Spring 2014 meeting at Immaculata University

“The Purposeful Writer: Links between High School and College Composition”

Please mark your calendars for the spring PWPA meeting on Friday, April 11, 2014, from 10AM-3PM, at Immaculata University.

As of 2017, Pennsylvania public school students must pass the state-required Keystone Exams in order to graduate from high school. Given this environment of high stakes standardized testing, PWPA would like to initiate a discussion between high school and college composition teachers. This spring’s meeting will feature a discussion panel consisting of high school teachers and college composition faculty.

To contextualize this discussion panel, we imagine breakout groups featuring conversation starters identifying the pedagogical values and practices we share and those we don’t (and why!). Some questions you might consider are:

What values for assessment do we share, including rubric elements?

What happens in an AP class? How are the AP classes structured?
What support is available for struggling writers?  For strong writers?
How are college teachers’ expectations for student performance met?
What do we do to help students increase their rhetorical effectiveness?
How do administrative structures like dual enrollment help and/or hinder our teaching?

We are hoping those of you who have English Education majors might be willing to volunteer your expertise for either the panel discussion or for the breakout groups. If you know a high school teacher who might be interested in participating, please let us know!

Please email Justin Everett at j.everet@usciences.edu if you are interested in participating in either the panel or the breakout groups.