Research suggests that learning is situated, social, and constructed. Teachers, as well as their students, learn through collaborative participation in meaningful activity. This study investigates the impact of a Writing Project Institute on teachers' learning and instruction, considering characteristics of professional learning that influenced…

This article reports findings from a four-year formative experiment (Reinking & Bradley, 2008) investigating a summer writing institute for ninth graders entering an urban high school. Intended as enrichment, not remediation, for a heterogeneous group of students, and as a learning experience, not just a teaching opportunity, for…

The meaning of literacy has drastically transformed over the past two decades, and it continues to evolve. Literacy extends beyond the traditional reading, writing, listening, and speaking. "Multiliteracies" was coined by the New London Group (1996) and includes digital literacy, new literacy, visual literacy, computer literacy, and…

This qualitative naturalistic descriptive case study provides an understanding of the characteristics of a community of practice within a National Writing Project invitational summer institute. This study utilized naturalistic, descriptive case study methodology to answer the research question: What characteristics of a community of practice are…

A three-week writing institute for middle and high school aspiring writers was judged positively by participants and parents. The institute featured parent involvement and included plans for continuation. (CL)

This paper contains a summary of the impact of writing projects that are modeled after and partially funded by the Bay Area Writing Project and emphasizes the growth and development of the Greater New Orleans Writing Project (GNOWP). The assumptions behind the National Writing Project that link these projects together, the research that supports…

For 22 years, at 166 sites around the world, over 1 million teachers have been teaching each other in nearly identical National Writing Project summer institutes. This article discusses the lessons learned about teacher leadership, the qualities of worthwhile staff development, writing instruction, and educational reform's bumpy landscape. (MLH)

This paper explores the National Writing Project model as it relates to enhancing the professionalism of teachers. It traces the historical development of the National Writing Project (NWP). describes the practices of the NWP summer institutes, and provides an analysis of teachers' satisfaction with their experiences in the summer institutes.…

Describes the Colorado Writing Project, a teacher-consultant inservice training program, and presents the results of holistic scoring of papers by students whose teachers had attended inservice meetings conducted by the teacher-consultants. (HTH)

THIS REPORT FOLLOWS TWO PREPARED IN PREVIOUS YEARS BY COORDINATORS FOR PROJECT ENGLISH AND TRACES THE CONCERNS OF THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION ENGLISH PROGRAM TO JANUARY 1966. AN INTRODUCTION DISCUSSES THE GENERAL OUTLINE OF ENGLISH CURRICULUM STUDIES NOW IN PROGRESS AND RECOUNTS THE SIGNIFICANT LEGISLATION WHICH SUPPORTS THESE PROJECTS, SIMILAR…

A three-week institute at Rutgers University during the summer of 1977 attracted 49 college-level teachers representing a wide range of academic subjects. Organizers of the institute sought to involve these people in an intensive study of the numerous inherent possibilities for learning that writing activities offer to any subject area. The…

BECAUSE MOST OF THE BEGINNING PHASE OF FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR ENGLISH HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THIS IS IN ONE SENSE A TERMINAL REVIEW OF THE WORK COMPLETED OR NEAR COMPLETION BY THE CURRICULUM STUDY AND DEMONSTRATION CENTERS SUPPORTED BY THE COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION. AN INTRODUCTION ASSESSES THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CENTERS'…

This brochure makes a case for devoting more attention to writing, and demonstrates through recent research results that the National Writing Project (NWP) has had a positive impact on teachers and students across the country. Independent national scorings of student writing show that NWP student improvement out paces that of students in carefully…

TEACHER-PARTICIPANTS IN A WORKSHOP OF THE 1965 NDEA ENGLISH INSTITUTE AT CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY RECOGNIZED COMPOSITION AS THE MOST PROBLEMATIC AREA OF ENGLISH TEACHING. THEY IDENTIFIED LACK OF THOROUGH PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION IN TEACHING COMPOSITION AS THE PRIMARY REASON FOR ITS RELATIVE NEGLECT BY TEACHERS. HIGH STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO,…

This overview of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) discusses the initiation and development of BAWP, the proliferation of programs based on the Bay Area model, and the establishment of the National Writing Project (NWP). The basis for BAWP is described as the recognition that there are outstanding teachers of writing in the schools and that…