THE REPLIES OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO A QUESTIONNAIRE ON ESSAY TESTING

Teachers of English were asked about the amount of composition in their curriculum and were questioned on their opinion of essay testing in general and the GCT in particular. Questionnaires were sent to 224 teachers; responses were received from 84 per cent. According to the figures provided by the teachers, the amount of writing practice now given to students in high school is slightly more than the amount given ten years ago. About one quarter of the schools give less composition work mainly because of the heavy teaching load and competing activities for student and teacher. About one third of the schools give more practice because of a growing realization of its need with greater numbers of students headed for college. The assignment of numerous short paragraphs rather than long themes was often cited as a means of maintaining writing practice in the face of growing numbers of students. There is a little evidence that believing the College Board stresses essay testing is associated with increased instruction in writing. When asked about the effect of College Board essay examinations on their teaching, about one teacher in five or six admitted that such tests served as a goal for the students, or as a factor in the number of writing assignments made. Many teachers expressed the desire for more information about the Board's tests. About four out of five of those who had any College Board students were strongly in favor of the Board's maintaining an essay test in its program. Most of the teachers felt an essay was the only way to measure a student's competence in writing and thinking. A few favored it to motivate the student or to encourage writing in the curriculum. Only about a third of the teachers were familiar with the GCT. Of these, a majority favored it. However, those who seemed to know the test best, as evidenced by their detailed discussion of it, tended to criticize it severely or to oppose it. Their principal objections were its high difficulty, the fact that it dealt with concepts unfamiliar to eleventh graders, and its unreliability. It is clear that teachers of English want an essay test. However, their main reason for wanting it is to measure competence, a service which it performs only poorly. Nevertheless, there is a good deal of evidence that essay examinations for college entrance would effectively encourage writing instruction at a good many schools. There is less enthusiasm for the GCT than for essay tests as a whole. In view of the trend in their own teaching and in view of remarks about the GCT and recommendations for replacing it, the teachers would probably welcome a change in the direction of an essay examination calling for the writing of a series of short expository passages on a variety of subjects. They would like to be better informed about the kind of writing that the Board requires.