James Moffett (1929–1996) was an American teacher of English, author, and theorist of the teaching and learning of language arts and especially writing.
Moffett's paired publications, Teaching the Universe of Discourse and Student-Centered Language Arts, K-12, were both initially published in 1967, and updated throughout multiple editions through 1992.
[citation needed] Prior to its adoption, the citizens of Kanawha County, West Virginia, staged violent protests over this and other textbooks.
[3] Moffett later wrote an award-winning book about the events, Storm in the Mountains: a Case Study of Censorship.
The result of these protests was that almost all the state curriculum boards, not wanting to court controversy, rescinded their orders, and Houghton Mifflin abandoned the project less than a year later.