Interdisciplinary collaborations to help students compose for discipline-specific contexts draw on multiple expertise. Science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) programs particularly rely on their writing colleagues because (1) their academic expertise is often not writing and (2) teaching writing often necessitates a redesigning of…

This practical resource takes educators through a planning process--from selecting standards to designing learning activities--that weaves together language, literacy, and science in ways that are responsive to emergent bilinguals. Drawing on extensive and current research, the authors show how secondary educators can use students' own language…

In this 2nd edition of "Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning," Mike Schmoker extends and updates the case that our schools could be on the cusp of swift, unparalleled improvements. But we are stymied by a systemwide failure to simplify and prioritize; we have yet to focus our limited time and energy on…

Different regions of the world are making increasing demands for educational reform, especially when institutions are dissatisfied with the level of proficiency of their graduates. Since the realization of how important English education is to global success, reform to English education is becoming progressively vital in societies all over the…

This article describes a unique approach to developing and delivering the curriculum for an experimental program that prepares STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates for teaching in high-needs secondary schools. The context for the collaborative design--including the charge, personnel, and purpose of the program--is…

"Working Smarter, Not Harder: Reaching the Tough to Teach" is the topic of an exclusive four-part series by the author for the "Kappa Delta Pi Record." Part I, Prior Knowledge and Concept Development, appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of the "Record." This article is the second of the four-part series. It discusses content integration and how to…

Describes the development of, and examines the assumptions behind, Frank Aydelotte's 1917 theory and pedagogy of technical writing, called the "thought movement," in which engineering students were required to think and write about issues important to their education and future careers. (SR)

A study examined elementary school writing instruction to determine (1) how frequently students are writing, (2) when in the curriculum writing occurs, and (3) in what forms the writing occurs. Data were collected in 75 elementary classrooms in 25 midwestern schools during a 15-day period. The data deviated little from what D. Graves reported in…

Notes the inevitable tensions that arise between centripetal writing centers and centrifugal writing across the curriculum programs. Examines the tutoring program at an eastern university as an example of a decentralized writing center that resists pressures to assume a uniform composition pedagogy and coordinates its work with many parts of the…

Narrates an imaginary dream in which an instructor, newly crowned King of Composition, institutes, while providing rationales based on current research, these changes in the composition program: (1) have all teaching done in conference; (2) eliminate textbooks; (3) do not require grammatical and mechanical correctness; and (4) make writing part of…

This article describes steps taken to demystify the writing of chemistry as part of the development of a junior level writing course for chemistry majors at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Although the course is offered by the chemistry department, its conception, development, implementation, and assessment have been the result of an…

The third in a series on content area writing instruction, this booklet is intended for high school teachers who have taught writing, but who want to move into content writing topics and for teachers who are novices at teaching writing but who think content writing instruction might be an important skill to teach their students. The three sections…

Adult basic education programs could teach writing by incorporating writing across the curriculum to learn as well as to communicate. Since expressive writing is a good way to encourage students to write without intimidating them, a free writing period genuinely could be productive if the teacher assigned a definite subject, such as a topic that…

The question of what to do "after the workshop" has been treated only in passing by writing across the curriculum experts. When planning the writing across the curriculum program at La Salle University (Philadelphia), the writing faculty decided to make continued "after the workshop" interaction with the writing specialist an integral part of the…

The first in a series on content area writing instruction, this booklet is intended for elementary school teachers who have taught writing, but who want to move into content writing topics and for teachers who are novices at teaching writing but who think content writing instruction might be an important skill to teach their students. The three…