Writing wrongs: Will educators sign on?
By JONDI GUMZ, Santa Cruz Sentinel staff writer, August 18, 2003
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a three-day report and the final segment of the Sentinel's back-to-school series.

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SANTA CRUZ - Elizabeth Munger graduated from Soquel High School with an A average four years ago, but she couldn't write. She ended up at Arizona State University, not her first choice, and found herself in a remedial English class.

Today, she believes she made a smart move.

She left Tempe, Ariz., in May with her sheepskin in hand, having finished college in four years with a B average. She majored in business and - of all things - communications. Best of all, she has no trouble writing anymore.

"I can't say I love writing, but I don't mind," said Munger, 22. "It is simple if you get the right guidance."

Munger is not alone in cultivating her writing proficiency a little later in life. More than one-third of California students going on to state universities do not have an acceptable high school writing foundation when they arrive, according to UC and CSU officials.

Munger describes her first college English class as "English for dummies." At first, she was discouraged to be in a course that didn't count for college credit. But the year-long class had only 10 students and it was just what she needed.

"The teachers knew what level we were at," she said. "They helped me from scratch."

They covered the basics, starting with how to write a thesis statement. She learned how to outline, how to use outside sources, how to write a bibliography. For every paper, she found out what she did right and what she did wrong.

More than 6,000 students have taken the Arizona State remedial class since it began in 1994, and 88 percent have passed. Those students are more successful in regular English and fewer drop out of college, university officials say.

Earlier teaching
For students to be better writers, they must write more. That is one of the conclusions of the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges, a blue-ribbon panel organized by the College Board.

It's the sort of advice that might have helped Elizabeth Munger avoid remedial English.

The commission released a report in April focusing attention on the poor quality of writing by most high school graduates. Only 23 percent of 12th-graders can write without making a lot of errors, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often touted as the nation's report card.

The report recommended:

Doubling the amount of time students spend writing, teaching writing in all subjects and all grade levels, and asking parents to review their children's work.

Requiring state assessments to include an essay rather than multiple choice questions to evaluate writing.

Taking advantage of software programs to identify mistakes and assess writing.

Training prospective teachers how to teach writing.
The commission's recommendations, which some say would amount to a revolution in how writing is taught, hasn't reached Santa Cruz County classrooms.

However, many local schools have identified writing as an area where students need to improve. Any many have already begun this process of improvement.

Strategies at work
Kathy Frandle, the principal at Brook Knoll Elementary School, was disappointed by last year's scores on the state writing test. Only 22 percent of elementary students tested (grade 4) rated proficient.

"They did so well on the other portions," she said.

As a result of their students' poor writing performance, teachers spent time this year on a new program called "Six Traits" to help students figure out how to write better. The program gave students a new way to organize their thoughts on paper and assess their work.

"We hope our kids are more successful," Frandle said.

At Scotts Valley High School, a freshman English teacher tried something different. She invited parents to offer feedback on essays analyzing "Of Mice and Men," the classic John Steinbeck novel.

She got about 10 volunteers, most of them with a background in writing. The program was considered so successful that parents were given another assignment - to critique essays written by seniors practicing for the Advanced Placement literature exam.

UC writing faculty are also helping by trying to show high school teachers what students must do to be successful in higher education. This spring, they created a Web site that details university expectations and shows how sample essays from the freshman placement test are graded.

Don Rothman of the Central California Writing Project at UC Santa Cruz says the focus on student work is essential to figuring out what students need to do better.

"Without student work, it spins off into outer space," he said.

Can change work?
The few educators locally who have heard of the writing report question whether the recommendations are practical.

For example, bringing high school teachers together to coordinate writing assignments is a challenge because of scheduling difficulties and the tendency for teachers to work independently.

Assigning more writing, they say, will be difficult if funding woes end California's smaller freshman English classes.

Teachers who are unfamiliar with new software programs that evaluate essays are skeptical of their value. Those who have seen a computer program in action question whether students would get enough benefit to justify the expense.

Joyce Justus, who just stepped down as head of the UCSC Education Department, doubts the state would add a requirement for a writing course for prospective teachers. Her successor, Rodney Ogawa, said he would leave it to faculty to decide the best way to prepare teachers to teach writing.

Nevertheless, Joyce Elliott, a veteran high school English teacher in Arkansas and one of three high school teachers who worked on the national writing report, believes there will be a writing revolution.

"I have that eternal optimism," Elliott said.

Models worth a look
Exemplary writing programs are available, the report pointed out.

In one project, first-graders in Chandler, Ariz., used e-mail to write to senior citizens in a nearby retirement community. By the end of the school year, the youngsters were writing detailed, complete paragraphs.

In another project, biology teachers at Irvington High School in Fremont experimented with curriculum. Some students were assigned to keep reading logs, write end-of-class summaries and take essay tests in addition to lab work and homework. Others did the labs and homework and took multiple choice tests. After 16 weeks, students who did more writing had better recall of what they studied, indicating another benefit of writing.

In high school, teachers can draw on writing assignments from Advanced Placement classes, courses that can lead to college credit.

"We have the model right in front of our faces," Elliott said.

Another model is The Concord Review, which publishes scholarly research papers on historical topics written by high school students.

This fall, Soquel High School will launch a new Humanities Academy, in which students will write 12 essays and a research paper in one semester.

Students apparently are up for the challenge. The program has 70 slots and 85 students applied.

Parents like Dean Kingston are thrilled.

"We're paying attention," he said.

Contact Jondi Gumz at jgumz@santa-cruz.com.

Ten tips for taming TV

1. Keep TVs, video game consoles and computers out of your kids' bedrooms.

2. Avoid using TV as a baby-sitter.

3. Practice 'appointment TV': Decide in advance what's good.

4. Turn off the TV during meals so parents and kids can talk.

5. Tape a good show for the family if it comes on at an inconvenient time.

6. Set limits.

7. Require homework be done before game-playing.

8. Check age ratings for games that may have violence or sex.

9. Pick non-lethal games that require the player to develop strategies.

10. Look for games with multiple players to encourage group play.


Source: National Institute on Media and the Family

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