Writing: National Results--Writing Mechanics.

This is the third National Assessment report on the writing of children aged 9, 13, and 17, and young adults. The three exercises used in the writing assessment were: Age 9: The Forest Fire Exercise; Age 13: The Famous Person Exercise; and Age 17: The Famous Person Exercise. An exercise for young adults (Adults: The Commissioner Stroud Letter) required them to write formal letters to public officials expressing a viewpoint on an issue. The report contains separate chapters for each age group: Chapter 2 describes the essays written by 9-year-olds; Chapter 3 reports on 13-year-olds; and Chapters 4 and 5 describe 17-year-olds and young adults, respectively. Each chapter begins with an introductory statement about particularly important aspects of the essays that age group wrote. Chapter 6 discusses The Differences between 9's, 13's, 17's and Adults. The results of the four analyses (overall quality, error counts, characterization, and computer) are presented under six headings: essay length, paragraphing, punctuation and capitalization, sentence structure, agreement, and words (spelling, vocabulary and usage). Six appendixes present: Procedures for Assigning Overall Quality Scores; Kinds of Errors Sought in the Error Count Analysis; Characterizations; Computer Scoring of Essays; Sample Percentages; and Best Essays. Tables and figures illustrate the text. (Author/LS) Primary type of information provided by report: Results (Overview).