The contents of this volume speak across boundaries of disciplines, institutions, methodologies and genres to engage scholars interested in writing and preparing teachers and researchers of writing. The collection aims to disrupt the disciplinary borders that have divided composition scholarship—and scholars—into different camps: K-12 written literacy which is associated with education, and college writing research and scholarship, which is typically located in the humanities (most often English).
Chapters address topics of writing assessment, teaching writing, preparing teachers of English, graduate education, electronic technologies, community literacy, and professional issues. Contributors write traditional research reports, personal reflections, analysis, as well as blurred genres that combine personal reflection with more traditional academic forms. Similarly, a variety of research approaches are included—teacher research, textual analysis, case study, survey, and reviews of the research. The variety as well as the blurring of forms, approaches, and topics represented in the book are organized around three themes: writing assessment, classroom research and teaching, and community concerns.
Although the volume is a tribute to William L. Smith, it goes beyond looking at his work to demonstrate the influence scholarship and teaching can have on a field.
Contents: The Urge to Know: A Tribute to Bill Smith, Peggy O’Neill. The Call of Research, Nancy Sommers. WRITING ASSESSMENT. Standing on His Shoulders: Understanding William L. Smith’s Contributions to Writing Assessment, Brian Huot. Some Additional Effects of Varying the Structure of a Topic on College Students’ Writing, Michael Moore. What Teachers Value in Student Writing: The Story of a Research Journey, Robert E. Land. Adding Portfolios to the Placement Process: A Longitudinal Perspective, Vicki Hester, Peggy O’Neill, Michael Neal, Anthony Edgington, and Brian Huot. Joining the Dialogue on Validity Theory in Educational Research, Pamela A. Moss. RESEARCH AND TEACHING. Nobody Laps Me Twice: Attitude Surveys as Tools for Reflection, David L. Wallace. First-Year College Students Writing Across the Curriculum, Stuart Greene and Amy Orr. Standard English Needs Taught N’at: Students’ Folk Linguistic Beliefs Constance Ruzick. An Online Writing Tutor to Test a Pedagogical Strategy, John R. Hayes, Diana M. Bajzak, Susan Lawrence, and Erwin R. Steinberg. Pedagogical Transformations in a Mythic Age, Joan Latchaw. Insistent/Resistant: Re/visiting the I/Search, J. Bradley Minnick. Hallmarks of Teacher Preparation: The Field Center Approach, Dawn Latta Kirby and Dan Kirby. BEYOND THE CLASSROOM. Mentoring Researchers: a Tribute to Bill Smith, Inquirer, Suzanne Miller et al. Geographies of Hope: A Study of Urban Landscapes and a University-Community Collaborative, Glynda Hull and Michael Angelo James. Crossing Over: The Move from Education to Composition, Russel K. Durst. Accreditation, Standards, and NCTE: Shaping a Profession, Steve M. Koziol, Jr. Evidence-Based Education Policies: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, Lucretia Pence and Linda Jordan Platt. Afterword: Some Thoughts on Successful Mentoring of Future Researchers, William L. Smith. Appendix: William L. Smith: Curriculum Vitae. Author Index. Subject Index. |
