Marilyn+2

Chapter 20- Writing in Secondary Schools by George Hillocks

Grammar & Writing
 * Grammar has often been viewed as the foundation to composition, especially among the middle and high school grades.
 * Lynch and Evans (1963) study of high school English textbooks concluded that more pages in textbook were devoted to grammar and mechanics than composition and rhetoric.
 * What should be taught first- grammar or writing? In many of the books of the 1963 study, grammar lessons were placed after writing lessons in the textbook.

Should grammar be taught in isolation or interwoven with writing?

Teaching Writing in the Schools
 * Applebee (1981, 1984) conducted a study on writing in secondary schools and found the following:
 * Students wrote throughout the school day about 44% of the time, but only 3% of that time was spent writing at least a paragraph or longer.
 * Students were not engaged in the composition process, but writing things such as worksheets, fill-in the blanks, and essays. Essay writing was seen as a way to regurgitate information already learned.
 * Very little time was devoted to prewriting.
 * Modeled writing, brainstorming, and writing more than one draft was uncommon.
 * Mechanics were a focus of teachers' corrections.
 * Hillocks (2002) studied the impact of state assessments in Texas, Illinois, Kentucy, New York, and Oregon. Hillocks found the following (as compared to Applebee's earlier study):
 * There is a considerable change in the way writing is taught since Applebee's research.
 * Teachers now focus on teaching children to write more in depth and write several paragraphs in a writing piece.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Much more time is spent on brainstorming, prewriting and preparation.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Teachers teach students to pay greater attention to audience.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Teachers used more modeled pieces of writing.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Revision uses have not changed.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">In states that test students over a writing period or writing portfolio, it was found more time is spent on revision. In states where students sit down and take one formal assessment, less time was spent on revision.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Studies of Writing Processes <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">The Evaluation of Instruction
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Emig (1971) and Stallard (1974) found that prewriting times were short (1-4 min.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Matsuhasi (1981) suggests that prewriting/outlines aren't as necessary for writing narratives than they are for persuasion or explanation.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Mode of Instruction: Hillocks (1986) discusses four modes of writing instruction in schools:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Presentational- The teacher lectures and students answer questions and complete seatwork.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Natural process- Teachers encourage students to generate a writing topic, receive feedback from peers, and revise.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Individualized writing conferences- Student and teacher one-one one
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Environmental- Students, materials, activities, the task, and the teacher and in balance. Problem solving is encouraged.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Focus of Instruction <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Six foci were te subject of five+ studies each: grammar, study of model pieces of writing, sentence combining, use of scales for judging and revising, inquiry, free writing
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Grammar: Goal was to determine how language works (which leads to learning to write).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Models: Goal was to see how students study models of writing to help them understand the type of writing that's been assigned.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Sentence combining: Asks students to combine simple sentences into longer, more elaborate ones.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Scales- Make use of criteria and evaluate writing (perhaps with a rubric?)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Inquiry- Activities designed to help students with data to write about the topic.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Freewriting: Freechoice, journaling, discovering one's own voice.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Little instructon was given to grammar or freewriting. Sentence combining, scales, and inquiry were the most powerful treatments. These three happen to focus on procedural knowledge (how to do things) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Impact of Written Comment <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Several studies have attempted to look at assignments and teacher-written feedback. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">__What can be inferred is that the teacher has a direct impact on motivation and enthusiasm for writing. The more enthusiasm, the more writing is likely to be seen.__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">*Lots of other studies were done in this area with teacher comments and revision and follow in the book.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Applebee (1981) "the major vehicle for writing instruction, in all subject matter areas, was the teacher's comments [on] and corrections of completed work."
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Hillocks (1986) reviewed research in this area and found the opposite. He did gather than //negative comments versus positive, frequent versus infrequent, and marginal versus terminal// may have an effect on the outcome.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Gee (1972) Three groups: positive, negative, and no teacher comments. There wasn't a huge difference.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Assessment of Writing <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">During the 1970s, several researcher had developed different scales for assessing student writing. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">State Writing Assessments <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Almost all 50 states have some type of writing assessment in place. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">*See Gillocks, G. Jr. (2002). //The Testing Trap: How state assessments of writing control learning//. New York: Teachers College Press
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Holistic scale- Use of a rubric (or some other similar rating tool)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Primary-trait scale- Criteria is defined more specifically than a Holistic scale
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Analytic scale- Broken down into subscales
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Hillocks (2002) notes that many states require students to write on demand in an alloted amount of time.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">KY is the only state that uses a portfolio. It has several samples and many types of genres. It can be said that students in KY seem to have the richest writing experiences than students in all states.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">TX and IL tend to have general prompts and are scored with general criteria. Teachers are provided with benchmark papers and rubrics for guiding instruction.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Hillocks argues that in TX:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Benchmark papers and commentary are used to illustrate and explicate the rubric
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">There is no method for evaluating what should count as evidence
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Rubrics ignore commonsense logic
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Very low levels of writing are good enough to pass

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">The chapter author (Hillock) says that "It is obvious that students are receiving a diet of poor writing that cannot provide appropriate nourishment for their growth as writers." (kindle location 11113)

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%; text-align: center;">For those that teach TAKS writing grades, how do you feel about this?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Writing and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Looks at scores of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders every couple of years across the US.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Narrative, Informative, and persuasive writing is examined.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">The three levels of achievement are basic, proficient, and advanced.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Overall when comparing 1998 and 2002 scores, 8th graders and 12th graders showed some improvement in the percentage of students scoring proficient. However, the number of 12th graders scoring at a basic level or above dropped.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Only about 25% of students score at a proficient level.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">IEA Studies of Written composition <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Researchers looked a three major factors that influence writing (Purves, 1992)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">aims of writing to include audience and purpose
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">level of cognitive processing involved in writing
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">topic
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Rsearchers selected nine tasks to be used with 3 populations (ages 10-12, 15-17, 17-19). Writing samples (three per student) were drawn from many students in a variety of countries and scored (Gorman, 1988)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">In a later study, the persuasive pieces were rescored and the following was found (Connor and Lauer, 1988)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">English and New Zealand students scored significantly higher than American students. English- 1 SD and New Zealand- 2/3 SD. Why do you think this is?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Studies of Assessment Results: Test score gaps <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">There are three kinds of gaps that appear in scores of the general population. There are several statistics in this section.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Race and ethnicity
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Social class
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">Gender: Girls tend to score higher on writing than boys.