Two decades of research on teaching writing in the secondary schools in the US

Abstract

This review covers what is known in the U.S. as “secondary school,” generally encompassing grades 7-12. The author frames the review by looking at the broader assessment context, particularly state-wide writing tests that often trivialize writing by requiring writing within severe time restraints on topics that may be of little interest to students and that may benefit students with from privileged social backgrounds. Further, these assessments reduce writing to limited forms such as the five-paragraph theme, even when the genre called for (e.g., narrative) may not be amenable to such forms. The review finds that assessment mandates in turn affect classroom writing instruction in what the author characterizes as negative ways, emphasizing the mastery of a generic form over the generation of ideas. The review concludes that, in spite all of the attention given to writing instruction, writing is not necessarily improving, in large part because of mandates for how writing is assessed.