why school essays are bad

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, why are students coming into college poorly prepared to write.

Writing is a complex intellectual task involving many component skills, some of which students may lack completely, some of which they may have only partially mastered. These skills involve, among other things:

Reading comprehension
Analytical skills
writing mechanics: grammar, sentence structure, spelling, etc.
planning a writing strategy
communicating ideas clearly and concisely
constructing a reasoned, demonstrable argument
effectively marshaling evidence and using sources appropriately
organizing ideas effectively

When students lack skills in these areas, their writing may be unsatisfactory in multiple ways – from poor grammar and syntax to unclear organization to weak reasoning and arguments. Complicating matters is the fact that many students’ reading skills are also poor. For example, if they cannot recognize the main point of an argument in their reading, they obviously cannot respond to this point in their writing. In addition, students often lack the meta-cognitive skills to recognize the areas in which their prior knowledge and skills are insufficient – and thus which skills they need to work to improve.

During their high school careers, most of our students were not writing with the frequency we might expect, nor were they doing the types of writing that we will require of them in their college years. In a study at George Washington University (2007), first-year undergraduates reported that the most frequently assigned high school writing tasks required them to offer and support opinions, with a secondary emphasis on summarizing and synthesizing information. Students were rarely required to criticize an argument, define a problem and propose a solution, shape their writing to meet their readers’ needs, or revise based on feedback. Furthermore, according to a survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education (2006), 61% of high school teachers said their students have never written a paper that was more than five pages. As a result, students have not had enough practice to develop a set of sophisticated writing skills. When students lack skills in these areas, their writing may be unsatisfactory in multiple ways – from poor grammar and syntax to unclear organization to weak reasoning and arguments.

Moreover, students may have learned bad habits in high school that they need to un-learn. For example, some students were taught in high school to avoid the first person and thus may use awkward grammatical constructions to avoid it rather than learn the contexts when its use is appropriate.

Recognition of students’ prior experience with writing and the complex nature of writing can help us to more effectively design assignments and provide support as students continue to hone their skills.

Top 5 Reasons Students Hate to Write

Many students, including homeschoolers, have an aversion to sentence writing, creative writing, journaling, paragraph writing, essay writing, formal writing, informal writing, and basically any kind of writing. Students need step-by-step writing instruction beginning with sentence composition, followed by paragraph composition, and finally college level essay composition to help them learn how to communicate better. But, many don’t understand why they need to learn how to write since they think they will never understand or use writing skills. Students who are not ready or willing to write, but are forced with inadequate writing instruction, tend to develop a hatred for writing and avoid anything to do with writing altogether. So why do students hate writing?

How am I supposed to figure out what the right answer is? Many students approach writing emotionally not understanding that a concrete or right way exists.

Insufficient groundwork manifests insecurity and frustration : Preparation should include a good base of Language Arts, especially basic grammar and spelling that are further strengthened as writing skills are developed. Some students fear they must get everything perfect on the first draft, and shut down because they do not know how to spell a word or compose various sentence structures effectively. A solid writing foundation focuses on the step-by-step process from brainstorming to outlining to composing the rough draft and writing the final copy. The Write Foundation teaches the writing process and structure, complemented by Language Arts basics, to develop healthy overall language usage with skillful writing.

No right answers : If there is more than one right answer, how am I supposed to figure out what the right answer is? Writing is tough for many students to wrap their heads around. Every other skill they learn has a right answer and a right way to do it. Many approach writing emotionally not understanding that a concrete or right way exists. Teaching writing structure for various types of essays and the writing process of brainstorm, outline, rough draft and final copy, gives your students the confidence needed to jump into any writing assignment, even advanced level essays. The Write Foundation provides the tools students need to make essay writing a concrete endeavor which produces confident writers, and in turn, better writers.

“Writing is too hard.” For many students, writing requires too much extra effort. Reality check: any major breakthrough in brain development takes extra effort.
Students however, need to be mature enough to handle organizing abstract thinking, which happens when most are around 11, 12 or 13.
Students are often forced to write and rewrite and rewrite, which exasperates them even more when they are already insecure about what they are doing.

Many times, students react and shut down. Some throw their hands up and quit and some melt down, or they disassociate themselves and stop inputting effort. If you are experiencing Chernobyl with passive or aggressive behavior, find a way for your student to re-connect with writing by breaking it down into bite sized chunks, backing up or slowing down, pinpointing how to bring the essay together. Hold their hand until they shoo you away because their confidence is built.

When students are bored, teaching writing is a like trying to drive a car out of gas; you get nowhere.

Fear of failure. How in the world do I complete this assignment? Writing style? What is that? Am I being graded on everything? These questions and more swarm around in a teen’s mind when they are overwhelmed. Teach them how to write using structure and the writing process. Yes, a variety of writing structures exists, but teach them enough about basic structures so they have something to fall back on when writing anything. The fear of failure fades when students have enough Language Arts basics, guidance for their writing creations, and are beginning to understand how to use writing structure and the writing process. Then they can get to the task at hand and write.

“I’m bored.” Your homeschooler couldn’t stand reading about it and now he has to write about it? When students are bored, teaching writing is a like trying to drive a car out of gas; you get nowhere.

For Mr. Boredom, let him select his topic within your specifications. A more engaging topic will hold his interest longer.
When teaching different writing styles, some subjects must be used which will not be your students’ favorite, but avoid making them write about subjects they loathe. Teach them how to write with topics that interest them.
Break down the assignment into bite-sized pieces. When tackling an assignment, make the work sessions long enough to make progress, but not so long the brain is drained and shuts down.
Make sure your students are working on the correct level. If the assignment is too difficult, they will shut down and claim boredom. If the assignment is too easy, boredom can also be a challenge.

Build self-confidence by backing up and starting where your child can work successfully before diving into their first daunting essay. Mastering fundamentals alleviates writing roadblocks. Regardless of the roadblocks your homeschooler throws in the way of learning how to write, you can find a way to blast through when you identify them as you listen to your child’s concerns. When you open your children’s horizons by helping them to embrace writing, they gain a skill they will use their entire lives.

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