CCCC-Sponsored Research: Writing in High School, Writing in College

In the spring of 2006, the CCCC Executive Committee invited proposals for a single grant of $25,000 to study the amount and kinds of writing American students do in high school and college.  The purpose of this focused initiative is to create an empirically-based description of student writing in school and college settings. The expectation for the project was that it would begin in late spring 2006, that the bulk of data would be gathered during fall 2006, with a progress report made by November 1, and with a final report due in March 2007.  The ideal proposal would be national in scope, gathering information from enough students, in enough diverse settings, that broad claims could reasonably be made about the nature nationally of student writing. 

In May of 2006, CCCC awarded Dr. Joanne Addison, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, and Dr. Sharon James McGee, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the $25,000 grant.  The selection committee was especially impressed by the thoughtful work Drs. Addison and McGee had already done on the survey instrument.  Committee members also liked the portfolio approach to assessing student work.  To find out more about the winning proposal, click here [coming soon].

In the spring of 2007, the project deadline was extended to June 2008.  To find out more on the progress of this CCCC-sponsored project, please click here [coming soon].