The School of Education Colloquium Series, “Writing Research: Where We Are and Where We Are Heading,” begins Wednesday, Sept. 16, with an introduction to the series by faculty members.

The fall series will foster an extended conversation about the present state of writing research and productive paths for future work.

Invited speakers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Florida State University and the Educational Testing Service will share their current work on writing instruction, assessment, disciplinary writing, cognitive models, or online writing, and describe their vision for the next five years of writing research.

The series will conclude with a presentation by Tony Allen, chairperson of the Wilmington Education Advisory Committee and a UD alumnus and member of the University’s Board of Trustees, on the committee’s recommendations for improving educational outcomes in the city’s public schools.

The series will be held on select Wednesdays throughout the semester, beginning at 1 p.m. in Room 207 of the Willard Hall Education Building. A discussion and question-and-answer period will follow each speaker’s presentation at 2.

Students, faculty and community members with interests in English, composition, literacy and education are encouraged to attend, as well as those interested in public policy and administration. These events are free, and no advance registration or RSVP is required.

The speakers and topics for each presentation follow.

Sept. 16: Charles MacArthur, professor, David Coker, associate professor, and Joshua Wilson, assistant professor, all in the School of Education, introduction to the colloquium series, “Writing Research: Where We Are and Where We Are Heading.”

Sept. 30: Deborah Brandt, professor emerita in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “Writing Over Reading: Reflections on the Future of Mass Literacy.”

Oct. 14: Young-Suk Grace Kim, associate professor in the School of Teacher Education at Florida State University, “Digging Deeper into the Developmental Models of Writing.”

Nov. 4: Paul Deane, principal research scientist at the Educational Testing Service, “What Are We Measuring with Direct Writing Assessment? What Automated Writing Evaluation and Keystroke Logging Technologies Tell Us.”

Nov. 18: Tony Allen, chairperson of the Wilmington Education Advisory Committee and Bank of America senior executive, “Reflections on ‘Strengthening Wilmington Education,” the Wilmington Advisory Committee Interim Report.

For more information about this series or to download the event posters, see the SOE Colloquium Series webpage.  You may also find the UDaily announcement here.

Article by Jessica Henderson