It’s a typical school night, and sophomore Lichi Chan is working
on an essay. This is hardly the first essay she’s written, but
it is unlike any of her past essays. This is not a thesis essay
for English, nor is it a research paper for social studies.
Rather, it is an essay on basketball—for physical education.
This is a result of Writing Across the Curriculum—a program
designed to deepen students’ understanding of subject material,
while also enforcing and enriching their writing skills, by
having them write in all classes—even those that don’t typically
require it. What started as an educational reform movement in
the 1970s has become a developed program found in many high
schools and colleges across the country. While the program has
been successful in some classes—namely humanities courses—both
students and teachers report that it is lacking in effectiveness
in other departments. Some subjects, such as Spanish and social
studies, seem to lend themselves naturally to Writing Across the
Curriculum. “In Span