Alliance for Excellent Education Calls for Increased Funding for NWP

Date: April 2007

The Alliance for Excellent Education recently issued a policy brief offering suggestions to help improve writing instruction in America, including a call to increase federal support for the National Writing Project.

The brief, "Making Writing Instruction a Priority in America's Middle and High Schools," states that even though writing plays a more important role than ever before in American schools, workplaces, and everyday life, writing skills for many remain woefully low.

The policy brief offers several recommendations for federal policymakers about how to ameliorate the situation, including this endorsement of the NWP:

"The National Writing Project is a proven, effective professional development network that has helped thousands of middle and high school teachers incorporate writing into the curriculum, primarily in English classes but also in the other content areas. Increased funding would permit the NWP to seek greater participation from math, science, and social studies teachers."

For more, read the entire policy brief (PDF) from the Alliance for Excellent Education.