Nonfiction Writing

April 15, 2022

Lessons from High Poverty, High Success Schools:

Nonfiction Writing

To reconstruct stories and scenes, nonfiction writers must conduct vigorous and responsible research. In fact, narrative requires more research than traditional reportage, for writers cannot simply tell what they learn and know; rather, they must show it. – Lee Gutkind

We continue our series on citing best practices in closing achievement gaps and maintaining equity in high poverty schools for all students. The primary source is the research cited by Doug Reeves (2020). Today’s article is focused on the practice of nonfiction writing.

Writing and Thinking

When students write, those students think. In fact, we might think of writing as thinking through the end of a pen or keyboard stroke. According to Reeves (2020), in schools with high levels of student performance, despite being high-poverty schools, there exists a balance between fiction and nonfiction writing. In contrast, those schools with high poverty but low achievement were likely to be writing exclusively or mostly fiction that was low rigor.

There is a scarcity of nonfiction writing in many high school settings – with the exception of classes designed for high-performing students in International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement curricula. In those settings, students are writing in history, economics, psychology, science, and math. Graham (2019) finds that nonfiction writing has a strong correlation with student success, and that students who write in this manner are making arguments, comparing, contrasting, describing, and expressing their understanding of the world based on observation and/or research. Reeves (2002) has additional data that demonstrates that as the frequency of nonfiction writing increases, students’ performance in other subjects increases.

Concise Grading

It is important when grading student writing to be clear and precise, utilizing scoring guides or rubrics agreed upon by teachers in a grade level or span of grade levels. (See the April 1st Issues article on Collaborative Scoring). The rubric can be set up to include the following four levels or something similar: 1) Not Meeting Standards; 2) Progressing; 3) Proficient; and 4) Exemplary.

Emphasizing Nonfiction

Further, writing in every subject and every grade helps students improve their deep thinking in those subjects. The act of nonfiction writing is to help students think and then express that thinking, and must be a routine part of any classroom practice!

While high performing schools have room for students writing fantasy, fiction, and poetry, a distinguishing characteristic of these schools is that nonfiction writing – used as a tool for thinking – is not optional!

Graham, S. (2019). Changing How Writing is Taught. Review of Research in Education, 34(1), 277-303.

Reeves, D. B. (2002). The Daily Disciplines of Leadership: How to improve student achievement, staff motivation, and personal organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Reeves, D. B. (2020). Achieving Equity & Excellence: Immediate Results from the Lessons of High-Poverty, High-Success Schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

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