Equity & Access

“Why Keisha Can’t Write”: The Marginalization of Black Student Writing

Author: Dr. Kiara Lee-Heart Summary: A writing teacher responds to the famous essay “Why Johnny Can’t Write,” emphasizing the ways that its push for standardization has been particularly damaging for black students.

New Teachers in Urban Contexts: Creating Bridges with Teach For America Teachers

Authors: Dina Portnoy and Tanya Maloney Summary: This article examines how the Philadelphia Writing Project partnered with the University of Pennsylvania and Teach for America (TFA) to provide new TFA teachers with an additional week of focused training before they entered the classroom for the start of the school year....

Con Respeto, I am Not Richard Rodriguez

Author: Norma Mota-Altman Summary: Bilingual teacher Norma Mota–Altman recounts her experience as a Spanish–speaking child in school and explains why “English only” policies exact too high a price from English learners and their families. In telling her story, she brings a human face to critical terms such as “funds of...

Disciplinary Literacy: Why It Matters and What We Should Do About It

Author: Elizabeth Birr Moje Summary: Why should we help students learn how to read, write, and speak in different disciplines (e.g., science and social studies)? Watch this keynote address to meet Elizabeth Birr Moje who believes that when students learn the literacy particular to each discipline, they gain access to...

Why We Are Sticking To Our Stories

Author: Tina Deschenie Summary: In recounting the power of the oral tradition of storytelling, Tina Deschenie describes the mesmerizing experience of listening to her father tell elaborated stories in the Diné language about Coyote as well as numerous other literacy practices grounded in “the power and beauty of oral tradition...

A Teacher Inquiry Study Group Focuses on Racism and Homophobia

Author: Gavin Tachibana Summary: “Are you ready to talk about homophobia? About racism? About other personal and political subjects? How about with your students?” This article explains how two teacher book study groups focused on issues of race and sexual orientation. Each group established a safe space to have difficult...

School-based Family Writing Projects: A Model from Southern Nevada Writing Project

By: Arthur Kelly Frame: In this resource, Arthur Kelly describes designing a family writing program at his urban Las Vegas school as a way of engaging families in the school. The article answers questions about starting a family writing project and describes activities he uses to get families writing together. Publication: The...

Language, Identity, and Learning in Talking Appalachian (NWP Radio)

Author: Amy Clark Summary: This NWP Radio conversation with Amy Clark, co-editor of Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity & Community, begins with a personal story of how transcribing an oral history interview with her great grandmother revealed the syntax and poetry in her speech. Subsequent segments include discussions of: 1) teachers’...

Change the Readings, Change the Site: Addressing Equity and Access

Author: Wilma Ortiz and Karen Sumaryono Summary: Recognizing that while their site programs were primarily serving the needs of suburban teachers in a service area that encompassed a large population of urban schools, teacher leaders at the Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield named as a site priority the need to diversify site...

Working Toward Equity

Authors: Linda Friedrich, Carol Tateishi, Tom Malarkey, Elizabeth Radin Simons, and Marty Williams Summary: What is equity? What does it mean to work for equity in schools? What does it mean to make equity central to our work as teachers and researchers? With a focus on inquiry, Working Toward Equity...