Developed by a San Diego teacher named Jane Schaffer, who started offering training and a 45-day curriculum in 1995, it is intended to help students who struggle with structuring essays by providing a framework.
[6] Longer body paragraphs are possible but must maintain the same 1:2 ratio of CD to CM in the "chunks".
[7] Commentary sentences often start with a transition such as the following: Conclusion sentences usually start with one of the following: Mark Wiley, coordinator of the composition program at California State University, Long Beach, evaluated the Schaffer method in 2000 as providing a valuable guide to the basics of academic writing, but not conducive to students' exploring their own responses to complex ideas and best taught as a possible strategy.
In 2002, Heather McClelland sought to evaluate the effect of teaching formulaic strategies in order to assist teachers.
[9] In 2015, Patricia Solomon related instruction in scientific writing for a high school course in biology to the students' Schaffer method instruction in writing about literature; she found little evidence of transfer of learning to the new field.