Hello there. This is Mark Bowerline with another conversation.

Before we get to it, a word about our sponsor.

The University of Dallas is a premier Catholic liberal arts institution, renowned for its rigorous core curriculum and thriving graduate programs.

Careers in ministry, teaching, business, humanities, and science are formed here.

With campuses in Texas and Rome, Italy, students begin their pursuit of a life well-lived.

We have two alums of Dallas here at first things on staff, and they are both superb.

For more information on the University of Dallas, visit Udallas.edu.

That's Udallas.edu.

Andrew Poudawa is the director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing.

Boy, is that needed today.

He joins us today to talk about writing and education at the present time.

Welcome, Mr. Poudoir.

Thank you, Mark.

It's very good to be with you.

Let me start with a few writing facts. You know about SAT writing scores, ACT writing scores as well.

In spite of all the emphasis on verbal skills, in No Child Left Behind and Common Core and state standards, they just keep going down.

What is your explanation for that steady deterioration in the last 15 plus years?

Yeah, or maybe we could say the last 50 years.

In 1990, Myra Lyndon and Arthur Wimby wrote a book called Why Johnny Can't Write.

It was part of the Why Johnny Can't Do Anything Anymore series. And they documented with primary sources, Carnegie Institute studies that writing had been

in declined for 20 years before that.

That was 1990, 30 some years ago.

...