Reading & Literacy

Panel Calls for Writing Revolution in Schools

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo — April 30, 2003 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Public schools must devote more time and resources to improving students’ writing proficiency if they hope to raise achievement overall and prepare students for future success, a report by the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges concludes.

The report, “The Neglected ‘R': The Need for a Writing Revolution,” is available from the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges.

“American education will never realize its potential as an engine of opportunity and economic growth until a writing revolution puts language and communication in their proper place in the classroom,” says the report, “The Neglected ‘R': The Need for a Writing Revolution,” released last week.

“Of the three R’s,” it contends, “writing is clearly the most neglected.”

The 20- member panel was convened by the College Board, the New York City-based sponsor of the SAT, in anticipation of adding a writing assessment on the college-entrance exam beginning in 2005. The commission included university officials, public school superintendents, teachers, and an advisory panel of writing experts.

According to data from the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about one-fourth of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders demonstrated grade-level proficiency in writing. Moreover, the new report points out, about half of college freshmen are unable to write papers free of grammatical errors and cannot adequately analyze and synthesize information in their written work.

National Agenda

The report calls for a national agenda for improving writing proficiency. Such an undertaking, it adds, should include a stronger focus in state and local academic standards on the importance of developing students’ writing skills as well as providing opportunities for writing in all subjects.

The commission recommends a doubling of the amount of time students spend writing in school, a task that it says can extend beyond English lessons to other subjects. Currently, the report maintains, most 4th graders spend less than three hours a week writing— about 15 percent of the time they spend watching television. Regular writing assignments have dwindled in many American classrooms because of curricular constraints and the amount of time teachers must spend grading the resulting papers. (“Relegating Student Research to the Past,” Nov. 20, 2002.)

In addition, the panel recommends that school officials increase resources for assessments that feature extended writing exercises, use technology to expand writing opportunities, and provide professional development to prepare teachers in every subject at every grade level to incorporate writing into their lessons.

Lucy McCormack Calkins, the director of the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University, said that the current focus on raising reading and mathematics achievement, as well as budgetary concerns, are barriers to increasing the time and resources devoted to writing instruction. But she praised the report for calling attention to the potential for writing to help improve student learning across the curriculum.

“I get the feeling they are trying to use this report to rally people around the importance of writing,” said Ms. Calkins. “It is sensitively written and,” she added, “it acknowledges the breadth of writing opportunities that students should have.”

Advisers to the commission were also pleased with the final product.

Richard Sterling, the director of the National Writing Project, a federally financed project based at the University of California, Berkeley, that sponsors workshops for some 130,000 teachers a year, said he had initially feared that the commission’s work would primarily reflect the interests of the College Board. The report, however, suggests a sincere effort to transform writing instruction throughout K-12 and higher education, Mr. Sterling said.

“It draws attention to an area that is neglected. ... In discussions about school reform, the importance of improving reading through writing is lost,” he said.

The College Board has launched an implementation plan, called the Writing Challenge to the Nation. The project will help educators address the recommendations.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Reading & Literacy Applying the 'Science of Reading': 3 State Leaders on Putting Policy Into Practice
Officials discussed how their states have attempted a multifaceted approach to reading improvement.
4 min read
Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education, speaks during a presentation of the proposed state spending plan during an announcement in Indianapolis on Jan. 4, 2023.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner speaks about a proposed state spending plan on Jan. 4, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana tracks students' 3rd grade reading progress and the tools and supports districts are deploying.
Michael Conroy/AP
Reading & Literacy How One District Moved to a 'Knowledge-Building' Curriculum: 3 Key Takeaways
Don't expect teachers to be experts in every subject, and make sure to address comprehension strategies, too, say district leaders.
4 min read
First grade students illustrate a story they wrote together in Megan Gose’s classroom at Moorsbridge Elementary School in Portage, Mich., on Nov. 29, 2023.
First grade students illustrate a story they wrote together in Megan Gose’s classroom at Moorsbridge Elementary School in Portage, Mich., on Nov. 29, 2023.
Emily Elconin for Education Week
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Quiz
Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Foundational Reading Skills?
Answer 9 questions about foundational reading skills.
Content provided by WordFlight
Reading & Literacy Opinion How to Help Students With Their Writing. 4 Educators Share Their Secrets
In many classrooms, students are handcuffed by restrictive templates for assignments instead of getting to practice how to create.
13 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty