It is time for a writing revolution in America. In September 2002, the College Board—composed of more than 4,300 schools and colleges—established the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges. The decision to create teh Commission was motivated in part because of a decision by the Board to make a writing assessment part of the new SAT beginning in 2005. However, a greater impetus for the study was due to a growing concern within the education and business communities regarding the quality of student writing.

Read the complete chapter in the book Student Successes With Thinking Maps. Key sections from the chapter Empowering Students From Thinking to Writing with excerpts above include:

• Developing Composition
• Writing as Thinking
• Structures for Organization
• Precision of Thought and Language
• Quality Assessment Tools
• Sharing the Language of Writing

Jane Buckner, Ed.S. is a national educational consultant and author of works focused on developing writing proficiency in students from kindergarten through high school. She is presently a lead consultant with Innovative Learning Group working with whole school implementation of Write . . . From the Beginning® and Write . . . For the Future®.