Training Advanced Writing Skills: The Case for Deliberate Practice

Abstract

The development of advanced writing skills has been neglected in schools of the United States, with even some college graduates lacking the level of ability required in the workplace (National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004). The core problem, we argue, is an insufficient degree of appropriate task practice distributed throughout the secondary and higher education curriculum. We draw on the power law of skill acquisition, the role of deliberate practice in expert performance, and the uniquely intensive demands that advanced written composition place on working memory to make this case. A major impediment to assigning enough writing tasks is the time and effort involved in grading papers to provide feedback. We close by considering possible solutions to the grading problem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Steven Graham, another anonymous reviewer, and the editor, Gale Sinatra, for their helpful suggestions in revising an earlier draft of the manuscript.