. Each instructor marked each of the 19 items on
the scale for all four essays. The proportion of concurrence for each item
was computed independently for each of the essays. This index of concurrence
was simply the proportion of instructors who agreed that the item was either
a zero or a one. If, for instance, 12 of the 15 marked an item either "yes"
or "no," the index for that item would be .80. Table 1 shows the results
of this reliability study.
Inspection of the table indicates that the index of concurrence on the
items of the four essays ranged from .50 to 1.00. In interpreting this table
as an indication of reliability, the reader should keep in mind that on a
dichotomous variable, a chance score is .50. In other words, an index of
.50 would indicate zero reliability.
It is interesting to examine the variability that occurs in the reli-
ability, both across essays and across items. Examining the index for each
of the items, it seems evident that some--e.g., item 4 ("clarity of ideas")
and item 6 ("order of thesis idea is followed throughout the essay")--have
relatively low reliabilities, while others--e.g., item 2("creative or
original") and item 17 ("errors in use of modifiers")--appear quite reliable.
Continuing to examine the individual items, the variability in the index of
concurrence is also striking for some items. As most English teachers know
by insight, an essay that is clearly good or bad would receive a much higher
concurrence than one which is in between.
The validity of a criterion instrument that is purported to measure
achievement is difficult to establish empirically; one must resort to con-
struct validity. By the very nature of the development of this instrument,
validity was established. If 21 college English instructors agree that 19
items reflect the quality of an essay, one can assume construct validity.
Another way of perceiving validity is to use the concept of criterion
groups. One would, for instance, expect remedial English student essays to
be considerably poorer than transfer English essays. One would also expect
post-test essays to be considerably better than pre-test essays. To the
extent that the criterion instrument reflects these differences, it can he
considered valid for measuring the quality of the freshmen English essays.
This concept of validity will be discussed when looking at the results of
the experiment.
The internal consistency of the instrument is reflected by how well
each item is measuring that which the scale is purported to measure. For
the instrument in question, there are two ways of looking at this internal
consistency. One would be the correlation between each item and the sub-
total for each of the three areas, i.e., Content, Organization, and Mechanics.
A second would be reflected by the correlation between the subtotals and the
grand total. The matrices of these correlations appear in Tables 2 and 3.
Essay 1
Essay 2
Essay 3
Essay 4
Mean
CO
Table 1
Percentage of Concurrence
on Four Essays Graded Independently by Fifteen Instructors
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
.80 .87 .60 .67 .80 .64 .69 .72 .60 .73 .73 .93 .73 .73 .67 .93 .93 .53 .93
.73 .93 .87 .67 .80 .53 .67 .73 .73 .93 .57 .87 .93 .93 .50 .53 .87 .53 .53
.67 .93 .93 .60 .73 .50 .71 .79 .80 .93 .69 .93 .50 .87 .87 .67 1.0 .80 .73
.53 .87 .73 .50 .87 .57 .67 .93 .93 .80 .57 .60 .80 .73 .77 .53 .73 .80 .60
.68 .90 .78 .61 .80 .56. .69 .79 .77 .85 .64 .83 .74 .82 .70 .67 .88 .67 .70
15
16
12 1
8
Table 2
Correlations Between Items and Subscales
Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Content .73 .59 .73 .66
Organization .61 .78 .66 .78 .66 .60 .63
Mechanics .54 .58 .55 .59 .53 .44 . .57 .65
Table 3
Correlations Between Subscales and Total Score
Content
Organization
Mechanics
Organization
.58
Mechanics
.35
.20
Total
.78
.81
.69
9
Examination of Table 2 indicates there is indeed acceptable correla-
tion between each item and the sub-scale. Normal psychometric procedure
would indicate a .30 correlation as satisfactory and a .50, very good.
The correlations in Table 2 appear exceedingly high and suggest a great
deal of internal consistency for the sub-scales. The reader must keep in
mind, however, that there were relatively few items comprising each of the
sub-scales--four for Content, seven for Organization, and eight for Mechanics.
As a consequence, the correlations contain a significant ipsative factor.
Said another way, there is a large element of correlating numbers le,ich
contain a self-sameness.
The correlations of the sub-tests with the total and with each other
appear in Table 3. Very high correlations of the sub-tests with the total
are again influenced by the ipsative nature of the numbers. The relatively
low relationships between the scales can be perceived as a favorable charac-
teristic suggesting that each scale is measuring an independent variable in
the quality of the essays.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This study sought answers to certain general questions:
1. Was there any empirical validity to the scale that was developed?
2. Were freshmen students learning to write better as measured by
this scale?
3. Were there differences in the writing ability between students
assigned to remedial English and those assigned to transfer
English?
The answer to the first question, of necessity, hinges on the answers
to the second and third. If one considers the pre- and post-essays as one
set of criterion samples and the remedial and transfer essays as another,
the validity of the scale can be determined by the mean differences between
these criterion groups.
Broadly stated, question number two asks, "Is anyone learning to write?"
To answer this question, a number of data analysis techniques were employed.
First, the scores assigned to the pre- and post-essays for the remedial and
transfer English groups separately were scrutinized carefully. The means
and standard deviations for these groups appear in Table 4. These means and
standard deviations are broken out by sub-scale as well as total. Inspection
of the table indicates:that the post-test means are higher in every case than
the pyre -test means, with the exception of Scale 3, Mechanics, for the remedial
classes.
TO test the significance of the differences between these means, a two-
way analysis of variance was computed for each of the rub-scales and the
total: The main effects were pre-post essays and remedial-transfer essays.
The results of these analyses appear in Tables 5, 6, 7, and 8. Table 5
indicates that for the sub-scale Content the post-test is significantly higher
than the pre-, and, further, that the transfer English essays were significantly
10
10
Table 4
Means and Standard Deviations on Subscales and Total
Separated by Pre and Post Test and by Remedial College Classes
Remedial Classes
X
Pre-test
SD N X
Post-test
SD N
Content 1.21 1.21 105 1.77 1.17 47
Organization 2.64 2.14 105 3.81 2.18 47
Mechanics 5.58 2.18 105 5.49 2.15 47
Total 9.43 4.13 105 11.06 3.76 47
Transfer Classes
Content 1.78 1.22 430 2.11 1.26 296
Organization 3.34 2.21 430 3.97 2.28 296
Mechanics 5.85 1.87 430 5.99 1.78 296
Total 10.96 4.01 430 12.07 4.14 296
All Classes
Content 1.66 1.24 536 2.07 1.25 345
Organization 3.20 2.21 536 3.93 2.26 345
Mechanics 5.79 1.94 536 5.92 1.83 345
Total 10.64 4.08 536 11.92 4.09 345
11
Table 5
Nova on Subtotal for Content
Main Effects Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English
11
Source Sum of Square D.F. Mean Square
Pre/Post 20.94 1 20.94 .13.89
Remedial
College 19.37 1 19.37 12.84
Pre/Post
Remedial
College 1.48 1 1.48 0.98
Error 1309.08 868 1.51
Table 6
Nova on Subtotal for Organization
Main Effncts Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English
Source Sum of Square D.P. Mean Square F
Pre/Post 85.23 1 85.23 17.40
Remedial
College 13.88 1 13.88 2.83
Pre/Post
Remedial
College 8.70 1 8.70 1.78
Error 4251.46 868 4.90
12
12
Table 7
Nova on Subtotal for Mechanics
Mtn Effects Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English
Source Sum of Square D.P. Mean Square F
Pre/Post 0.01 1 0.01 0.00
Remedial
College 7.20 1 7.20 2.13
Pre/Post
Remedial
College 1.69 1 1.69 0.50
Error 2936.00 868 3.38
Table 8
Nova on Total for Content, Organisation, Mechanics
Main Effects Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English
Source Sum of Squares D.F. Mean Square F
Pre/Post 187.59 1 187.59 11.82
Remedial
College 116.84 1 116.84 7.36
Pre/Post
Remedial
College 8.21 1 8.21 0.52
Error 13773.14 868 15.87
13
13
better than those written by the remedial students. Inspection of Table 6,
which tests the means for sub-scale 1, Organization, indicates post-test
