Is it Johnny’s Fault?

Oh my, I am so sorry for this late post. I sometimes lose track of what week it is.

Anyway, my question deals with the original “Why Johnny Can’t Write” article. The paper discusses the disappointing and even shockingly low linguistic competency of college students. Sheils writes, “Willy-nilly, the U.S. educational system is spawning a generation of semiliterates.” She continues to write that “Very little improvement in the writing skills of American students is likely unless the educational establishment recaptures the earlier conviction that the written language is important.”

Firstly, do you agree with Sheils’ opinion? Also, what do you think has caused our education system to stray from its original emphasis on reading and writing as a discipline and a diversion? Do you think that the recent weight placed on “teaching to the test” has caused students to forget how to write and think for non-test related purposes? What can be done to reverse the effects of the current U.S. Education system on students’ linguistic competency?