Above: The Innovative Learning Collaborative – between Parker High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham – is addressing writing skills and college readiness.

Grades were never an issue for Kinshayla Lawson.

In fact, the high marks she received during her freshman year at Birmingham’s Parker High School caused her teachers to approach her about joining the Academy of Urban Educators that focuses on turning students into educators.

UAB and Parker High School join forces for Learning Collaborative from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

But when Lawson was asked in the 10^th grade to write a paper, she realized she had no idea how to put into words what she was thinking. She had no idea how to clearly and concisely write a persuasive essay or where to begin to research a world so full of information that it can quickly overwhelm the researcher.

Even if she did find sources, she had no idea how to cite them.

Students work with educators at Parker High School. The Learning Collaborative initially began with programs in Glen Iris and Epic Elementary schools before expanding to Parker through a pilot program in 2014.

A lack of basic writing skills is a problem faced by many of Lawson’s peers across the country, in part, due to living in a world of text messaging and Twitter shorthand. But a collaboration between Parker High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham is addressing writing skills and college readiness.

Lawson said just two years in, the program, known as the UAB Innovative Learning Collaborative, has made a world of difference.

“I knew how to write, but I didn’t know how to put it into sequence,” said Lawson, now a senior at Parker. “Then UAB came in and worked with us and we had a lot of one-on-one time with them. We learned OREEO, which is a way to organize – or outline – your paper.”

Thanks to the specialized training, program coordinators say students have shown tremendous gains in their writing skills.

State your Opinion. Back up your opinion with Reasoning. Give Examples. Give an Explanation. State your Opinion again.

“UAB would give us writing topics and we’d write paragraphs and they’d review each paragraph for us, one on one. It was basic stuff we never knew and it’s improved our writing so much,” she said. “Now when I’m asked to write a paper, I can jump right on it.”

The Learning Collaborative, a partnership between the UAB School of Education and Birmingham City Schools, began with programs in Glen Iris and Epic Elementary schools, and expanded to Parker High School through a pilot program launched in 2014. The program focuses on ACT preparation. AT&T Alabama funded the program’s second year with a $23,500 grant. Starting with traditional writing tools, then introducing electronic tablets preloaded with reading and writing tools, about 60 sophomores, juniors and seniors are shown how to improve writing, comprehension and critical thinking, resulting in stronger preparation for test-taking.

Tonya Perry, director of the UAB Center for Urban Education, said students have shown significant gains in writing and she has no doubt improvements will continue.

“Writing is not just used in English class,” she said. “There is no career in which you will not have to write.”

In this program students are not only learning how to write properly, but also how to become educators.

Melody Wilsonhas taught at five high schools in her 32-year career and has run into the same problems with students’ lack of writing skills at every school.

“Now we’ve moved away from students taking the Alabama High School Graduation Exam and instead they take the ACT, and there’s a writing component on there. They need to know how to formulate their thoughts,” she said. “I struggled with how to teach students writing because I’m not an English teacher.”

Since UAB started the program at Parker, Wilson said students don’t dread writing assignments. She said their confidence has increased so much that two elementary school principals have asked Wilson’s students to tutor children.

“In addition to learning how to write properly, they are also learning how to be educators, and as I’ve told my students, you have to have teachers and educators in every profession,” she said. “A lot of football players want to be coaches. Well, that means they will be a teacher. They may want to be a trainer for business and industry, so again, they will be a teacher. At the very least, if you get married and have children, you are a teacher. And good verbal and written communication is needed in every field and in every career.”