scores significantly higher than pre-tests, but no significant difference
between transfer and remedial English students.
On the sub-test for Mechanics, none of the F-tests are significant,
indicating that, at least as far as these data are concerned, little had
been learned in the Mechanics of English. For the total scores, the F-
ratios again indicate that there is significant growth between pre- and
post-test essays and a significant difference in the total mean scores of
the remedial and transfer classes.
In summarizing these results, one can look at the magnitude of the
differences in means. Though in all instances except Mechanics it would
appear that significant growth had taken place, it would also seem that the
magnitude of the difference in means between the pre- and post-test is rela-
tively small. On the other hand, if one examines the pre-test means, it is
evident that more students knew more about the Mechanics of English than the
other two areas measured by these scales and reflected in the essays. In
Content and Organization, where the best possible scores are 4 and 7 respec-
tively, the pre-test means are between 1 and 2 and between 3 and 4 respec-
tively. In Mechanics, where the maximum score is 8, the overall mean is
5.79. This would give the students less "room at the top" to demonstrate
growth. Said more appropriately, the ceiling of the test was too low.
Another way of determining the answers to questions two and three is
to "stare at the data." To do this, frequency distributions were plotted
and line graphs drawn for the pre-test and post-test totals. These appear
in Figure 3. It is evident from inspection that the post-test totals have
a greater negative skew than the pre-tests. Indeed, considering the general
low ceiling for a significant proportion of the subjects, one could assume
that the scale does not reflect even greater growth in a significant portion
of the subjects.
For those subjects for whom both essays were scored, a discrepancy
index was computed for each, that is, the score of the pre-test essays was
subtracted from that of the post-test. Figure 4 gives a frequency distribu-
tion for these data. Inspection of this distribution indicates a large number
of subjects (43 per cent) had zero or less growth; 47 per cent improved 1 to
12 points. The average growth for this total score was 1.23 points.
Returning now to question one, "Is there empirical validity for the
scale?", one can respond with a qualified "yes." For two of the three sub-
scales and the total, the post-test essays show a significantly higher mean
than the pre-test. For the total and one of the sub-tests, the transfer
English students did significantly better than the remedial students. Over-
all, considering the large variabilities in assigning students to transfer
or remedial English and in the. predispositions of the reader-scorers, the
scale has been shown to be valid.
For question two, "Is anyone learning to write?", we again have a quali-
fied "yes." The data indicate statistically significant growth in.the mean
scores even though the magnitude of the differences might be a bit disappoint-
ing for teachers of freshman composition.
10.0
5.
1.0
0.0
5
r I
I I
10
Figure 3
Frequency Distribution by Per Cent
Pre and Post Test
I I
15
I I
19
Figure 4
Frequency Distribution of Pre and Post Test Totals
Dy Parttime
16
The third question asked, "Were there differences in the writing ability
between students assigned to remedial English and those assigned to transfer
English?" Here the validity of the placement procedures seemed to be estab-
lished. As indicated on Table 4, the mean Content score for remedial classes
was 1.21 on the pre-test and 1.77 on the post-test; for the transfer classes,
it was 1.78 on the pre-test and 2.11 on the post-test. The students' Content
score was almost exactly the same at the beginning of the transfer courses as
it was at the end of their courses. This suggests that the screening pro-
cedures were working well. They worked less well for Organization, with
remedial students beginning at 2.64 and ending at 3.81 and transfer students
beginning at 3.34 and ending at 3.97. The Mechanics area showed only slight
difference between the groups. Content seemed to differentiate best.
The design can apparently be used to assess change in studento' ability
to write compositions. More important, perhaps, the investigation demon-
strates that it is possible to involve English instructors in the actual
conduct of a learning study and still obtain results the researcher would
find respectable. In fact, with minimal coordination, the instructors them-
selves can conduct studies using this design. However, the procedure has
certain limitations that should be noted. If it were applied to a pair of
compositions written by a single student, it would be of little value, first,
because the ability to write a single composition on a pre-determined topic
is probably not constant and, second, because the readers' reliability is
not so high that it might not prejudice a single pair of compositions. In
addition, the design does not account for learning other than just in the
area being measured; English instructors have goals, no less worthy, besides
the teaching of Content, Organization, and Mechanics in written expression.
One more limitation: because the design measures group achievement only,
other assessments of individual students (for example, grade point averages,
scores on other tests) cannot be correlated with the findings.
It is instructive to note a few of the criticisms that have been raised
by the instructors who were involved in the study and by others to whom the
design was presented. A number of instructors apparently feel that composi-
tion cannot be divorced from the writer and that judging a composition without
knowledge of the writer himself is not valid. Some instructors also feel
that each student should be given feedback on each composition that he writes;
the design, of course, does not allow for this. Other criticisms are that a
valid sample of a student's best writing cannot be collected in a one-hour
exercise in which the student is asked to write on a topic previously unknown
to him. And, most threatening of all, many instructors feel that the results
of this type of study can be used to defend the re-sectioning of courses or
even the dropping of freshman composition. That is, they feel that the
results can be used against the very department which has honestly attempted
to measure the learning gained by its students.
Nevertheless, Diederich (1967) insists that studies of this type not
only yield convincing results but also have a beneficial effect on the profes-
sional attitudes of the instructors. The findings of this study bear out his
first contention, at least. The main point is that the investigator must
spell out all the premises in advance, involve the instructors at every stage
of the investigation, and point. out the limitations of the design. If he
attends to these caveats, he may be able to enlist the participation of the
instructors and even find them acting on the results.
ra
REFERENCES
1. Archer, Jerome W. Research and the Development of English Programs
niimiotbuplyI:iwalti. Champaign, Ill.: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1965.
2. Bossone, Richard M. Remedial English Instruction in California
Public Junior Colleges. Sacramento: California State
Department of Education, 1966.
3. Bossove, Richard M. The Writing Problems of Remedial English Stu-
dents in Community Colleges of the City University of New York.
New York: City University Research and Evaluation Unit for
Special Programs, 1969.
4. Cohen, Arthur M. Is Anyone Learning to Write? Topical Paper No. 5.
Los Angeles: ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior College Informa-
tion, UCLA, 1969.
5. Diederich, Paul. "Cooperative Preparation and Rating of Essay Tests."
English Journal, 56:4, 1967.
6. Shugrue, Michael F. "The National Study of English in the Junior
College." Junior College Journal, 40:9, 1970, pp. 8-12.
7. Stake, Robert E. "Toward a Technology for the Evaluation of Educa-
tional Programs." In Ralph Tyler, Robert Gagne, and Michael
Scriven (eds.), Perspectives of Curriculum Evaluation. AERA
Monograph. Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1967.
8. Weingarten, Samuel and Kroeger, Frederick P. (eds.). English in
the Two-Year College. Champaign, Ill.: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1965.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIF.
LOS ANGELES
APR 2 6 1971
CLEARINGHOUSE FOR
JUNIOR COLLEGE
INFORMATION
18

