TEACHER TO TEACHER:  RESOURCES FOR ACADEMIC WRITING AND THE DIAGNOSTIC WRITING SERVICE

Welcome!

You have just entered the Diagnostic Writing Service teachers' website. Conceived and planned jointly by California high school teachers and members of the University of California and the California State University systems, this website is intended to serve two slightly different purposes. First, it seeks to provide supplemental support to those teachers who are using the Diagnostic Writing Service proper. Second, it is intended as a general resource for any high school teacher seeking to improve his or her students' reading and writing skills. Thus, the DWS aims to acquaint teachers with the criteria for college-level writing and to enrich the culture of reading and writing in the high schools.

Eventually the DWS teachers' website will provide four means of support. One hyperlink will lead the user to annotated essays: sample essays submitted to the University of California's Subject A Examination and the California State University's English Placement Test (EPT), annotated in response to their strengths and weaknesses. A second hyperlink will, when completed, provide curriculum materials which will include topics such as concepts, academic vocabulary, grammatical structures, ESL, punctuation and language skills. A third hyperlink will lead the user to the Teachers' Lounge, which will include entire teaching units; general approaches to teaching reading and writing; mini lessons on different aspects of writing; a glossary of important terms involved in the assessment of writing, a bulletin board for teachers to share pedagogical strategies and materials with links to other sites which can supplement what is available here. Finally, a fourth hyperlink will make it possible for teachers to access their Diagnostic Writing Service classroom assessments in the form of summary data. The site is under continuing development and refinement and is presently only partially complete.

Table of Contents | Using the DWS | Annotated Essays | Curriculum | Teachers Lounge | DWS Summary Data