Written Communication Oct 2008

The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Teachers' Writing Instruction

Sarah J. McCarthey University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Abstract

The study uses Foucault's framework of governmentality to understand the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on teachers' writing instruction and attitudes toward writing in high- and low-income schools. Using interviews and observations of 18 teachers, the study identified four themes: emphasis on testing, curricular effects, awareness of lower-achieving students, and concerns for English language learners. While teachers shared concerns in those areas, there were differences in how teachers from high- and low-income schools experienced the impact of NCLB on their writing instruction. The study suggests that NCLB has affected teacher morale as well as the nature and amount of writing instruction, but that school contexts figure into teachers' instruction. The example of one teacher from a low-income school demonstrates the potential for teachers to resist the coercive aspects of NCLB through their writing instruction.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2008-10-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088308322554
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy multilingual writers affect and writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Levine (2025)
    “We Don’t Teach to the MCAS”: Contextualizing Standardized Testing within Colle…
    College English
  2. Harvey-Torres et al. (2021)
    “And I Did It with My Writing”: Bilingual Teachers Storying Resilience and Resi…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  3. Ryan et al. (2021)
    A Reflexive Approach to Teaching Writing: Enablements and Constraints in Primar…
    Written Communication
  4. McCarthey et al. (2014)
    Elementary Teachers Negotiating Discourses in Writing Instruction
    Written Communication
  5. VanDerHeide et al. (2013)
    Instructional Chains as a Method for Examining the Teaching and Learning of Arg…
    Written Communication
Show all 6 →
  1. Cope et al. (2011)
    Technology-Mediated Writing Assessments: Principles and Processes
    Computers and Composition

Cites in this index (5)

  1. Olson et al. (2007)
    A Cognitive Strategies Approach to Reading and Writing Instruction for English …
    Research in the Teaching of English
  2. Ketter et al. (2001)
    Exploring the Impact of a High-Stakes Direct Writing Assessment in Two High Sch…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  3. Sadoski et al. (1997)
    The Relative Contributions of Research-Based Composition Activities to Writing …
    Research in the Teaching of English
  4. Chapman (1995)
    The Sociocognitive Construction of Written Genres in First Grade
    Research in the Teaching of English
  5. CHAPMAN (1994)
    The Emergence of Genres
    Written Communication
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CrossRef global citation count: 79 View in citation network →

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