What Is Happening in the Teaching of Writing?

• Published in: English journal 2009-05, Vol.98 (5), p.18
• Main Authors: Applebee, Arthur N, Langer, Judith A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement tests; College students; Colleges & universities; Computer Uses in Education; Data analysis; Education; Educational Technology; Educational Trends; English Teachers; Faculty Development; Grade 11; Grade 12; Grade 4; Grade 8; High Schools; High Stakes Tests; Hispanic people; Learning; Middle Schools; National Competency Tests; No Child Left Behind Act 2001-US; Reading; Reading Achievement; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; State Standards; Teaching Methods; Technological change; Trend Analysis; Trends; Writing; Writing Achievement; Writing Across the Curriculum; Writing Instruction; Writing Skills
• ISSN: 0013-8274; 2161-8895

It has been almost 30 years since the last systematic look at writing instruction in middle schools and high schools in the United States (Applebee, Writing). Since that report, there have been a number of significant changes in the contexts in which teachers teach and in which their students learn to write. Stretching back to the 1969-70 school year, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation's Report Card, gathers background data about teachers' and students' perceptions of curriculum and instruction as well as measuring student performance. It thus provides some interesting perspectives on changes over time in writing instruction as well as in writing achievement. This first look at the state of writing instruction through the lens of the National Assessment of Educational Progress leads to a number of conclusions and a great many more questions. Long-term trend data for both writing and reading show a remarkable stability in levels of achievement over time. Despite small ups and downs, by and large, student writing proficiency has remained steady. Gaps between more-advantaged and less-advantaged students also continue, even with the noticeable upturn in writing achievement between 1998 and 2007 at Grade 8, and between 2002 and 2007 at Grade 12. The twelfth-grade upturn may in fact be a cohort effect, with earlier gains at Grade 8 showing up a few years later at Grade 12. The NAEP data also highlight some external forces that are affecting the teaching of writing, in particular the spread of state standards and accompanying high-stakes tests. The NAEP results can be seen as a call for English teachers across the country to enter into professional discussions about the writing skills and knowledge students will need to do well at school, in higher education, and on the job. (Contains 7 figures.)