Improving Writing

Increasing The Passing Rate on the English Language Arts Regents Exam
By Improving Student Writing

 

 

 

 

Mauro Bressi
 Assistant Principal, Communication Arts
Edward R. Murrow HS of the Arts

  Rationale

            To improve the passing rate on the English Language Arts Regents Exam we must improve student writing.  The improvement of student writing is key because the ELA exam is essentially a writing exam: the student is required to write four essays, usually expository and persuasive.  We can improve student writing by instituting a school-wide writing program.  This should not appear drastic since the Regents exams in the other subjects also require a good deal of writing (i.e., the Social Studies Regents exams).    What’s more, it is known that writing is both a tool for learning and a measure of learning.  In short, writing plays a critical role as a means for learning in most academic subjects.  The goal of improving the passing rate on the ELA exam, then, will positively affect the passing rate on other exams.
            Improving instruction begins with leadership.  As instructional leaders, administrators must adopt and enforce a policy treating writing not as a separate subject, but as fundamental to teaching all subjects.  This means that teachers, whatever their discipline, must come to see themselves as writing teachers.  Indeed, "Every Teacher a Writing Teacher" shall be the banner and motto of this new program.  The contention that time spent writing is time lost for learning the subject must be viewed as a fallacy.  Instead, teachers should see writing as a powerful tool for learning.  They must invest in writing as a means of inquiry and retention of the subject.  They may do so by following the guidelines of this school-wide writing program.  The writing program will consist of 10 distinct but related practices and approaches.

 The Program

  1. Writing to learn as an instructional approach will be implemented across the curriculum.
  1. Teachers will include a daily writing practice in all lessons.  This may take the form of a learning log, a journal entry explaining what the student has learned at the end of each lesson.  The impact of increased writing time per day can in itself be substantial.  If writing were done for 10 minutes in English, 5 in Mathematics, 5 in Science, and 5 in Social Studies every day, the time students spend on writing would amount to 125 minutes at the end of the week, or the equivalent of 3.1 periods of instruction.  At the end of a month students will have spent 500 minutes writing, or 12.5 periods.  By year’s end, students will have accumulated 5000 minutes of writing time, the equivalent of 125 periods of instruction.
  1. Teachers will assign quality writing tasks.  This means writing tasks must be extended and academically rigorous; they should require reflection, analysis, interpretation, and synthesis.
  1. A writing center will be established to tutor students upon the recommendation of teachers and to serve faculty as a center for teaching and learning about writing.  (See the separate Writing Center Curriculum Guide in my PORTFOLIO)
  1. Professional development for the program will be designed to guide teachers in creating inquiry-based writing tasks and for collecting and sharing effective teaching practices.  The goal of such professional development will be to foster a faculty culture where improving student writing will be a priority for all teachers.
  1. Professional development for the program will also seek to build common expectations for good writing, a uniform writing rubric, as well as a shared philosophy of writing.
  1. A committee of English teachers led by the supervisor of English will review the English  1-8 curriculum to define and augment the teaching of writing in all English courses. Also, the committee will investigate the feasibility of maintaining a portfolio assessment system that follows the student through the high school grades.
  1. In the interest of building a community of writers, and to remind teachers of how complex the craft of writing may be for students, teachers will be encouraged to practice writing themselves and analyze their own writing experience.  A professional newsletter should be published to showcase teacher writing and provide a forum for open dialogue about writing.
  1. A copy of the ELA Regents exam of any student who fails the exam will be provided to the writing center teachers.  The exam will be analyzed to devise a tutoring prescription for the student.
  1. The Assistant Principal of English  will be committed to the success of the school-wide writing program and will act as coordinator and supervisor of writing instruction.

Assessment

The implementation of the program will be monitored through supervisory observations.  In the meantime, an administrative team should design an action research plan.  Ultimately, the results of the ELA Regents exam will reflect the extent of the program’s success.

Mauro Bressi
Assistant Principal, Humanities
Brooklyn HS of the Arts HOME