What’s the difference between a high school senior and a first-year college student? In terms of age, study skills, and writing ability, not much. But in terms of teacher expectations and student freedom and responsibility, the differences can be huge. Because all too often high school teachers don’t talk with their college counterparts—and vice versa—high school teachers sometimes give their students well-intentioned but inaccurate advice about what to expect in college, and those at the college level sometimes harbor unrealistic expectations of their newest students.
What can teachers do to prepare high school students to write effectively in college? Thomas C. Thompson has compiled an illuminating collection of encouraging narratives and studies suggesting that secondary–postsecondary partnerships and exchanges can significantly improve students’ ability to succeed at college-level writing tasks. The obstacles to cross-grade discussions and collaborations are numerous, but, as the contributors attest, so are the benefits. In these essays, you will encounter
- two teachers who reflect on the rewards and challenges of teaching a college course to high school students
- a college professor who struggles through a semester of teaching high school English, arriving at a new appreciation of both high school teachers and students
- high school seniors who learn to discriminate among conflicting advice on their papers as college students work to provide helpful, balanced criticism for these young writers
- high school students whose journal entries reveal their reactions to having a college professor grade their papers, written to college-level specifications
If you want to find out more about students’ writing experiences before they reach your classroom or after they leave, you need only listen to their former or future teachers. Reading this collection will give you a window onto the experiences of high school and college teachers who are actively working together to improve their students’ chances of writing successfully in college.
243 pp. 2002. Grades 9–College. ISBN 0-8141-0975-6.
No. 09756 | 
