Page 25 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of New Media On

xxiv INTRODUCTION

1920s—The efficiency model for teaching composition through
Thorndike and Hillegas' quantitative evaluation scales is
proposed and attempted. Similarly, current-traditional
rhetorical practices begin to dominate college composi-
tion instruction (Berlin, 1987).
1926—The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) first piloted.

1928—IBM starts working on a test-scoring machine with no
success.

1930s—Composition instructors make the first call to focus on
writing as a response to social contexts and to examine
the writing process instead of the written product
(Berlin, 1987).

1934—IBM purchases the Markograph system to improve its
test-scoring machine.

1935—The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) begins.
1936—IBM's Markograph system scores Regents exams in New
York and the Providence, Rhode Island, school district
tests. Also, Harvard institutes an admissions policy that
requires all students to take the SAT.
1937—The other Ivy League universities follow Harvard's lead
and require the SAT for admission.
1939—The National Teacher Exam (NTE) begins (Lemann,
1995).
1939—Oscar James Campbell proposes abolishing first-year
writing courses and replacing them with writing in-
struction infused in the students' subject matter. Camp-
bell also charges that the first-year writing course
structure constructs a system of devalued academic
workers who are prevented from promotion. Camp-
bell's argument is one of the first calls concerning writ-
ing across the curriculum and the teaching conditions
for compositionists (Berlin, 1987).
Mid-1940s—Rise of the general education component to ac-
commodate the influx of students who took advantage
of the G.I. Bill after World War II (Lemann, 1995).