Bringing Back High School Research Papers

Will Fitzhugh, in a thoughtful article, Meaningful Work: How the History Research paper Prepares Students for College and Life (link here), bemoans the lack of serious academic writing by high school students.

Much of the problem is lack of practice. The "focus on standardized tests and superficial writing skills has left educators with little time to teach students how to write serious research papers, and even less time to correct and grade them." The problem is worse in public schools, since those schools are most besieged by standardized testing. Somehow, however, educators must fine the time for academic writing or we set students up "for failure in college and in the workplace."

A greater proportion of students' lack of preparation comes from not doing enough rigorous reading. Teachers, starting in elementary school, must assign texts that allow students to acquire knowledge--that is, reading more serious fiction and nonfiction. (See E.D. Hirsch, Jr's blog on core knowledge here.)

To really teach students how to write, educators must give them examples of good writing found in nonfiction books and require students to read them, not skim them, cover to cover. Reading nonfiction contributes powerfully to the knowledge that students need in order to read more difficult material--the kind they will surely face in college.