ABSTRACT
Writing holds tremendous promise as a curricular space for children to share their lives, experiences, and knowledge. Yet, this part of the curriculum is regularly shortchanged for a number of reasons. Educational policies and mandates in the past decade (e.g., No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top) have focused almost exclusively on student achievement in reading and math. Schools throughout the country shifted resources from non-tested areas, such as writing, social studies, and art, to emphasize further the importance of meeting adequate yearly progress in reading and math through high-stakes testing regimes (Au, 2007; Crocco & Costigan, 2007; Berliner, 2009). Mindful of the pressures to achieve, teachers often find themselves implementing a skills-driven curriculum that focuses on the very skills being tested. Au's (2007) metasynthesis of 49 studies about the impact of high-stakes testing on curriculum found that, as teachers navigate the high-stakes testing terrain, predominant effects of testing include the narrowing of curricular content to only tested subjects, the fragmentation of curriculum, and the increase of teacher-centered delivery.
