A strong schoolwide writing program supports learning across disciplines and provides a focus for collaboration and professional development for all teachers. The elements for schoolwide writing initiatives include: (1) Setting schoolwide goals for student achievement in writing; (2) Developing and implementing action steps that address both content-area and grade-level writing; (3) Providing appropriate professional development for teachers; (4) Structuring institutional support for writing; (5) Assessing student writing and learning; (6) Recruiting effective teachers of writing; and (7) Conducting regular programmatic assessment. As this list suggests, developing an effective program of writing instruction takes time, but that time is well spent because writing fosters learning in all disciplines (Thaiss & Zawacki, 2006).