Superb report released by NCTE. In it, Kathleen Blake Yancy provides historical context for the teaching of writing. My favorite quote:

“Writing has never been accorded the cultural respect or the support that reading has enjoyed, in part because through reading, society could control its citizens, whereas through writing, citizens might exercise their own control.”

Yancy makes some significant observations about the nature of composition in the 21st century:

“…we have moved beyond a pyramid-like, sequential model of literacy development in which print literacy comes first and digital literacy comes second and networked literacy practices, if they come at all, come third and last … we have multiple models of composing operating simultaneously, each informed by new publication practices, new materials, and new vocabulary.”

Yancy concludes by charging educators to acknowledge the new types of composing afforded by the Read/Write Web and to:

Articulate the new models of composing developing right in front of our eyes.

Design a new model of a writing curriculum K–graduate school.

Create new models for teaching.

This is a must-read for all educators … and policy-makers (hint, hint).