April 15, 2022
Lessons from High Poverty, High Success Schools:
Nonfiction Writing
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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
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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
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
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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!
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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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Stark Education Partnership is a catalyst, engaging and collaborating with education, business, civic and community stakeholders to drive sustainable improvement and innovation to provide all students with education and career success. View as Webpage
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