In his weekly Washington Pos column (aka a blog entry that actually gets printed in on paper), Jay Mathews begins with a series of definitive statements about writing instruction, never offering even the slightest hint of evidence to back them up.

With a few exceptions, our schools are bad at teaching writing. Students are not asked to do much of it, mostly because reading and correcting their work takes so much time. Instruction methods are often academic and lifeless.

English teachers rarely assign nonfiction reading and are even less apt to require nonfiction writing. Almost no high school students, except those in private or International Baccalaureate schools, are required to do major research papers.

Worthy attempts at reform haven’t gotten far. Writing instruction is killing our children’s natural desire to express themselves. Compare their school assignments to their e-mails, and you will see what I mean.

However, I have to admit that, with the possible exception of the part about teachers rarely assigning nonfiction writing, he’s likely correct.

As with most other instruction in schools these days, students are asked to write in a style that mirrors the requirements of the standardized tests they will take in the spring, short essays, structured in just the right way, intended for a very limited and artificial audience. Even those “major research papers” of which Jay is so fond are a relic of the past, mostly to prepare kids for when they are unfortunate enough to run across college professors who are training their replacements in academia.

Mathews, to his credit, suggests that we loosen things up a little.

I have been influenced by educators who think free-reading is the best homework for elementary school. Why not add free-writing? Stacey [Paula Stacey, whose Education Week article* he quotes in the column] suggested junking “the narrow models, the graphic organizers the formats and the steps” and do something very simple: “Ask students questions, read their answers and ask more questions.”

I would add one other suggestion. Allow students to expand their audience by posting their free-writing online.  It doesn’t have to be a large audience at first, their classmates, maybe a similar group from another school, possibly adults they know. But getting questions and critique from someone other than a teacher wielding a red pen is an eye-opening experience, one that motivates kids to improve their work like nothing else.

Let’s face it, many kids, especially in high school, are already writing in the real world. They’re just not always aware of how to do it in a responsible way. That’s part of what we need to help them learn.

*I’m linking to the article for the sake of completeness. You probably won’t be able to read it since EdWeek has stuck it behind their stupid paywall.