The Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) has developed a set of Writing Standards [http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/standardslib/langarts.html]. These standards outline general and specific skills for K-12 students to learn.

    An evaluation of how the School Newspaper Unit addresses some of these standards:

• Demonstrating skill in composing essays without significant grammatical problems.
• Creating compositions that utilize effective descriptive language and integrate supporting details.
• Synthesizing research information to formulate a new position.