More Related Content

Similar to A Procedure For Assessing Students Ability To Write Compositions

Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools An Empirical Stud...
Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools  An Empirical Stud...Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools  An Empirical Stud...
Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools An Empirical Stud...Gina Rizzo
 
Assessment tools
Assessment toolsAssessment tools
Assessment toolsJhullieKim
 
Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)
Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)
Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)eduardo ardales
 
assignment
assignmentassignment
assignmentphumieo
 
Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...
Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...
Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...William Kritsonis
 
KPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd Rashid
KPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd RashidKPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd Rashid
KPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd RashidHusniyah Rashid
 
Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...
Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...
Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...YogeshIJTSRD
 
Qualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid Aguiar
Qualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid AguiarQualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid Aguiar
Qualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid AguiarAstrid Aguiar
 
Curriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptx
Curriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptxCurriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptx
Curriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptxssuser05d00f
 
Assessment In Education At Secondary Level
Assessment In Education At Secondary LevelAssessment In Education At Secondary Level
Assessment In Education At Secondary LevelSheila Sinclair
 
EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1
EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1
EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1Brandy Shelton
 
Gk 12 eval report 2011
Gk 12 eval report 2011Gk 12 eval report 2011
Gk 12 eval report 2011Louise Smyth
 
Assesssment based education, click open
Assesssment based education, click openAssesssment based education, click open
Assesssment based education, click openGholam-Reza Abbasian
 
Self paced instruction and mathematics achievement
Self  paced instruction and mathematics achievementSelf  paced instruction and mathematics achievement
Self paced instruction and mathematics achievementAlexander Decker
 
A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...
A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...
A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...Kelly Lipiec
 
Course ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docx
Course ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docxCourse ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docx
Course ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docxvoversbyobersby
 
School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...
School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...
School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...oircjournals
 
Comparative and non-comparative study
Comparative and non-comparative studyComparative and non-comparative study
Comparative and non-comparative studyu070536
 
Alternative assessment
 Alternative assessment Alternative assessment
Alternative assessmentGodfred Abledu
 
Ligad, hwarlyn curriculum devt
Ligad, hwarlyn curriculum devtLigad, hwarlyn curriculum devt
Ligad, hwarlyn curriculum devthwarlynligad
 

Similar to A Procedure For Assessing Students Ability To Write Compositions (20)

Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools An Empirical Stud...
Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools  An Empirical Stud...Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools  An Empirical Stud...
Authentic And Conventional Assessment In Singapore Schools An Empirical Stud...
 
Assessment tools
Assessment toolsAssessment tools
Assessment tools
 
Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)
Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)
Assessment for higher education (for biology faculty seminar)
 
assignment
assignmentassignment
assignment
 
Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...
Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...
Faheem, shima mohamed successful use of science process skills nftej v25...
 
KPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd Rashid
KPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd RashidKPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd Rashid
KPT6044 (Journal analysis e learning) Nor Husniyah Mohd Rashid
 
Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...
Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...
Using Traditional Assessment in the Foreign Language Teaching Advantages and ...
 
Qualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid Aguiar
Qualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid AguiarQualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid Aguiar
Qualitative and Descriptive journals analysis by Astrid Aguiar
 
Curriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptx
Curriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptxCurriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptx
Curriculum Design Chapter3 Needs Analysis.pptx
 
Assessment In Education At Secondary Level
Assessment In Education At Secondary LevelAssessment In Education At Secondary Level
Assessment In Education At Secondary Level
 
EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1
EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1
EDU 710 Lit Rev Outline #1
 
Gk 12 eval report 2011
Gk 12 eval report 2011Gk 12 eval report 2011
Gk 12 eval report 2011
 
Assesssment based education, click open
Assesssment based education, click openAssesssment based education, click open
Assesssment based education, click open
 
Self paced instruction and mathematics achievement
Self  paced instruction and mathematics achievementSelf  paced instruction and mathematics achievement
Self paced instruction and mathematics achievement
 
A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...
A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...
A CHAID Analysis Of A Diagnostic Writing Sample As A Placement Tool For Fresh...
 
Course ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docx
Course ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docxCourse ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docx
Course ID BTM7300v2 Week 4 Outline of the Comprehensive .docx
 
School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...
School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...
School effectiveness-and-improvement-contribution-of-teacher-qualification-to...
 
Comparative and non-comparative study
Comparative and non-comparative studyComparative and non-comparative study
Comparative and non-comparative study
 
Alternative assessment
 Alternative assessment Alternative assessment
Alternative assessment
 
Ligad, hwarlyn curriculum devt
Ligad, hwarlyn curriculum devtLigad, hwarlyn curriculum devt
Ligad, hwarlyn curriculum devt
 

More from Sabrina Green

There Are Several Advantages You C
There Are Several Advantages You CThere Are Several Advantages You C
There Are Several Advantages You CSabrina Green
 
Printable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World Ho
Printable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World HoPrintable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World Ho
Printable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World HoSabrina Green
 
Leather Writing Case With Writing Paper And Envelopes
Leather Writing Case With Writing Paper And EnvelopesLeather Writing Case With Writing Paper And Envelopes
Leather Writing Case With Writing Paper And EnvelopesSabrina Green
 
Reflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay Introducti
Reflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay IntroductiReflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay Introducti
Reflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay IntroductiSabrina Green
 
Piece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White S
Piece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White SPiece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White S
Piece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White SSabrina Green
 
J 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A O
J 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A OJ 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A O
J 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A OSabrina Green
 
FROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART START
FROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART STARTFROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART START
FROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART STARTSabrina Green
 
Essay Writing Service In Australia
Essay Writing Service In AustraliaEssay Writing Service In Australia
Essay Writing Service In AustraliaSabrina Green
 
Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023
Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023
Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023Sabrina Green
 
Essential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service Provider
Essential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service ProviderEssential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service Provider
Essential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service ProviderSabrina Green
 
How To Write A College Research Paper Step By Ste
How To Write A College Research Paper Step By SteHow To Write A College Research Paper Step By Ste
How To Write A College Research Paper Step By SteSabrina Green
 
Essay My Teacher My Role Model - Pg
Essay My Teacher My Role Model - PgEssay My Teacher My Role Model - Pg
Essay My Teacher My Role Model - PgSabrina Green
 
Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.
Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.
Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.Sabrina Green
 
Rutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online Writers
Rutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online WritersRutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online Writers
Rutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online WritersSabrina Green
 
How To Write An Essay - English Learn Site
How To Write An Essay - English Learn SiteHow To Write An Essay - English Learn Site
How To Write An Essay - English Learn SiteSabrina Green
 
I Need Someone To Write An Essay For Me
I Need Someone To Write An Essay For MeI Need Someone To Write An Essay For Me
I Need Someone To Write An Essay For MeSabrina Green
 
How To Properly Write A Bibliography
How To Properly Write A BibliographyHow To Properly Write A Bibliography
How To Properly Write A BibliographySabrina Green
 
Example Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing I
Example Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing IExample Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing I
Example Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing ISabrina Green
 
(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P
(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P
(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term PSabrina Green
 

More from Sabrina Green (20)

There Are Several Advantages You C
There Are Several Advantages You CThere Are Several Advantages You C
There Are Several Advantages You C
 
Printable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World Ho
Printable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World HoPrintable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World Ho
Printable Primary Writing Paper - Printable World Ho
 
Leather Writing Case With Writing Paper And Envelopes
Leather Writing Case With Writing Paper And EnvelopesLeather Writing Case With Writing Paper And Envelopes
Leather Writing Case With Writing Paper And Envelopes
 
Reflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay Introducti
Reflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay IntroductiReflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay Introducti
Reflective Essay - Grade B - Reflective Essay Introducti
 
Piece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White S
Piece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White SPiece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White S
Piece Of Paper With Word Anxiety. Black And White S
 
J 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A O
J 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A OJ 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A O
J 176 Media Fluency For The Digital Age Example Of A O
 
Cat Writing Paper
Cat Writing PaperCat Writing Paper
Cat Writing Paper
 
FROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART START
FROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART STARTFROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART START
FROG STREET PRESS FST6541 SMART START
 
Essay Writing Service In Australia
Essay Writing Service In AustraliaEssay Writing Service In Australia
Essay Writing Service In Australia
 
Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023
Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023
Five Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer In 2023
 
Essential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service Provider
Essential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service ProviderEssential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service Provider
Essential Features Of A Good Term Paper Writing Service Provider
 
How To Write A College Research Paper Step By Ste
How To Write A College Research Paper Step By SteHow To Write A College Research Paper Step By Ste
How To Write A College Research Paper Step By Ste
 
Essay My Teacher My Role Model - Pg
Essay My Teacher My Role Model - PgEssay My Teacher My Role Model - Pg
Essay My Teacher My Role Model - Pg
 
Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.
Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.
Best College Essay Writing Service - The Writing Center.
 
Rutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online Writers
Rutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online WritersRutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online Writers
Rutgers Admission Essay Help Essay Online Writers
 
How To Write An Essay - English Learn Site
How To Write An Essay - English Learn SiteHow To Write An Essay - English Learn Site
How To Write An Essay - English Learn Site
 
I Need Someone To Write An Essay For Me
I Need Someone To Write An Essay For MeI Need Someone To Write An Essay For Me
I Need Someone To Write An Essay For Me
 
How To Properly Write A Bibliography
How To Properly Write A BibliographyHow To Properly Write A Bibliography
How To Properly Write A Bibliography
 
Example Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing I
Example Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing IExample Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing I
Example Of An Autobiography That Will Point Your Writing I
 
(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P
(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P
(PDF) Steps For Writing A Term P
 

Recently uploaded

Organic Name Reactions for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptx
Organic Name Reactions  for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptxOrganic Name Reactions  for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptx
Organic Name Reactions for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptxVS Mahajan Coaching Centre
 
Introduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptx
Introduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptxIntroduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptx
Introduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptxpboyjonauth
 
KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...
KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...
KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...M56BOOKSTORE PRODUCT/SERVICE
 
How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17
How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17
How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17Celine George
 
भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,
भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,
भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,Virag Sontakke
 
History Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptx
History Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptxHistory Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptx
History Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptxsocialsciencegdgrohi
 
Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptx
Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptxCapitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptx
Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptxCapitolTechU
 
Full Stack Web Development Course for Beginners
Full Stack Web Development Course  for BeginnersFull Stack Web Development Course  for Beginners
Full Stack Web Development Course for BeginnersSabitha Banu
 
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPT
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPTECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPT
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPTiammrhaywood
 
18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf
18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf
18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdfssuser54595a
 
Alper Gobel In Media Res Media Component
Alper Gobel In Media Res Media ComponentAlper Gobel In Media Res Media Component
Alper Gobel In Media Res Media ComponentInMediaRes1
 
Solving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptx
Solving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptxSolving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptx
Solving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
 
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptxProudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptxthorishapillay1
 
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️9953056974 Low Rate Call Girls In Saket, Delhi NCR
 
Roles & Responsibilities in Pharmacovigilance
Roles & Responsibilities in PharmacovigilanceRoles & Responsibilities in Pharmacovigilance
Roles & Responsibilities in PharmacovigilanceSamikshaHamane
 
“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...
“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...
“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...Marc Dusseiller Dusjagr
 
Biting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdf
Biting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdfBiting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdf
Biting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdfadityarao40181
 
Employee wellbeing at the workplace.pptx
Employee wellbeing at the workplace.pptxEmployee wellbeing at the workplace.pptx
Employee wellbeing at the workplace.pptxNirmalaLoungPoorunde1
 

Recently uploaded (20)

Organic Name Reactions for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptx
Organic Name Reactions  for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptxOrganic Name Reactions  for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptx
Organic Name Reactions for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptx
 
Introduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptx
Introduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptxIntroduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptx
Introduction to AI in Higher Education_draft.pptx
 
KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...
KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...
KSHARA STURA .pptx---KSHARA KARMA THERAPY (CAUSTIC THERAPY)————IMP.OF KSHARA ...
 
