We began by identifying the writing skills needed by students entering major universities. We felt that if we could prepare gifted students for that level of writing skill, we could give to all students writing skill consistent with their abilities. If they were not headed for college, they would still have the ability to use their language well for any purpose they might choose. To this end, the following principles were adopted by National Writing Institute before work began on Writing Strands . They were our guides in the initial stages of the design of the assignments and they remain operative today.
Every person can learn to express ideas and feelings in writing.
There is no one right way to write anything. The ability to write is not an exercise of a body of knowledge that can be learned like a list of vocabulary words. Both writing teachers and their students learn in any effective writing situation. There is no perfect model against which any effort can be compared for evaluation, so there must be many acceptable ways to express ideas. Every controlled writing experience will help students improve the ability to express themselves.