The author believes that imagination is alive in the high school classroom, but it is pale and sickly, suffering from a long decline in which teachers have confined it to its most decorous forms of expression--inference and interpretation--and become ambiguous about whether or not it is truly welcome. To rouse imagination in the high school…

Describes a successful use of portfolios to assess the development of eleventh grade students' writing skills by inviting self-reflection and encouraging students to assume control over their writing. (KEH)

Assignments, grading methods, and classroom techniques for teaching creative writing in the high schools. (RL)

Describes one teacher's habit of bending the rules with relation to issues of English curriculum and testing. Describes teaching as being often a subversive activity. (HB)

Considers special needs students' interactions with high stakes testing and ways in which teachers try to improve the testing environment. Makes a suggestion for different types of evaluations including a semester-ending project that permits choice and engages students in interdisciplinary lessons. (SG)