Wingard, Jennifer2018-03-012018-03-01August 2012017-08August 201http://hdl.handle.net/10657/2655In this dissertation I argue a rhetorical-poetic conception of form is useful in language arts classrooms focused on the writing formulas associated with high-stakes testing because of its a) groundedness in the productive tension between convention and invention; b) complex relationship to content; and c) expression of the exchange between writing as verb and noun. To demonstrate how writing teachers can resist reductive binaries between skills-based and creative writing-based pedagogies, formula and form, I draw on interviews with and observations of writers and teachers collaborating (on writing, teaching, lessons, and reflection) through the Houston Writers in the Schools (WITS) Collaborative program. I identify parallels between restrictions on student writing and restrictions on writing instruction in classrooms impacted by high-stakes tests, arguing fear and a lack of agency in both contexts lead to a reliance on [writing and teaching] formulas. I theorize form as a productive tool for reframing both how students write and how teachers teach because of the possibility it offers for movement in the face of stasis, self-formation in the face of conformity, and invention in the face of strict adherence to convention.application/pdfengThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).Writing formCreative writingPedagogyLanguage artsAssessmentsCommunity literacyWritersWriting formulaComposition2018-03-01Thesisborn digital