Abstract
This essay urges teachers and school administrators to move away from the restrictive five-paragraph essay format and the emphasis on standardized writing tests like the Kentucky Standards Assessment (KSA). Based on personal teaching experience and insights from composition and rhetoric scholars, the essay highlights how these practices stifle authentic writing development and fail to prepare students for college and career writing demands. The author advocates for a shift in writing instruction towards focusing on audience and purpose, in line with Common Core Standards and the National Council of Teachers of English's recommendations. By drawing parallels to the successful shift in math education towards conceptual understanding, the essay calls on educators to adopt a more meaningful, audience-driven approach to writing instruction, fostering students' real-world writing skills and preparing them for future success.
Recommended Citation
Jansky, Timothy A.
(2025)
"Please Don’t Teach to the Writing Test: Suggestions to Improve Writing Instruction,"
Kentucky English Bulletin: Vol. 73:
No.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.bellarmine.edu/keb/vol73/iss2/3