How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17
How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17
How to Configure Email Server in Odoo 17
 
9953330565 Low Rate Call Girls In Rohini Delhi NCR
9953330565 Low Rate Call Girls In Rohini  Delhi NCR9953330565 Low Rate Call Girls In Rohini  Delhi NCR
9953330565 Low Rate Call Girls In Rohini Delhi NCR
 
भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,
भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,
भारत-रोम व्यापार.pptx, Indo-Roman Trade,
 
History Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptx
History Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptxHistory Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptx
History Class XII Ch. 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (1).pptx
 
Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptx
Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptxCapitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptx
Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptx
 
Full Stack Web Development Course for Beginners
Full Stack Web Development Course  for BeginnersFull Stack Web Development Course  for Beginners
Full Stack Web Development Course for Beginners
 
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPT
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPTECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPT
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - LONG FORM TV DRAMA - PPT
 
18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf
18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf
18-04-UA_REPORT_MEDIALITERAСY_INDEX-DM_23-1-final-eng.pdf
 
Alper Gobel In Media Res Media Component
Alper Gobel In Media Res Media ComponentAlper Gobel In Media Res Media Component
Alper Gobel In Media Res Media Component
 
Solving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptx
Solving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptxSolving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptx
Solving Puzzles Benefits Everyone (English).pptx
 
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptxProudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
 
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
 
Roles & Responsibilities in Pharmacovigilance
Roles & Responsibilities in PharmacovigilanceRoles & Responsibilities in Pharmacovigilance
Roles & Responsibilities in Pharmacovigilance
 
“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...
“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...
“Oh GOSH! Reflecting on Hackteria's Collaborative Practices in a Global Do-It...
 
Biting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdf
Biting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdfBiting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdf
Biting mechanism of poisonous snakes.pdf
 
Employee wellbeing at the workplace.pptx
Employee wellbeing at the workplace.pptxEmployee wellbeing at the workplace.pptx
Employee wellbeing at the workplace.pptx
 
Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝
Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝
Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝
 

