Equality and equity are often mischaracterized as interchangeable terms in public education. This may explain why efforts towards reform and restructure are often not met with any real measure of success. "Equity, Equality, and Reform in Contemporary Public Education" provides emerging research on the reformation of education curriculum…

Argues that the perennial problem of boring student writing is solved when assignments provide writers with target readers, enabling students to find their appropriate voice. Discusses a sample assignment in which students explain how to do something they do well to readers who don't know how to do it. (JG)

Illustrates Toulmin's simple three-step model of argumentation (claim, grounds, backing) with various proposition and syllogisms. Implements such heuristic quests at each step as "What position do I want my audience to take?" Proposes Toulmin logic as a strategy for teaching inductive and deductive thinking in composition. (JG)

A library skills program for freshman composition students was redesigned to correct problems caused by a lack of uniformly accepted methods of implementation. Changes made included a revised workbook, streamlined class sessions, enforcement of due dates for exercises, and improved communication with faculty. Three references are listed. (MES)

Intended for use by the teacher of a preparatory writing course at the college entry level, this developmental writing module is intended to provide students with some basic grammatical and organizational tools that will enable students to express themselves in writing well enough to answer coherently short essay questions, and succeed in a…

Presents ideas for having freshman composition students keep journals and write responses to class writing exercises, which are then published in a class newsletter. Discusses the benefits students receive from this practice. (SRT)

Claims that writing logs constitute an effective teaching tool in basic college writing courses. Discusses one teacher's success using writing logs to assist the development of students' freewriting skills. Includes sample entries revealing students' comments and progress throughout the term and documenting the teacher's response to these…

Discusses how computer programing and expository writing are both based on the ability to (1) recognize that a complex whole is composed of manageable parts, and (2) identify the necessary steps for achieving a goal or supporting a generality, and (3) concentrate on and summarize a large amount of information into an abbreviated, succinct…

Students must reconsider the nature of composing and their identities as writers when working on a jointly authored piece of writing, such as a two-page report on a particular area in a university library. Looking at the ways workshop groups interact to produce a piece of collaborative writing and a joint oral presentation offers insight into the…

Discusses how the development of critical thinking skills is inhibited in many students because they under-conceptualize the context in which controversy occurs. Suggests ways to raise students' awareness of being involved in a continuing debate, such as using written dialogue as a basis for extending a writing assignment that combines exposition,…

Graduate teaching assistants are too often given only "survival training" to prepare them to teach freshman composition. For the following reasons, the focus of teacher preparation in this area should be on rhetorical theory: (1) the study of theory informs the practice of teaching, (2) the study of theory is likely to give the beginner…

Applies H. P. Grice's theory of conversation (the Cooperative Principle, and the Maxims of Quality, Quantity, Relation and Manner) to a method of teaching revision. Explains that viewing writing as a cooperative transaction improves students' sense of audience, purpose, and diction. Analyzes a student draft via this method. (JG)

Arguing that writing teachers can neither ignore the teaching of grammar nor expect it to succeed if taught in the traditional way, examines the methods, organization, exercises and terminology of the freshman English handbook, identifies problems, and suggests alternatives to helping students satisfactorily edit their papers. (JG)

Describes an historical narrative assignment that stimulates students' interest in questions of rhetoric and scholarship as it requires students to combine role-playing, research, and revision. Discusses how students' role as participant/persona in writing the story prompts an intricate multiplicity of decisions as it forces them to filter data…

This collection of essays addresses the anxieties and problems of beginning writing teachers and provides a reality check for those who expect success from "day one." Following an Introduction: "Silences in Our Teaching Stories; What Do We Leave Out and Why?" (Thomas Newkirk), essays in the collection are: (1) "Forty-Eight…