What does it mean to be a proficient writer? Is writing of one genre more “rigorous” than another?

The brewing debate about whose standards are the most “rigorous” brought me back to the purpose of this blog– to increase the membership of self-proclaimed “writers” within the realm of readers.  I have referred to this movement as the “horizontal axis” of reform in literacy education, an axis more preoccupied with the inclusion of more writers than with the so-called “rigor” of writing. In no way does the inclusion of writers deny their development and maturation, however.

The “vertical axis” of literacy reform sometimes gets in the way of the “horizontal” one.  The reformers on the vertical axis have strong views of what constitutes “rigor” in writing standards, to the extent that Sheila Byrd Carmichael, founder of the American Diploma Project, has insisted that “It would be far more helpful to teachers to describe the expected characteristics of each genre listed, and to state which genres are most appropriate for study at each grade level” (see yesterday’s “Rigor Mortis” entry).  In Ms. Carmichael’s view, writing should be sequenced like algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus.  The rigor dial gets turned up each year until we reach “argument” as the ultimate “text-type” of writing.

The idea that “argument” represents the pinnacle of a writing hierarchy has been the implication of much standards-writing all along.  As the introduction to the Common Core State Standards states,”Evidence concerning the demands of college and career readiness gathered during the development of the Standards concurs with the NAEP’s [“National Assessment of Educational Progress”] shifting emphases: in grades 9-12 in the Standards , students continue writing in all three forms, but focus overwhelmingly on writing to argue and to inform or explain (p. 3).

While it is true that the 2011 NAEP will test only 20% on the writing goal “To convey experience,” that is not the same as relegating narrative writing to the lower grades, as some standards writers do. “To convey experience” is assessed in grades 4, 8, and 12, even though 10% less in grade 12 than grade 8.

In fact, NAEP emphasizes that writing should be for a variety of  purposes and always reports one writing score as a composite of its three main purposes. “Informed by writing research and theory, the NAEP writing framework emphasizes that good writers can communicate effectively in a variety of styles. . . . The framework specifies that students’ writing skills be measured by asking students to write for different purposes and audiences. Tasks on the assessment require students to inform, to persuade and to tell stories–real or imagined–and to do so for a range of audiences, among them teachers, newspaper editors, potential employers and peers” (The Nation’s Report Card, 2007, p. 4).

So, while the NAEP shifts its emphasis on persuasive, informative and expressive writing through grades 4-12, it continues to assess all three general purposes and reports them as one score.  This is an integrative, rather than a hierarchical view of writing, one that suggests all kinds of writing are in play for the entire span of our schooling.

Why is this important for the recruitment and inclusion of more writers into the larger realm of readers? Because writers should be writing and succeeding at all grade levels, not just at the grades that feature their most comfortable genres.  And writing for one purpose easily morphs into other purposes, just as a writer might relate his romance with baseball and later argue that performance-enhancing drugs undermine the accomplishments of players who have achieved without them. Writing for varied purposes allows more readers to feel confident as writers and to write with passion, as well as logic and precision.

The National Council of Teachers of English also supports this integrative view of writing in its “Belief Statement on the Teaching of Writing.”

Often, in school, students write only to prove that they did something they were asked to do, in order to get credit for it. Or, students are taught a single type of writing and are led to believe this type will suffice in all situations. Writers outside of school have many different purposes beyond demonstrating accountability, and they practice myriad types and genres. In order to make sure students are learning how writing differs when the purpose and the audience differ, it is important that teachers create opportunities for students to be in different kinds of writing situations, where the relationships and agendas are varied. <http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/writingbeliefs>

If we keep the “myriad types and genres” in play throughout K-12 schooling, we can expect more participation and more success in writing, even on standardized tests.  We should not allow the dubious notion that the purposes of writing form a hierarchy overshadow the glory of “Everyone can write.”