MEASURING THE ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF WRITING ABILITY

The present study assessed the relationship among holistic writing ability, the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE), and the following tests of organizational ability: anagram solving, word reordering, sentence reordering, and paragraph assembly. Based upon a sample of 105 undergraduate students, the main findings were that writing ability, as measured by the holistic method of scoring, was significantly correlated with performance on the TSWE and the four tests of organizational ability. A composite score on all four organizational tests was found to have the highest zero-order correlation with the measure of writing ability. A stepwise regression analysis, with the measure of writing ability as the criterion, also indicated that the composite score explained a significant proportion of the variance beyond that explained by the TSWE. The results are discussed in terms of the Kintsch and van Dijk model of strategic discourse processing, which suggests that different organizational strategies operate at the levels of words, sentences, and paragraphs. It is concluded that tests assessing organizational strategies ought to be included in assessments of writing ability.     

The Birth and Infancy of Counselor Education and Supervision

The basic purpose of this article is to provide a historical chronicle of events associated with the first 4 years of CES. The setting for counselor education and supervision in the turbulent 1961 to 1965 period is described for purposes of providing a background for understanding the content of the journal during its infancy. Numerous publication mechanics associated with the birth and infancy of CES are identified and described. Finally, an attempt is made to categorize the articles published from 1961 to 1965 and to compare the results with the statements of purposes and goals existing during that time period.