In 2003, the National Commission on Writing released "The Neglected "R,"" its report on the state of writing instruction in the nation's schools. The report identified an apparent paradox: writing, which the Commission defines as an essential skill for the many that has helped transform the world, is nevertheless increasingly…

Most English teachers are as ill-prepared to teach writing as to teach reading. (JH)

Politics, culture, and curriculum research all influence the ways students are taught to write. (DD)

Describes an approach to teaching composition skills based on a sequence of activities designed for different grade levels. (DD)

Describes the Colorado Writing Project, a teacher-consultant inservice training program, and presents the results of holistic scoring of papers by students whose teachers had attended inservice meetings conducted by the teacher-consultants. (HTH)

Describes the West Virginia Writing Project, a long-term inservice training project based on team teaching, on-site consultants, and teacher input. (HTH)