Engage Students with Online Publishing and Audience to Improve Writing

The research for this book was designed to develop student writing proficiency. In City X, as in many schools, students graduate and enter higher education and the workforce without adequate writing skills. Colleges often find students need remediation before they can proceed with freshman level work. In addition, the school's high stakes testing scores painted a bleak picture with a high percentage of students scoring below proficiency level. Therefore, it was important to determine why students struggle with writing, explore student attitudes about writing, and establish instructional practices that hold promise in developing students as proficient writers. The research was based on the use of technology, online publishing, and authentic audience as tools to engage students to become skilled writers. The study sought to understand student perspectives about their writing assignments written for an authentic audience of Internet readers as well as traditional assignments written for a teacher and a grade. Findings were based on extensive data collection in the form of observations, interviews, and student surveys.