A Procedure For Assessing Students Ability To Write Compositions

  • 1. DOCUMENT RESUME ED 048 844 JC 710 080 AUTHOR Cohen, Arthur M. TITLE A Procedure for Assessing Students" Ability to Write Compositions. PUB DATE 71 NOTE 18p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the California Educational Research Association, April 29-30, 1971, San Diego, California EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 Composition (Literary), *Composition Skills (Literary), Evaluation Methods, *Evaluation Techniques, *Junior Colleges, Observation, *Performance Criteria, Performance Specifications, *Writing Skills ABSTRACT This investigation developed a procedure for scoring English compositions that would be simple enough for use by junior college instructors with minimal statistical assistance, and still yield data that would allow sound inferences regarding student placement procedures and assessment of instructional effects. Twenty-one instructors from 14 junior colleges developed a scoring key that included 19 dichotomous criteria and learned to use it reliably. They collected pre- and post-compositions from students in their classes during the first and last week of the fall semester, and scored the compositions without their knowing the student's name, course level, institution, or whether the composition was a pre- or post-sample. Comparing class means, significant differences were found between remedial and transfer groups and between pre- and post-test performance on item clusters relating to "content" and "organization," but not on "mechanics." The procedure was found to be feasible for use in departmental settings. (Author/CA)
  • 2. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECES SARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU CATION POSITION OR POLICY. Paper Presented at The Annual Meeting California Educational Research Association April 29, 1971 -41" CO CO O 41" A PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSING STUDENTS' ABILITY C:3 L&J TO WRITE COMPOSITIONS* Arthur M. Cohen ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges University of California, Los Angeles The problem was to develop a procedure for scoring English compositions that would be simple enough for use by junior college instructors with minimal statistical assistancelyet yield data that would allow sound inferences regarding student placement procedures and assessment of instructional effects. Twenty-one instructors from 14 junior colleges developed a scoring key that included 19 dichotomous criteria and learned to use it reliably. They collected pre- and post-compositions from students in their classes (total N = 878) during the first and last week of the Fall Semester, and scored the compositions without thr knowing the students' names, course level, institution, or whether the composition was a pre- or post-sample. Comparing class means, significant differences were found between remedial and transfer groups and between pre- and post-test performance on item clusters relating to "content" and "organization" but not on "mechanics." The procedure was found to be feasible for use in depart- mental settings. 0 *The full study will be reported in detail in a monograph by Arthur M. Cohen, M. Stephen Sheldon, and James Chadbourne, to be gt.) published in fan, 1971 in the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges/ 11.7 American Association of Junior Colleges Monograph series.
  • 3. 1 Many arguments may be raised regarding the need for valid studies of instruction in written composition in the junior college. Most of these arguments revolve around the contention that although English composition is a required course in nearly all colleges, the instructors assigned to the task find it impossible to agree on what constitutes good writing, how it should be taught, or even if it should be taught (Bossone, 1966, 1969). Several studies have called for continuing in- quiry into the nature and effects of teaching composition - -as for example those reported by Shugrue (1970), Archer (1965), and Weingarten and Kroeger (1965). However, the question of what students learn in the courses--if anything--is still hotly debated. Student learning in English composition classes is typically assessed in various ways. Scores on alternate forms of various normative tests may be compared or grade marks issued by the instructors examined. However, these types of measures lack several key elements. The grade marks tell little about student learning: Were they issued in response to students' participation in class? Did they depend on written assign- merzs, on performance on quick score tests, on the preparation of research papers? Were they based on the common practice of combining various types of measures into a single score? When one instructor grades his students according to how well they learned to write, is he applying the same standard as his colleague? The standardized tests have different types of problems. First, they offer, at best, analogous assessments of students' ability to write; second, and most important, the instructors doubt their veracity. As Stake points out, "...indirect measurement of achievement is irrelevant, even offensive, to many curriculum developers and supervisors of instruction. They want to know what has been learned. They want to know what deficiencies remain in student understanding. The standardized test does not tell them" (1967, p 6). If the indirect measure of achievement is "irrelevant" to the curriculum developer, it is anathema to the instructor who maintains that no one knows his students as he does! The instructor frequently insists on relying on his own judgment even if that judgment is reported out in the form of grade marks which subsume a variety of student skills. Accordingly, in the usual junior college situation, an unbridgeable gulf exists between the institutional researcher who is charged with validating placement procedures and assessing the efficacy of instructional tech- niques and the English instructor who wants no part of any outsider's studies. If the researcher expectr. the instructors to attend to his findings, to change their procedures accordingly--or even to acquiesce to his collecting data directly from their students--the instructors must be convinced that his research design is valid in their terms. They must understand the design, believe it will aid their own instructional opera- tions, yield data of use to them. One way of gaining their support--or at least mitigating their dissatisfaction--is to involve them in the design and conduct of the study itself. This means implicating them at every step of the way, not merely reporting the results to them or soli- citing their aid as data tabulators. In many investigations, even when the instructors have been involved in decisions regarding the measurable variables, the collection of data, and the analysis of results, the de- signs employed have lacked one or more crucial elements; hence, the
  • 4. 2 findings have been equivocal. Sound experimental design and the in- structors both must be satisfied. Since many instructors seem to believe--perhaps rightfully so -- that it is not desirable to measure analogous behavior, any experimental procedure must incorporate equivalents--that is, compositions written under classroom conditions as samples of student performance. And, because the instructors do not trust the judgment of anyone other than themselves in reading these compositions, they must be employed in the composition scoring. In addition, instructor bias--intended or otherwise- - must be mitigated through multiple blind scoring; the instructors must not know whose paper they are reading and whether it was written prior to, or subsequent to, instruction. Nor should they know in whose class it was written or the "level" of the students. The design must also insure re- liability of reading or at least mitigate the effects of unreliability. In other words, extreme care must be taken to keep the instructors in- volved at every step of the way without allowing them to prejudge the results. This is a report of an investigation which directly involved junior college English instructors in designing and conducting a study of student learning. The experimental procedures maximally involved the instructors, while yielding reliable and valid measures of their students' abilities to write compositions. The study was based on the assumptions that one of the major purposes of composition courses is to enharme students' ability to write compositions; that this change in ability can be measured by assessing compositions written prior to, and again after, instruction; and that compositions can be validly assessed using a multiple blind technique. The design was developed at a workshop sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College at UCLA. Twenty-one instructors from fourteen junior colleges met for two weeks. They selected topics on which their students would write, developed a scoring key, familiarized themselves with the categories in the key, and committed themselves to conducting the investigation. The investigation was subsequently coordin- ated by the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges with statistical analyses made by M. Stephen Sheldon. THE DESIGN The instructors selected a pair of topics because one "before" and one "after" composition had to be collected from each of their students. Certain topics were avoided--for example, those that might tend to invite triteness and those that would be biased against students who might prefer not to reveal personal matters or who might not believe the presenting statements. The instructors also decided that rhetorical devices should not be suggested. The topics they chose were "What makes a good adver- tisement?" and "What makes a good entertainer?" The instructors also developed a scoring key (Figure 1) and practiced using it on sample compositions. At the beginning of the fall term, the investigator prepared blue- books with instructions to the students noted on the cover (Figure 2) and sent them to the instructors. During the first week of the semester each 0
