Susan De La Paz

Academic literacy is critical to success in American schools and professional life. However, data from the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress in writing found that fewer than 35 percent of eighth graders wrote essays at or above the proficient level. In addition, the gap between low and middle-income students' performance in 2007 remained great. In both the eighth- and twelfth-grades, students' difficulties were most pronounced on writing tasks that required structured response...