When It Comes to Writing, Lets Test What We Teach!

Nobody is happy with the performance of North Carolinas fourth and seventh graders on this years writing tests. And numerous reasons have been offered as to why the results varied so widely from last year.

The truth is its amazing that any writing test given as n on-demand, under-the-gun activity would give educators or the public anything to depend upon.

Our children get these instructions: Sit down and get out a pencil. Youve got 50 minutes to write the best paper you can about [insert topic]."

I write for a living and thats a test I couldnt pass three out of five days… because writers dont write like that. In fact, teachers dont teach our children to write like that. They teach them to use a proven writing process".

For the better part of five or eight years, depending on whether a child is in fourth or seventh grade, children have been taught a writing process. It goes something like this:

·   Pre-writing:   Brainstorming, finding inspiration, ideas; create a story web or outline
·   Writing:   Write your rough draft. Write, write, write. Dont worry about grammar or spelling at this point, just write until you feel youve completed your ideas. Be sure youve included enough content.
·   Revising:    Adding/Rearranging/Removing/Replacing. Share draft with peers and get feedback. After revising, can you read your work without stumbling; is your train of thought clear? Does your work meet the objectives of the assignment?
·   Editing:   Correct grammar, spelling, capitalization, syntax, word usage, consistency of person and verb tense, etc. After self-edit, get a peer edit as well.
·   Publishing:   Rewrite the paper in a neat, readable format. Submit your ready to publish" work, your prewriting notes and your rough copy with revisions and editing.

If we really want to know how well children can write, and we do, let them demonstrate their writing skills using the process theyve been taught.

We need standardized testing in our schools. It is the only way to assure that students are learning and teachers are teaching what is supposed to be taught. The state Board of Education and the Legislature need to make the resources available so our DPI accountability people can create a valid writing assessment. Lets avoid the embarrassment of creating a new yard stick that measures the wrong thing.

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Bill Fletcher if an independent marketing consultant and copywriter. He serves as a member of the Wake County Board of Education. BillF@FletcherDirect.com. For more info on the writing process, see
http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/.