Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

According to a new survey by the College Board, writing skills are in serious decline throughout public education. Michael Farris discusses this trend today on Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Farris:


A recent New York Times article has a discouraging title: "Writing in Schools Is Found ... Both Dismal and Neglected." The article went on to report that typical elementary school students spend less than one-tenth of their school day writing, much less than the time most spend watching TV. High school teachers give few weekly writing assignments, and the lengthy research paper has gone the way of the dinosaur.


Both college professors and employers complain that the writing skills of most students are far below proficient. Just last year a survey found that college freshmen in California were struggling to present cohesive, thoughtful analysis in good grammatical form.


According to the U.S. Department of Education, only about one-fourth of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 write precise, engaging, and coherent prose.


The National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges issued a 44-page report on the state of writing in American education. The commission's report observes that grammar, rhetoric, and logic were foundational in early American education. Students were taught not just to write correctly, but to write well. The writing of our early leaders inspired a revolution!


Writing is a tool for communicating great ideas. Learning to write well is worth the effort required for both the teacher and the student. I'm Mike Farris.