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It is a pleasant weekday morning, and you are on your way to your office in the writing center. But as you approach the main entrance of the center, you encounter crowds of students congregated in the hallway, all of them attempting to get in. There is a sense of nervous anxiety, even desperation in the air, and students are talking about what number they are. Somehow, you manage to push past the group, and as you enter the writing center, you encounter another crowd of students, equally distraught, clustered around the front desk, some begging and pleading, others looking grim. The phone is ringing off the hook, every available seat is taken, tutors' eyes are glazed, and the receptionist looks as if she is about to freak out. Between phone calls, she manages to mumble that this week the writing center has turned away over one hundred students a day. This is the scene which occurred in the writing center during the midpoint and final weeks of the Fall 1990 semester at the University of Southern California, when the Freshman Writing Program instituted a system of portfolio grading in place of a holistically scored departmental examination. It is a scene which called attention not only to the effect of portfolio grading on the writing center but also to several pedagogical and ethical issues associated with writing center assistance. Before I discuss these issues, however, I would like to establish that, despite the chaotic scene I described, our program is quite enthusiastic about portfolio evaluation, has

This book, the first to focus exclusively on portfolio assessment, is practical, theoretical, and broad in scope, offering places to start rather than claiming to be definitive. The articles, all by teachers with considerable experience in using portfolio grading, are free of jargon, making sound composition and assessment theory available to every reader, regardless of the level of writing taught.

This paper discusses a method to improve the oral communication competencies of technological students that has been utilized successfully at the University of Missouri-Rolla, the main scientific/engineering school of the University of Missouri system. Methods of individual instruction are explored, including personal assessment of strengths and weaknesses, individualization of course goals, time management, and the reduction of communication anxiety. Methods of group instruction are also detailed, including different types of oral presentations the technologist might be expected to make, building a professional attitude, the professional portfolio, and out-of-class speaking experience. Two premises form the basis for these methods. First, that a strong individual approach will significantly increase competencies in oral communication while reducing anxiety. And second, that emphasizing a professional attitude will encourage the student to work to his capacity in improving his competencies, and will prepare him to be a more effective professional.

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