Writing Curriculum Crosses All Socioeconomic, Cultural, and Language Barriers
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, February 7, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Phoenix Publications, an educational company that provides evidence- and research-based curricula to elementary schools, announces the relaunch of its highly effective writing program, the Write Connection. From 1999 to 2015, the Write Connection helped increase student achievement in chronically failing schools, mostly in the Los Angeles area. Now, as schools recover from student learning loss, the need for a writing program that addresses the challenges schools face is critical.
“Some schools that implemented the curriculum had the highest academic gains in California,” explains Deborah Stephenson, the program’s creator, and a former inner-city schoolteacher herself.
According to the School Buyers Online, Bursche Elementary School in Compton, CA increased its Academic Performance Index (API), California’s former method for measuring school performance, by 87 points, making it the highest African American gain in California. Another school in Los Angeles had the fourth-highest Hispanic API increase in the state after just one year of school-wide implementation.
So, why relaunch now?
“Children need a writing program that works,” says Stephenson. “Data shows that schools with high numbers of Black and Brown students, students who come from poverty, and English learners have significantly more challenges to overcome.”
These factors contributed to a literacy gap. According to EdSource, in 2022 only 42% of California third-graders tested at grade level in language arts.
In late 2019, Stephenson, who had taken an early retirement, knew she had to resurrect the curriculum when new research proved that many of the strategies used to teach students how to read are fundamentally flawed. Just last month, for example, Education Week stated in their report that “foundational writing skills—like phonics and language structure—have not generally been taught systematically or explicitly.”
Knowing that similar problems exist in writing instruction, Stephenson went back to work.
“The news came as no surprise,” says Stephenson. “California’s state-adopted curriculum still uses writing strategies that have proven to leave many children behind, especially those of color. And due to the pandemic, online lessons were created that moved even further away from effective lessons.”
The Write Connection has been reimagined using multimedia and has added a treasure trove of innovative features that will make the programs even more effective than before. Two of the upgrades are an embedded public-speaking component and optional English/Spanish audio versions. The company plans to add transitional kindergarten and sixth-grade programs as well as a relaunch of its summer school programs.
“The programs consist of many strategies,” Stephenson explains. “But two that have been making news lately are having a positive classroom environment and multisensory learning. From its inception, I knew effective lessons had to be fun and interactive which is why the daily lessons have a game-like quality to them. When students are engaged, motivated, and using multiple senses, they learn. Just as important, we integrate grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and a lot more with the writing process while providing grade-appropriate science and social studies content.
"The benefits are that students learn these skills in context, and they also learn about science and social studies and the vocabulary that goes with it, without spending hardly any extra class time. These strategies are the ones that set us apart from others. These methods are essential if you want students, despite their skill levels, to master writing.”
About Us
Phoenix Publications, The Write Connection’s (TWC) parent company, brings integrated, content-rich writing and public speaking curricula to schools. For 16 years, TWC has infused the most successful strategies into teacher-friendly lessons that motivate and inspire students to become competent writers. The Write Connection provides a gateway to literacy that crosses all socioeconomic, cultural, and language barriers. Using the most effective evidence- and research-based writing and public speaking strategies, every child will be prepared for higher education and will become a contributing member of society.
Phoenix Publications is committed to high-quality education and is expanding its curriculum to meet growing demand. For more information,
