Program Design

The Work of the National Writing Project: Social Practices in a Network Context

Author: Ann Lieberman and Diane Wood Summary: Is it really “magic” that occurs in Writing Project-related professional development? The authors of this report argue that Writing Projects have visible cultural features that lead to the building of successful professional learning communities. Ask teachers to read and discuss this report after...

Building New Pathways to Leadership by Innovating Beyond the Traditional Writing Project Model Institute

Summary: Providing inspiration and guidance, this collection features six case studies of sites reimagining their core leadership programs to reach teachers not served by their regular summer institute. Both the finished products and the detailed explanations of the design processes of these six examples can be instructive for any team...

Investing in the Improvement of Education: Lessons to be Learned from the National Writing Project

Author: Mark St. John, Laura Stokes Summary: This research report examines the impact of the National Writing Project in the context of decades of educational improvement efforts, highlighting the NWP’s success in building durable infrastructure for long-term, sustained school improvement efforts, and arguing that this success serves as a model...

Writing Our Future Through Family Literacy Projects (NWP Radio)

Summary: In this NWP Radio Show, writing project leaders discuss their family academic literacy projects, developed as part of the Writing Our Future Initiative. Based in high-needs schools around the country, this work provides support and interactive programming for English Language Learners grades K-3 and their families. This resource can...

Helping High School Students “Gear Up” for College

Author: Art Peterson Summary: This article highlights a program designed to support 9th graders in understanding how to differentiate and act upon revision and editing concerns. The program’s development and implementation reflects a collaboration between area high school writing centers, teachers, and university composition faculty. Since Gear-Up funds programs throughout...

Overview of NWP’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program

Summary: This overview provides key information about the National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) and how it works, along with the results from multiple years/areas of the country. In “About the Program,” teachers can find resources that complement each other in a year-round approach to teaching...

A Park in Your Backyard: Summer Youth Programs & More at the National Park (NWP Radio)

Guests: Renee Albertoli, Bethany Silva, Lois McGee, Diane Rawson, Eric Fiore, Susanne Norris, Mary Buckelew, Rhonda Schier, Lisa Italiano, and Cate Lamb Summary: This NWP radio show is the second of two shows that explore the design and impact of summer youth programs developed through a partnership between the National...

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...

Teacher Transformation in the National Writing Project

Author: Anne Elrod Whitney Summary: Why do teachers so often attribute their personal and professional “transformation” to their writing project experiences? Researcher Anne Whitney considers how participants’ writing time and writing group experience impacts their identity as writers, learners, and instructional leaders. Reading this study could spur an interesting discussion...

Developing a Multi-year School Partnership

Author: Rick VanDeWeghe Summary: This article describes the Denver Writing Project’s three-year professional development model used in partnership with several local schools/districts. In the first year, the site builds local capacity through teacher study groups, then transitions in the second year to site-sponsored professional development related to the topics researched...