High school focuses on good grammar—student performance spikes

When a Staten Island high school swapped creative writing for analytical essay writing, graduation rates skyrocketed and test scores increased. Plus, what does the word ‘grammar’ even mean? Are book bloggers destroying literature? And more.

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This week, The Atlantic published a series of stories this week called “Why American Students Can’t Write.” I haven’t read the whole series yet, but the following two stories from that series pose some interesting ideas the ways writing is taught in American schools.

The series is rooted in a story about how a New York high school successfully steered students away from creative writing, and has seen remarkable improvement in academic performance since. Writers typically like to pass on the formal or informal writing education that brought them to where they are, so this is a series you’ll likely want to follow. It will be updated with new pieces through mid-October.

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