Now the district is aiming higher. After posting impressive writing scores, Pinellas got calls from other school districts. Educators began comparing notes. Evidently, instruction improved statewide. In 1996, that percentage doubled.
Some educators resist the formula approach to writing.
Ladner said her school adopted a prescribed system for writing a couple of years ago, but she felt it could take her students only so far. The scores showed it. This past school year, her school adjusted instruction to get the students to a higher level. The incredible gains showed it. Zane McInroy, a fourth-grade teacher at Brentwood Elementary in Pensacola, has seen plenty of students with great ideas they can't get down on paper.