Proof Reading and Editing

Proof Reading and Editing

Proof Reading and Editing

Chapter 1: Introduction

In today's modern world, society is highly dependent on written information. With advances in communications, brought about largely by computer technology, daily transactions of written information are now being accessed on a global scale. Through internet websites, emailing, blogging, and texting, we are now capable of generating and spreading information at ever-increasing speeds. As a result, writing has become more important in shaping the future of our nation than perhaps ever before.

Writing is a tool that is incredibly influential in communicating important information and constructing thoughts into conveyed meaning. Essential writing skills are necessary for achieving education, social networking, and career and business goals. Despite the fact that, only a few hundred years ago, the majority of the population could not read or write, adequate proficiency in these skills has become not only advantageous, but truly essential to functioning in daily our daily lives. Therefore, children must be well-equipped writers to succeed not only in their education, but also to engage and effectively communicate in the world around them. In response, developing student competence and performance in the subject area of writing is an essential core of our American educational system.

Unfortunately, national statistics reflect that our educational system is failing to produce proficient writers. According to a 2006 survey, 81 percent of employers describe recent high school graduates as “deficient in written communications” such as memos, letters, and technical reports (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). As a result, private companies are spending an estimated $3.1 billion per year—and state governments are investing another $200 million—to provide writing instruction to their employees (National Commission on Writing, 2004; 2005).

Furthermore, The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, or “the Nation's Report Card”) writing exam was last given in 2002; it measured the writing skills of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders and translated their scores into three levels of proficiency: basic, proficient, and advanced. Across the three grades, only 22-29 percent of students scored at the proficient level, and only 2 percent were found to write at the advanced level (Persky et al., 2003). In other words, 70-75 percent of students were found to be writing below grade level.

It would then stand to reason that a direct cause of these results is due largely in part to low literacy levels. Within the last ten years, comparative studies have reported that U.S. graduates' overall literacy skills are lower than those of graduates in most industrialized nations (OECD, 2000). Literacy used to mean knowing how to read but the term has been broadened to encompass both reading and writing (Tompkins, 1994 ). Assessment in both areas of literacy is imperatively linked to one another and not mutually exclusive. Therefore, when considering the problem of inadequate student writing proficiencies, it is important to consider its relationship to the national Achievement Gap in reading.

"Over the past eight years, we have seen a gradual widening of the gap between the reading skills of ...