Super Subs Integrate Writing into Porgram

The Super Subs:

The Super Subs will integrate writing into their entire day when they are performing at schools. We feel that we can help to give students good reasons to write. So when the Super Subs come to town you will be treated to visual and performing arts, storytelling, Kid's Talk Radio, PNN News projects, and lots of opportunities to write.

Here are some recent articles that we are paying close attention to.

SAT writing portion good predictor of college grades, studies find.

USA Today (4/25, 3A, Kornblum, Toppo) reports, "The controversial new writing portion of the SAT is actually a better predictor of grades for freshmen college students than the older, more-established, critical reading and mathematics portions, according to preliminary results of two new studies" from the College Board and the University of California. The College Board study looked at "test scores from 150,000 freshmen entering 110 colleges in 2006 and then looked at their GPAs at the end of their freshman year," and the study found the SAT's writing section to be "'the best single predictor' of freshman grades." In an analysis of its 2006 freshman class, the University of California found that, "[w]hile the best predictor of grades is a student's high school GPA, the writing portion of the SAT is the most important among tests required by the UC system." Analysts note that, [a]necdotally, colleges are using the writing portion as a monitored writing sample."

Students using informal writing styles, study finds.

The New York Times (4/25, A16, Lewin) reports, "As email messages, text messages and social network postings become nearly ubiquitous in the lives of teenagers, the informality of electronic communications is seeping into their schoolwork," found a survey of 700 students by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The study found that "nearly two-thirds" of the "students surveyed said their e-communication style sometimes bled into school assignments." Richard Sterling, emeritus executive director of the National Writing Project, said that "when email shorthand -- or for that matter, slang -- appears in academic assignments...it is an opportunity for teachers to explain that while such usages are acceptable in some contexts, they do not belong in schoolwork." He also said, "I think in the future, capitalization will disappear."

The AP (4/25) reports the study "also found that teens who keep blogs or use social-networking sites...have a greater tendency to slip nonstandard elements into assignments," but noted that "teens who keep blogs are more likely to engage in personal writing," and "tend to believe that writing will prove crucial to their eventual success in life."