Oops, I forgot one from earlier, so here is my last post:
Addison, J., and S. McGee. “Writing in High School/Writing in College: Research Trends and Future Directions. ” College Composition and Communication : SPECIAL ISSUE: The Future of Rhetoric and Composition 62.1 (2010): 147-179. ProQuest Education Journals, ProQuest. Web. 2 May. 2011.
This article brings together data from large-scale research projects in the field of writing studies, and the authors also offer their own research, present an overall understanding of the complexity of both high school and college writing, and give suggestions for the future. Some of the organizations and institutions that have done empirical studies on writing in recent years include the U.S. Department of Education, the College Board, nonprofit educational organizations (National Survey of Student Engagement), and professional organizations (including Writing Program Administrators and Conference on College Composition and Communication), and individual institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of Denver. While some of the data is promising, other studies have shown that major problems with the writing of high school and college students still persist. Of all the results of recent studies, the authors of this article focus on deep learning, writing beyond school, and genres. The writers believe that there is a current urgency to demonstrate the value of writing across the curriculum, especially given the economic climate and increased budget cuts at all levels of education.
One study that the writers focus on are the reports issued by the National Commission on Writing, called “Writing: A Ticket to Work . . . or a Ticket Out” and “Writing, Technology and Teens.” The first report was developed by surveying HR directors for 120 major US companies that were members of the Business Roundtable who employ a total of about eight million people across a variety of industries and fields. The results showed that two-thirds of employees in these companies have significant writing responsibility, that poor writing skills are a major barrier to being promoted, and that companies spend about $3 billion each year to train employees how to write. I was actually familiar with this study already because I did some research into it and other recent studies about the importance of writing to employers for a NOVA college-wide committee I was part of last year. We were building a case for the college to maintain the current requirements for writing courses for all degree programs, and surveys like these showed resoundingly that writing is almost always ranked as one of the top one or two most important skills that employers seek—in almost every field.
This article is useful to me in a similar way that the earlier research I did has been useful, and I make a point to include mention of these studies in my writing courses to show students that there is a reason why they are required to take these classes—because writing really is important!