Curriculum: Writing Subject as a 'Learning Tool'

At a time when the demands of high-stakes testing have led to a curriculum dominated by reading and mathematics instruction, discussion in the seminars these days is more likely to turn to the practical challenges of fitting writing into the school day, and how to show that it makes a difference in student achievement, writes Kathleen Kennedy in Education Week

It can't be more certainly truth. Home experience tells me that youngsters spend time doing school work and they are been graded on Language but, once they arrive to higher grades, writing suffers a decreased level in front of reading. On the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress in writing, only a third of 8th graders and one-fourth of 12th graders in nationally representative samples were deemed proficient, declares Kennedy.

We have to move beyond the notion of writing as an art form to promote writing as a learning tool. So, it's important parents, teachers and students support and enroll the National Writing Project. We all should emulate what former executive director of the program Richard Sterling, has said, the nwp.org "is the single largest national undertaking to tackle the problem."

A cornerstone of the curriculum for generations, writing has been dubbed the “neglected ‘R’ ” in recent years because of all the attention to reading and math. Yet it is gaining increasing recognition as an essential skill for developing the kinds of thinking and analytical abilities students need to master complex content, tackle college-level work, and succeed in a global and information-driven marketplace.

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, it's noted in the report, 'Neglected ‘R’: The Need for a Writing Revolution.'(pdf)

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