There was an English faculty meeting where we all discussed the writing of students, and what we want to work on as far as any consistent standard goes. Basically, students need to work on their expositions, and proper usage of quotes and resources. There was more, and more that teachers were noticing students weren’t doing. Part of the issue was that there wasn’t that established consistency (established as in the teachers were consistent, but not in tandem), and there was a thought that some schooling earlier on may have been misgiving. However, with what I have seen of these students, and many other students, there can only be a certain limit of ignorance before it becomes laziness.
There are students who KNOW what to do, but don’t, and students who DON’T know what to do, but refuse to learn any new way other than their own shortcut styling. For example, it should be expected that a junior knows what a complete sentence is in terms of short answer questions, and yet I will still get sentences such as “It was good.” I agree that expectations for writing needs to be consistent in any school, though it is difficult to find out the success when many students simply aren’t trying. It’s sad really, but it seems like getting a bad grade on a project or paper isn’t enough anymore. I think the best way to try and get them to write well is to make it interesting, but without the shortcuts of getting by.
