Teacher preparation programs are often criticized for not adequately preparing teachers to teach writing. Research shows that the majority of high school students cannot write an adequate persuasive or analytic essay. This is frequently attributed to teachers not feeling prepared to teach writing due to deficiencies in their own teacher preparation programs. Studies have found that teachers rate the writing instruction they received in their undergraduate and graduate programs as poor. While some teachers felt prepared, many reported not receiving explicit instruction in how to teach writing. The document concludes that teacher preparation programs need improvement and plans to further investigate local program preparation for teaching writing at the high school level.