The November 2013 Council Chronicle arrived today. I'm always interested to see what's new. The cover lists that there's a "New NCTE Policy Research Brief" related to "First-Year Writing." At Joliet West High School, Sean and I teach a dual credit Rhetoric course: students take a placement test, and once admitted they can earn credit from Joliet Junior College for English 101-102: Rhetoric by getting a C or higher. The link above explains in more detail how it works. To teach the course, JJC requires a Master's in English, and after I earned a degree in English Studies from Elmhurst College, I picked up two sections of Rhetoric and have taught it since 2008. As the class grew, Sean picked up 1 section, and he even picked up a night class of Rhetoric at the college itself.
I bring this up because the Policy Research Brief from NCTE suggests that the class we teach at the high school "cannot fully replicate the experiences of First-Year Writing because high school students' social and cognitive development is at a different level" (14). Further, the Policy adds, "Allowing college credit for writing courses completed while in high school will not help students to fully develop capacities for engagement, persistence, collaboration, reflection, metacognition, flexibility, and ownership that will help them to grow as writers and learners" (15). Well...where to begin.
