In this tale of a single event told from the perspectives of multiple narrators, Erick Gordon, Kerry McKibbin, Lalitha Vasudevan, and Ruth Vinz write about their work together on a Student Press Initiative (SPI) writing project at Horizon Academy, the Department of Correction/Department of Education high school at Rikers Island Jail in New York…

Joy A. Fowler, Department Chair, Writing Department, School for Creative and Performing Arts, Ohio talks about his courses offered at his school, theories and learning used, interdisciplinary opportunities available at his school and other related matters. Talking about cultural and linguistic diversity he says that as it is observed that writing…

A former high school teacher raises pedagogical and ethical questions about teaching and writing with the help of a story of a student. The ways in which the conventions of teaching and writing can be learned are discussed.

This article examines the ideological assumptions and practical consequences of recent state and federal attempts to standardize writing instruction at the secondary level, and it suggests alternative forms of assessment and classroom research available to teachers of composition in high school and college.

In this reanalysis of narrative notes collected in a larger study of co-teaching, the reading and writing demands of high school social studies classes were explored. Eight pairs of teachers (one special education teacher, one social studies teacher) from five high schools in Western Pennsylvania and New York were observed co-teaching in social…

The Greater Flint Educational Consortium on Writing Improvement, comprising local high school teachers and area college writing instructors, has worked for several years to improve the transition students make from their high school to college writing experiences. The focus of the most recent consortium was on writing support services. This…

This study investigates the relationship between first language (Arabic) proficiency and second language (English) performance in the writing skills of Jordanian bilingual second secondary school students. Despite the linguistic distance between English and Arabic, it is postulated that Arabic writing skills can be transferred positively to the…

Considering the immense efforts invested in Holocaust education in Israel and around the world, there is very little published research which looks at the impact of this education on teenagers' modes of understanding. This qualitative study addressed two questions: When adolescents learn about the Holocaust, what are the themes they see as central…

Various studies revealed the ineffectiveness of direct grammar instruction to produce better writers. However, a high school teacher finds that explaining grammar rules provides students with tools for building complex thoughts and expressing themselves more elaborately.

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Johnny Can Write...If We Challenge Him (Bill…

The Central Bands Commissioning Project was a multidimensional endeavor. One dimension included organizational details, such as selecting a composer, negotiating a contract, and securing funds. A second dimension was made up of teaching and learning activities related to the commission, such as meeting local composers, writing letters to composers…

A high school teacher has created a unit to help uninspired seniors write personal essays for college applications. Students could move away from formulas to regain their freedom and voice in writing with the help of carefully developed steps.

In this article, the author describes some of his memories of Phil, one of the students he taught years ago at Bayside High School in Queens. He relates that Phil's true passion was food and not literature. Phil would always bring one his desserts for the author to grade it. Years ago, the author made his classes write an essay about a person who…

In this paper, the role of computers in writing process was investigated. Last 25 years of journals were searched to find related articles. Articles and books were classified under prewriting, composing, and revising and editing headings. The review results showed that computers can make writers' job easy in the writing process. In addition,…

As the lead Advanced Placement (AP) English teacher at Suncoast High School, a magnet school, the author started a pilot program teaching the lowest quartile group of African American students the AP English Literature and Composition course their senior year. Their educational background was limited, and several were not able to write a complete…