The nation's focus on the literacy skills of students--especially boys--has produced many notions of reform. School districts reorganized and changed curricula to meet the needs of struggling readers and writers. In New York City, where this author was teaching, "Balanced Literacy" (a reading and writing workshop) had been implemented in…

Collaboration for some English teachers has proved to be the key to effective professional development. Teachers working together on evaluating the effectiveness of a writing workshop in the high school classroom have helped them gain knowledge about their beliefs and practices.