National Writing Project

NWP SUPPORTS A NATIONAL NETWORK OF LEADING EDUCATORS TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF WRITING.

NWP IS A NATIONAL NETWORK OF 162 UNIVERSITY-BASED LOCAL SITES. CO-DIRECTED BY FACULTY FROM THE UNIVERSITY AND K-12 SCHOOLS, EACH NWP SITE DEVELOPS A LEADERSHIP CADRE OF LOCAL EDUCATORS THROUGH INTENSIVE INVITATIONAL AND ADVANCED INSTITUTES. TOGETHER WITH LOCAL PARTNERS, THESE LEAD EDUCATORS DESIGN AND DELIVER CUSTOMIZED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN THE TEACHING OF WRITING AND THE ROLE OF WRITING IN LEARNING FOR SCHOOLS, DISTRICTS, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS, AND AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS. ACROSS THE NATIONAL NETWORK, NWP SITES RECRUIT AND PREPARE ROUGHLY 2,200 NEW TEACHER-LEADERS EACH YEAR AND WORK WITH ROUGHLY 1,700 SCHOOLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND NUMEROUS INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS WHO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF NWP'S ONLINE PROGRAMMING. (SEE SCH O)ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, NWP SITES GENERATE 80,000 HOURS OF INTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR DISTRICTS AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES, REACHING 6 MILLION STUDENTS PER YEAR.OVER THE 50 YEARS OF ITS DEVELOPMENT, THE NWP HAS CREATED A SIGNATURE MODEL OF INQUIRY-DRIVEN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT INCLUDES EXAMINING BEST PRACTICES, ENGAGING IN THE DISCIPLINE UNDER STUDY, DEVELOPING STRATEGIES TO MEET THE LITERACY NEEDS OF INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS, AND LEARNING FROM RESEARCH IN THE FIELD. THE STRONG NATIONAL NETWORK OF LOCAL WRITING PROJECT SITES AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE PROVIDE CONTINUING SUPPORT THAT EDUCATORS CAN DRAW UPON TO ENHANCE THEIR ABILITY TO INNOVATE AND LEAD IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS BENEFITING SCHOOLS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND THE YOUTH THEY SERVE. ADDITIONALLY, THE INVOLVEMENT OF UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND LEAD EDUCATORS IN THE NATIONAL NETWORK ENSURES THAT CONTINUING RESEARCH, EVALUATION, AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION SERVE TO KEEP NWP'S MODELS CURRENT AND RESPONSIVE.OVER FORTY YEARS OF NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EVALUATION STUDIES CONFIRM THAT NWP PROGRAMS SUPPORT TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND CONTRIBUTE TO GROWTH IN STUDENT WRITING ACHIEVEMENT AS MEASURED BY INDEPENDENT EVALUATIONS. RECENTLY, FOR EXAMPLE, SRI INTERNATIONAL HAS CONDUCTED THREE RIGOROUS EVALUATIONS OF THE IMPACTS OF THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT'S COLLEGE, CAREER, AND COMMUNITY WRITERS PROGRAM (C3WP). ALL THREE STUDIES EMPLOYED RANDOM ASSIGNMENT AND WERE DESIGNED TO MEET THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S HIGHEST STANDARDS OF RESEARCH: WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE STANDARDS WITHOUT RESERVATIONS AND ESSA TIER 1 (STRONG EVIDENCE). IN ALL THREE STUDIES, C3WP EXHIBITED A POSITIVE, STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE FOUR ATTRIBUTES OF STUDENT ARGUMENT WRITING EXAMINED: CONTENT, STRUCTURE, STANCE, AND CONVENTIONS, AS MEASURED ACROSS NEARLY 15,000 STUDENT WRITINGS BY TRAINED SCORERS USING THE ANALYTIC WRITING CONTINUUM FOR SOURCE-BASED ARGUMENT. THESE POSITIVE RESULTS REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE THREE STUDIES AND SPANNED 228 DIVERSE SCHOOLS ACROSS 20 STATES, SHOWING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NWP PROGRAMMING ACROSS MANY REGIONS AND VARIED SETTINGS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THESE NATIONAL STUDIES JOIN AN EXTENSIVE PORTFOLIO OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION STUDIES EXAMINING NWP'S IMPACT ON TEACHER PRACTICE AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP, STUDENT OUTCOMES, AND CURRICULAR IMPROVEMENT.