Teaching Social Studies Through Writing: How a Writing Program Transformed Our School

• In Event: Transformative Teacher Research: Teacher and Student Empowerment

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a teacher-led research study on the adoption of a research-based expository writing program in a large comprehensive urban high school with a history of low-performance. Using inquiry, teachers determined students lacked the requisite skills in writing to be successful at the high school level. Social Studies teachers wove explicit writing strategies into their core curricula across grades nine through twelve. Findings after five years of the program reveal a total transformation of student achievement school-wide.

Authors

• Dina Episcopia Zoleo, New Dorp High School, NYC Department of Education

• Toni-Ann Vroom, New Dorp High School, NYC Department of Education

• Victoria J. Maslow, New York City Department of Education