I intend to post to this blog while I am going through the process of my iSearch but I also have posts that I must do as a requirement for my SED 445 course. This is the first requirement simply titled "Memo #1." Some of this may seem redundant to my previous post so I will try to elaborate.
I have seen many teenagers and adults enter college unprepared for college writing. While I can understand that adults entering college may have other reasons for not being well equipped with writing skills, I struggle to comprehend why students who have just graduated from high school can't keep up with college writing skills. In my experience, it is because high school teachers did not hold their students to the high standards that college professors do.
I know many people are working towards improving the writing skills of middle schoolers as well as high schoolers. I want to discover what steps have been taken and how they are being implemented in the school system. Let's also keep in mind that the school system is a wide umbrella, so it will be interesting to also see how differently they may be implemented through public and private schools. Starting out, much of what I know is negative so I truly want to find the positives in this journey.
Through this process, I want to become aware of what the common issues are with writing and how I may help my future students become better writers who are prepared to enter the college setting, confident in their skills. As future teachers, the research we do for these projects is going help shape our teacher identities.
Michele, I think this is such a relevant and important research project. It has always seemed strange to me that Writing 101 is a required course at RIC, and most schools, because the college has recognized that so many of their students come in with their writing not being up to par with college expectations. Yes, college is one of the "highest" forms of education and should expect better writing than that of a high schooler, but really the transition between the two shouldn't be that much more difficult that the transition from 5th to 6th grade or 10th to a 11th; students should be able to enter their freshman year being competent but with the chance to get even better. Is this the fault of high schools and their not preparing students well enough or the colleges for expecting too much right off the bat? I can't wait to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteMichele,
ReplyDeleteLike Megh said, I think that this is an important topic. I agree that there are a large number of students who are not prepared to write in college. I will be interested to see if you find what grade level is failing these students. I wonder if they are not learning a good foundation early on, or if high school teachers are not teaching writing that will help the students in college.
Michelle! I love this topic because it was one that I myself really wanted to do. I think this is an epidemic in our schools. Students should clearly be ready for college level writing after the 12th grade if they are prepared correctly. Maybe teachers are not pushing their students hard enough; giving them any time for critical thinking. I can not wait to hear what you find!
ReplyDelete