This overview of the first year of the La Mancha Project consists of papers on various aspects of the 5-year project to improve the composition instruction in Vermont schools, incorporating workshop and individual student conference techniques, and integrating writing with other academic studies. The papers include discussions of (1) ninth grade progress at South Burlington High School, with appendices providing the Project outline for the school year, a selected bibliography of materials, and an introductory bibliography on dialects; (2) results of the Bergman Composition Adequacy Tests; (3) imaginative stimulation of student writing; (4) written communication and the study of history and of science; (5) film making; and (6) writing, English, and the mass media. A critical assessment of the Project with additional plans for the second year, a selected screen education bibliography, lists of directors and the 12 participating Vermont schools, and recommended readings from ninth-grade La Mancha students conclude the report. (See also TE 002 119.) (JMC)