Professional educators at times doggedly avoid the obvious. The U.S. Department of Education has tested tens of thousands of children on their writing ability and invariably found that, to quote one emblematic report, "many at each grade level continue to have serious difficulty in producing effective writing," and that students who read more write better.

"[To] become good writers," a "Writing Report Card" from the National Assessment of Educational Progress said in 1992, "students need...