  • 5. Figure 1 YES NO SCORE SHEET Content I. 1. Ideas themselves are insightful. 2. Ideas are creative or original 3. Ideas are rational or logical. 4. Ideas are expressed with clarity. Organization II. 5. There is a thesis. 6. Order of thesis idea is followed throughout the essay. 7. Thesis is adequately developed. 8. Every paragraph is relevant to the thesis. 9. Each paragraph has a controlling idea. 10. Each paragraph is developed with relevant and concrete details. 11. The details that are included are well ordered. Mechanics III. 12. There are many misspellings. 13. There are serious punctuation errors. 14. Punctuation errors are excessive. 15. There are errors in use of verbs. 16. There are errors in use of pro- nouns. 17. There are errors in use of modi- fiers. 18. There are distracting errors in word usage. 1111111111 19. The sentences are awkward. CODE NO. 4 3
  • 6. Figure 2 Code Number INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENT 1. Fill in the form below: Name (LEAVE BLANK) LAST NATO; FIRST NAME MIDDLE INITIAL School Course Date Sex: Male Female Have you a high school diploma? Have you attended any college prior to this term? Yes No Yes No under 17 17 18 Your age: (Check one) 12 20 21 22 23-26 27-30 31-35 36 2. Write a composition in thin bluebook. Write in ink on one side of the page only. Write on alternate lines. You are to write on the topic: (to be selected by participating instructors)
  • 7. 5 instructor randomly distributed the bluebooks to his students. Half had the notation, "Write a composition on the topic, 'What makes a good ad- vertisement?'"; an equivalent number called for the student to write on the "entertainer" topic. Thus, half of each instructor's class wrote on one topic at the beginning of the term and half on the other. These com- positions were collected and sent to the investigator. At the end of the semester, each student received a bluebook with his name and the directive, "Write on the topic, 'What makes a good en- tertainer (if he wrote previously on 'advertisement')' ?" and vice versa. Each student, then, wrote on both topics, preparing one composition before instruction began, the other at the end of the course. These compositions also were sent to the investigator who removed all identifying marks from each, entered its author's name on a list,and assigned a code number to it. The code numbers did not reveal the time when, or by whom--or the college at which - -the composition was written. Because each instructor had used the students in one or more of his awn classes as subjects, there were a total of twenty-four classes; five of these were considered pre-college English and the remaining nineteen, normal college classes for which the students received credit that could be transferred to four year institutions. In order to lessen the number of compositions that had to be scored, a random half of each of the pre- and post-test essays were selected. Student absence, drop-out, and other factors reduced the number of students who wrote compositions at the end of instruction as compared with the number who had written at the beginning. For the pre- test, 535 essays were scored--105 from remedial classes and 430 from the college English classes. The post-test sample consisted of 343 essays--47 from the remedial English classes and 296 from the transfer courses. Within the total groomp, 184 students had both pre- and post-test essays scored. So that each participating instructor would score an approximately equivalent number of compositions from each class, the bluebooks were mixed together prior to distribution. Then, using the key he had helped develop during the workshop, each instructor scored approximately 50 compositions. He did not know whether the composition was a pre- or post-test essay, whether it was from a remedial or transfer class, or, indeed, what student or college was represented. The scoring sheets were then returned to the investigator for tabulation.
  • 8. 6 The Criterion Variable Though much effort had gone into the development of the scoring key, until the study was conducted, there was no way of determining the key's reliability, validity, or internal consistency. In order to get some indi- cation of reliability, four freshmen essays were duplicated and read indepen- dently by 15 instructors. Each instructor marked each of the 19 items on the scale for all four essays. The proportion of concurrence for each item was computed independently for each of the essays. This index of concurrence was simply the proportion of instructors who agreed that the item was either a zero or a one. If, for instance, 12 of the 15 marked an item either "yes" or "no," the index for that item would be .80. Table 1 shows the results of this reliability study. Inspection of the table indicates that the index of concurrence on the items of the four essays ranged from .50 to 1.00. In interpreting this table as an indication of reliability, the reader should keep in mind that on a dichotomous variable, a chance score is .50. In other words, an index of .50 would indicate zero reliability. It is interesting to examine the variability that occurs in the reli- ability, both across essays and across items. Examining the index for each of the items, it seems evident that some--e.g., item 4 ("clarity of ideas") and item 6 ("order of thesis idea is followed throughout the essay")--have relatively low reliabilities, while others--e.g., item 2("creative or original") and item 17 ("errors in use of modifiers")--appear quite reliable. Continuing to examine the individual items, the variability in the index of concurrence is also striking for some items. As most English teachers know by insight, an essay that is clearly good or bad would receive a much higher concurrence than one which is in between. The validity of a criterion instrument that is purported to measure achievement is difficult to establish empirically; one must resort to con- struct validity. By the very nature of the development of this instrument, validity was established. If 21 college English instructors agree that 19 items reflect the quality of an essay, one can assume construct validity. Another way of perceiving validity is to use the concept of criterion groups. One would, for instance, expect remedial English student essays to be considerably poorer than transfer English essays. One would also expect post-test essays to be considerably better than pre-test essays. To the extent that the criterion instrument reflects these differences, it can he considered valid for measuring the quality of the freshmen English essays. This concept of validity will be discussed when looking at the results of the experiment. The internal consistency of the instrument is reflected by how well each item is measuring that which the scale is purported to measure. For the instrument in question, there are two ways of looking at this internal consistency. One would be the correlation between each item and the sub- total for each of the three areas, i.e., Content, Organization, and Mechanics. A second would be reflected by the correlation between the subtotals and the grand total. The matrices of these correlations appear in Tables 2 and 3.
  • 9. Essay 1 Essay 2 Essay 3 Essay 4 Mean CO Table 1 Percentage of Concurrence on Four Essays Graded Independently by Fifteen Instructors 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 .80 .87 .60 .67 .80 .64 .69 .72 .60 .73 .73 .93 .73 .73 .67 .93 .93 .53 .93 .73 .93 .87 .67 .80 .53 .67 .73 .73 .93 .57 .87 .93 .93 .50 .53 .87 .53 .53 .67 .93 .93 .60 .73 .50 .71 .79 .80 .93 .69 .93 .50 .87 .87 .67 1.0 .80 .73 .53 .87 .73 .50 .87 .57 .67 .93 .93 .80 .57 .60 .80 .73 .77 .53 .73 .80 .60 .68 .90 .78 .61 .80 .56. .69 .79 .77 .85 .64 .83 .74 .82 .70 .67 .88 .67 .70 15 16 12 1
  • 10. 8 Table 2 Correlations Between Items and Subscales Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Content .73 .59 .73 .66 Organization .61 .78 .66 .78 .66 .60 .63 Mechanics .54 .58 .55 .59 .53 .44 . .57 .65 Table 3 Correlations Between Subscales and Total Score Content Organization Mechanics Organization .58 Mechanics .35 .20 Total .78 .81 .69
  • 11. 9 Examination of Table 2 indicates there is indeed acceptable correla- tion between each item and the sub-scale. Normal psychometric procedure would indicate a .30 correlation as satisfactory and a .50, very good. The correlations in Table 2 appear exceedingly high and suggest a great deal of internal consistency for the sub-scales. The reader must keep in mind, however, that there were relatively few items comprising each of the sub-scales--four for Content, seven for Organization, and eight for Mechanics. As a consequence, the correlations contain a significant ipsative factor. Said another way, there is a large element of correlating numbers le,ich contain a self-sameness. The correlations of the sub-tests with the total and with each other appear in Table 3. Very high correlations of the sub-tests with the total are again influenced by the ipsative nature of the numbers. The relatively low relationships between the scales can be perceived as a favorable charac- teristic suggesting that each scale is measuring an independent variable in the quality of the essays. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This study sought answers to certain general questions: 1. Was there any empirical validity to the scale that was developed? 2. Were freshmen students learning to write better as measured by this scale? 3. Were there differences in the writing ability between students assigned to remedial English and those assigned to transfer English? The answer to the first question, of necessity, hinges on the answers to the second and third. If one considers the pre- and post-essays as one set of criterion samples and the remedial and transfer essays as another, the validity of the scale can be determined by the mean differences between these criterion groups. Broadly stated, question number two asks, "Is anyone learning to write?" To answer this question, a number of data analysis techniques were employed. First, the scores assigned to the pre- and post-essays for the remedial and transfer English groups separately were scrutinized carefully. The means and standard deviations for these groups appear in Table 4. These means and standard deviations are broken out by sub-scale as well as total. Inspection of the table indicates:that the post-test means are higher in every case than the pyre -test means, with the exception of Scale 3, Mechanics, for the remedial classes. TO test the significance of the differences between these means, a two- way analysis of variance was computed for each of the rub-scales and the total: The main effects were pre-post essays and remedial-transfer essays. The results of these analyses appear in Tables 5, 6, 7, and 8. Table 5 indicates that for the sub-scale Content the post-test is significantly higher than the pre-, and, further, that the transfer English essays were significantly 10
