Effective Writing Instruction for All Students

Effective Writing Instruction for All Students

Written for Renaissance Learning by Steve Graham, Vanderbilt University

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Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................................... 1 How Did We Get Into This Situation?.................................................................................................................. 1 How Do We Turn This Situation Around?............................................................................................................ 1 What Are Effective Writing Practices?................................................................................................................. 2 Seven Recommendations for Teaching Writing.................................................................................................. 3 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................... 8 References........................................................................................................................................................ 10

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Introduction

Imagine the public's reaction to these newspaper headlines:

Almost 60% of Children Cannot Read Classroom Material

50% of High School Graduates Not Prepared for College-Level Reading

Reading Remediation Costs Businesses $3.1 Billion a Year

Parents, grandparents, business leaders, college presidents, and politicians would be incensed, demanding immediate action to rectify this alarming situation. Well, if we substitute the word write for read and writing for reading this accurately represents the state of affairs for writing in American society. It is time to take action. All students need to learn to write effectively now.

Why is this so important? Youngsters who do not learn to write well are at a considerable disadvantage. At school, they earn lower grades, especially in classes where written tests and reports are the primary means for assessing students' progress. They are less likely than their more skilled classmates to use writing to support and extend what they are learning in content classes. There is considerable evidence that writing about content in science, social studies, and other content areas enhances how much students learn (Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004; Graham & Perin, 2007a). The opportunity to attend college is reduced too, as writing is now used to evaluate applicants' qualifications.

Struggling writers also face considerable barriers in the "real" world. At work, writing is a gateway for employment and promotion, especially in salaried positions (National Commission on Writing, 2004, 2005). Employees in business as well as government must be able to create clearly written documents, memoranda, technical reports, and electronic messages. Moreover, participation in civic life and the community at large has increasingly required the ability to write, especially as the use of email and text messaging has become so widespread.

How Did We Get Into This Situation?

Despite its importance, writing does not receive enough attention in contemporary schools. My colleagues and I recently asked a random sample of high school teachers from across the United States to tell us about writing instruction in their classrooms (Kiuhara, Graham, & Hawkin, 2009). The most common writing activities that their students engaged in were writing short answer responses to homework, responding to material read, completing worksheets, summarizing material read, writing journal entries, and making lists. Together, these activities involved little extended analysis, interpretation, or writing. In fact, one half of the most common assignments were basically writing without composing (short answers, worksheets, and lists).

Many teachers told us that they were not adequately prepared to teach writing. Almost one half of them indicated that they had received minimal to no preparation to teach writing. This included the preparation they received at college, from their school district, and through their own efforts. Such preparation is extremely important, as we found that those who were better prepared were more likely to use writing practices with a proven record of success and to make needed instructional adjustments for struggling writers.

How Do We Turn This Situation Around?

Somerset Maugham, the renowned novelist, once joked, "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are." Maugham's jest implies that there is little certainty about how

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