Put Pen to Paper More Often, Study Says 1992 Writing Report Card Finds That Writing Skills Are Improved, but Not Much

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GWEN Faulkner's fourth-grade classroom at the Harriet Tubman Elementary School here is not the American norm.

Busy children are writing and illustrating stories about trips to the National Zoo and the Baltimore Aquarium. Unlike most fourth-grade classes, Ms. Faulkner's class spends most of the day working on their writing, even when learning social studies or science.

But Secretary of Education Richard Riley chose Tubman Elementary to announce on Tuesday the results of the "1992 Writing Report Card," which says that although American students can write, they cannot write well.

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which sets policy for the Report …