  • 12. 10 Table 4 Means and Standard Deviations on Subscales and Total Separated by Pre and Post Test and by Remedial College Classes Remedial Classes X Pre-test SD N X Post-test SD N Content 1.21 1.21 105 1.77 1.17 47 Organization 2.64 2.14 105 3.81 2.18 47 Mechanics 5.58 2.18 105 5.49 2.15 47 Total 9.43 4.13 105 11.06 3.76 47 Transfer Classes Content 1.78 1.22 430 2.11 1.26 296 Organization 3.34 2.21 430 3.97 2.28 296 Mechanics 5.85 1.87 430 5.99 1.78 296 Total 10.96 4.01 430 12.07 4.14 296 All Classes Content 1.66 1.24 536 2.07 1.25 345 Organization 3.20 2.21 536 3.93 2.26 345 Mechanics 5.79 1.94 536 5.92 1.83 345 Total 10.64 4.08 536 11.92 4.09 345 11
  • 13. Table 5 Nova on Subtotal for Content Main Effects Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English 11 Source Sum of Square D.F. Mean Square Pre/Post 20.94 1 20.94 .13.89 Remedial College 19.37 1 19.37 12.84 Pre/Post Remedial College 1.48 1 1.48 0.98 Error 1309.08 868 1.51 Table 6 Nova on Subtotal for Organization Main Effncts Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English Source Sum of Square D.P. Mean Square F Pre/Post 85.23 1 85.23 17.40 Remedial College 13.88 1 13.88 2.83 Pre/Post Remedial College 8.70 1 8.70 1.78 Error 4251.46 868 4.90 12
  • 14. 12 Table 7 Nova on Subtotal for Mechanics Mtn Effects Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English Source Sum of Square D.P. Mean Square F Pre/Post 0.01 1 0.01 0.00 Remedial College 7.20 1 7.20 2.13 Pre/Post Remedial College 1.69 1 1.69 0.50 Error 2936.00 868 3.38 Table 8 Nova on Total for Content, Organisation, Mechanics Main Effects Pre and Post Essay and Remedial College English Source Sum of Squares D.F. Mean Square F Pre/Post 187.59 1 187.59 11.82 Remedial College 116.84 1 116.84 7.36 Pre/Post Remedial College 8.21 1 8.21 0.52 Error 13773.14 868 15.87 13
  • 15. 13 better than those written by the remedial students. Inspection of Table 6, which tests the means for sub-scale 1, Organization, indicates post-test scores significantly higher than pre-tests, but no significant difference between transfer and remedial English students. On the sub-test for Mechanics, none of the F-tests are significant, indicating that, at least as far as these data are concerned, little had been learned in the Mechanics of English. For the total scores, the F- ratios again indicate that there is significant growth between pre- and post-test essays and a significant difference in the total mean scores of the remedial and transfer classes. In summarizing these results, one can look at the magnitude of the differences in means. Though in all instances except Mechanics it would appear that significant growth had taken place, it would also seem that the magnitude of the difference in means between the pre- and post-test is rela- tively small. On the other hand, if one examines the pre-test means, it is evident that more students knew more about the Mechanics of English than the other two areas measured by these scales and reflected in the essays. In Content and Organization, where the best possible scores are 4 and 7 respec- tively, the pre-test means are between 1 and 2 and between 3 and 4 respec- tively. In Mechanics, where the maximum score is 8, the overall mean is 5.79. This would give the students less "room at the top" to demonstrate growth. Said more appropriately, the ceiling of the test was too low. Another way of determining the answers to questions two and three is to "stare at the data." To do this, frequency distributions were plotted and line graphs drawn for the pre-test and post-test totals. These appear in Figure 3. It is evident from inspection that the post-test totals have a greater negative skew than the pre-tests. Indeed, considering the general low ceiling for a significant proportion of the subjects, one could assume that the scale does not reflect even greater growth in a significant portion of the subjects. For those subjects for whom both essays were scored, a discrepancy index was computed for each, that is, the score of the pre-test essays was subtracted from that of the post-test. Figure 4 gives a frequency distribu- tion for these data. Inspection of this distribution indicates a large number of subjects (43 per cent) had zero or less growth; 47 per cent improved 1 to 12 points. The average growth for this total score was 1.23 points. Returning now to question one, "Is there empirical validity for the scale?", one can respond with a qualified "yes." For two of the three sub- scales and the total, the post-test essays show a significantly higher mean than the pre-test. For the total and one of the sub-tests, the transfer English students did significantly better than the remedial students. Over- all, considering the large variabilities in assigning students to transfer or remedial English and in the. predispositions of the reader-scorers, the scale has been shown to be valid. For question two, "Is anyone learning to write?", we again have a quali- fied "yes." The data indicate statistically significant growth in.the mean scores even though the magnitude of the differences might be a bit disappoint- ing for teachers of freshman composition.
  • 16. 10.0 5. 1.0 0.0 5 r I I I 10 Figure 3 Frequency Distribution by Per Cent Pre and Post Test I I 15 I I 19
  • 17. Figure 4 Frequency Distribution of Pre and Post Test Totals Dy Parttime
  • 18. 16 The third question asked, "Were there differences in the writing ability between students assigned to remedial English and those assigned to transfer English?" Here the validity of the placement procedures seemed to be estab- lished. As indicated on Table 4, the mean Content score for remedial classes was 1.21 on the pre-test and 1.77 on the post-test; for the transfer classes, it was 1.78 on the pre-test and 2.11 on the post-test. The students' Content score was almost exactly the same at the beginning of the transfer courses as it was at the end of their courses. This suggests that the screening pro- cedures were working well. They worked less well for Organization, with remedial students beginning at 2.64 and ending at 3.81 and transfer students beginning at 3.34 and ending at 3.97. The Mechanics area showed only slight difference between the groups. Content seemed to differentiate best. The design can apparently be used to assess change in studento' ability to write compositions. More important, perhaps, the investigation demon- strates that it is possible to involve English instructors in the actual conduct of a learning study and still obtain results the researcher would find respectable. In fact, with minimal coordination, the instructors them- selves can conduct studies using this design. However, the procedure has certain limitations that should be noted. If it were applied to a pair of compositions written by a single student, it would be of little value, first, because the ability to write a single composition on a pre-determined topic is probably not constant and, second, because the readers' reliability is not so high that it might not prejudice a single pair of compositions. In addition, the design does not account for learning other than just in the area being measured; English instructors have goals, no less worthy, besides the teaching of Content, Organization, and Mechanics in written expression. One more limitation: because the design measures group achievement only, other assessments of individual students (for example, grade point averages, scores on other tests) cannot be correlated with the findings. It is instructive to note a few of the criticisms that have been raised by the instructors who were involved in the study and by others to whom the design was presented. A number of instructors apparently feel that composi- tion cannot be divorced from the writer and that judging a composition without knowledge of the writer himself is not valid. Some instructors also feel that each student should be given feedback on each composition that he writes; the design, of course, does not allow for this. Other criticisms are that a valid sample of a student's best writing cannot be collected in a one-hour exercise in which the student is asked to write on a topic previously unknown to him. And, most threatening of all, many instructors feel that the results of this type of study can be used to defend the re-sectioning of courses or even the dropping of freshman composition. That is, they feel that the results can be used against the very department which has honestly attempted to measure the learning gained by its students. Nevertheless, Diederich (1967) insists that studies of this type not only yield convincing results but also have a beneficial effect on the profes- sional attitudes of the instructors. The findings of this study bear out his first contention, at least. The main point is that the investigator must spell out all the premises in advance, involve the instructors at every stage of the investigation, and point. out the limitations of the design. If he attends to these caveats, he may be able to enlist the participation of the instructors and even find them acting on the results. ra
  • 19. REFERENCES 1. Archer, Jerome W. Research and the Development of English Programs niimiotbuplyI:iwalti. Champaign, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1965. 2. Bossone, Richard M. Remedial English Instruction in California Public Junior Colleges. Sacramento: California State Department of Education, 1966. 3. Bossove, Richard M. The Writing Problems of Remedial English Stu- dents in Community Colleges of the City University of New York. New York: City University Research and Evaluation Unit for Special Programs, 1969. 4. Cohen, Arthur M. Is Anyone Learning to Write? Topical Paper No. 5. Los Angeles: ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior College Informa- tion, UCLA, 1969. 5. Diederich, Paul. "Cooperative Preparation and Rating of Essay Tests." English Journal, 56:4, 1967. 6. Shugrue, Michael F. "The National Study of English in the Junior College." Junior College Journal, 40:9, 1970, pp. 8-12. 7. Stake, Robert E. "Toward a Technology for the Evaluation of Educa- tional Programs." In Ralph Tyler, Robert Gagne, and Michael Scriven (eds.), Perspectives of Curriculum Evaluation. AERA Monograph. Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1967. 8. Weingarten, Samuel and Kroeger, Frederick P. (eds.). English in the Two-Year College. Champaign, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1965. UNIVERSITY OF CALIF. LOS ANGELES APR 2 6 1971 CLEARINGHOUSE FOR JUNIOR COLLEGE INFORMATION 18