Distinguished Professors Arthur Applebee and Judith Langer and colleagues are examining the state of writing instruction in core subjects in middle and high schools across the United States. They have reanalyzed existing national databases to develop an overall portrait of writing instruction and to identify regional differences and differential distribution of writing activities and writing instruction across demographic subgroups. This work resulted in an initial portrait of equality/inequality in opportunities to learn to write as well as an article that examines how assessment technology and other factors have influenced contemporary writing instruction (Applebee & Langer, What Is Happening in Writing Instruction, English Journal 98 (5), May 2009, pp. 18-28).

The research team has also examined in depth how writing is incorporated into each of the major academic subject areas, the cumulative experiences of individual students learning to write, and the contextual factors that support or inhibit effective opportunities for students to learn to write well in their secondary school coursework. A third aspect of the work involves a national random survey of teachers across the core academic subjects in middle and high school.