The only people who are not good candidates for Writing to Learn classes are parents who want their students to be mainly autonomous.
My classes require each student to have a Parent Editor, a parent who stays in tune with what the student is doing and helps to the extent necessary. The Parent Editor has specific responsibilities; see the list here.
I am very committed to offering The Very Best Writing Classes in the USA 🙂 and supporting parents as they help their students. It is my joy to problem solve with parents whose students have difficulties so that their students can grow and succeed in their writing.
All students can learn to write well, and I have seen it happen repeatedly in my 20 years of IEW teaching. During this time, I have had hundreds of students, many with language learning issues, who have gone on to college and/or career and succeeded tremendously in their writing!
Yet every year I have a few students who do not progress because they do not put in the work necessary. This usually happens because either:
1) No one supervised them to make sure they did the work.
OR
2) No one helped them if they had difficulties.
All students need help and external motivation.
Parents who want a hands-off class for their students are not a good fit for Writing to Learn classes.