Writing today is not a frill for the few, but an essential skill for the many.
—The National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges
“Writing is more integral to our lives in the 21st century than ever before,” Dr. Barbara Cambridge stated in a keynote address at Wabash College on March 9, 2009. Educators and employers agree that good writing is a necessary tool for success in the global environment in which our students will live and work when they leave school. We want our students to write well, and to be able to express themselves in several differ- ent genres from reports, to essays, to poetry. We want them to score well on the many standardized writing tests they will take as they progress through the grades. Most importantly, we want them to achieve all the writing skills they will need to live enriched and successful lives as literate, productive citizens. This means that they will have to achieve greater writing competency than previous generations as manufactur- ing jobs shrink and positions requiring higher literacy levels replace them. “Although only a few hundred thousand adults earn their living as full-time writers,” states the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges (2003, 10), “many Americans would not be able to hold their positions if they were not excellent writers.”