Why Students Should Write Research Papers Starting in First Grade

From the Marshall Memo #448

In this American School Board Journal interview by editor Del Stover, Will Fitzhugh, founder and editor of The Concord Review, continues his feisty advocacy for students at all levels writing full-blown research papers – something very few schools currently require. Fitzhugh believes in the Paper Per Year Plan: first graders should do a one-page research paper citing one source, second graders a two-pager with two sources, and so forth through seniors completing a twelve-page paper with twelve sources. 

Why research papers? “They ask for a lot of reading,” says Fitzhugh, “and as a result, the student learns a lot about something. This encourages students to believe that, through their own efforts for the most part, they can learn about other things in the future. In addition, a serious research paper can help them keep out of remedial reading and writing classes at college.” This is a serious concern: A Chronicle of Higher Education survey found that 90 percent of college professors say their students are poorly prepared for the reading, writing, and research they need to be successful in college.

Should students be allowed to use blogs, PowerPoint, and social media to fulfill the requirement? Absolutely not, says Fitzhugh, calling this approach “a mistake by teachers desperate to pander to student interests instead of requiring them to do the hard work essential to their education… Kids are spending three or four hours of time on homework a week and 54 hours on entertainment. It’s not going to kill them to spend four more hours a week on a paper.”

“Q & A with Will Fitzhugh, Research Paper Advocate” – an interview with Del Stover in American School Board Journal, September 2012 (Vol. 199, #9, p. 8), http://www.asbj.com