Reporting on the work of a task force formed for the purpose of improving writing skills in the Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools, grades K-12, this paper identifies the efforts of the task force and its recommendations and traces the development and implementation of the Writing Across the Curriculum Project. An introduction notes the importance of writing, while a second section examines national trends in writing instruction and skills. A third section presents data showing a significant number of Memphis students who dislike writing and do not believe it is important. Sections four and five report the amount of teacher training in the instruction of writing and their recommendations for improving student writing, and administrator attitudes on improving writing, while the sixth section looks at content teachers' instructional practices. Recommendations are made in a seventh section, and the program's implementation is discussed in the eighth. A follow-up report and summary conclude the paper. Appendixes contain copies of student and teacher questionnaires, a writing sample survey, and an observation questionnaire. Guidelines, which stress the idea of writing in numerous modes and writing each day, and activities for writing across the curriculum are also offered. (JC)