Resource Topics

Professional Development - NWP Model

NWP Welcomes Associated International Sites in Hong Kong and Malta

March 2008
Gavin Tachibana
In 2007 the NWP formally conferred the designation of Associated International Sites on two writing project sites outside the U.S., one in Hong Kong and one in Malta. Directors of those sites reflect on how their sites embody the NWP model in their cultures. More ›

Professional Writing at the Core of Oklahoma State University Writing Project

March 2008
OSUWP's professional writing retreats transform teachers into competent writers of professional articles. More ›

Transforming Writing: Teacher-Consultants Lead Change in Their Schools

September 2007
Linda Friedrich
Of the thirty-one teacher-consultants who participated in NWP's Vignette Study by writing narratives about their leadership work, ten described facilitating change in their own schools as they worked alongside their colleagues. This article analyzes their vignettes, identifying and elaborating upon three concepts that seem key to successful leadership within a school. More ›

National Writing Retreats Inspire Local Retreats

July 2007
Not everyone can attend one of NWP's annual professional writing retreats, but local sites can offer their own. Drawing on the NWP model, the Hudson Valley Writing Project organized a professional writing retreat for local area teacher-consultants that was so successful it became a springboard for further workshops. More ›

Teachers, Writers, Leaders

Educational Leadership, September 2007
Ann Lieberman, Linda Friedrich
Using data from NWP's Teacher Leadership Vignette Study, Linda Friedrich and Ann Lieberman describe—in this September 2007 article from Educational Leadership—how teachers take on leadership roles and how building community is crucial to their success. More ›

James Gray, Education Reformer

The Voice, 2006
In 1974, after spending years as a high school teacher and an educator of teachers, Jim Gray organized the first summer institute, based on two notions that became the cornerstone of the NWP: first, that successful classroom teachers are the best teachers of other teachers, and second, that teachers of writing should write. More ›

Jim Gray and the Writing Project: One Life's Work

The Voice, 2006
Art Peterson
Jim Gray's friends and associates describe the qualities that made him a great man, which are the very qualities that make the National Writing Project a great public institution—the ability to bring out the best in people; the passion for teaching and learning, books, language, and writing; the ability to focus on individuals one at a time; the love of life. These fellow educators share memories of their encounters with him and of the ways he influenced not only their lives and their teaching but the field of education itself. More ›

Post-Tsunami Storytelling in Indonesia

The Voice, 2006
Katherine Schultz
The author was invited to Indonesia to mentor thousands of new teachers hired to replace those who perished in the tsunami-devastated province of Aceh. The Indonesian teachers left with new visions of child-centered teaching and learning. More ›

Remembering Jim Gray

The Voice, 2006
Mary Ann Smith
Mary Ann Smith recounts some of her experiences with National Writing Project founder Jim Gray over the years: her first meeting with him 35 years ago, his classes, the first summer institute, his mentorship of her when she became a site director, and the evolution of the NWP professional community—Jim's legacy. More ›

Unchanging Principles and Practices for Change

NWP Annual Meeting Speech, November 2006
Sheridan Blau
More ›

Getting a Jump on the Work of a New Site

The Voice, 2005
J. Elaine White
A site director describes how she launched her site's programs—and learned that when she taps into the energy and expertise of the teacher-consultants, the potential for the site is unlimited. More ›

Strengthening Partnerships Between Sites and Universities: Tips from Site Directors

The Voice, 2005
Betsey Bowen, Ellen Brinkley, Meg Peterson, Rick VanDeWeghe
If NWP sites are to flourish, they need their sponsoring universities to understand and value the work they do. In this article four writing project leaders present their own successful strategies for strengthening the relationship between their site and its sponsoring university. More ›

Expanding the Reach of Education Reforms: Scaling Up and Scaling Down

www.nwp.org, October 2004
NWP contributed a chapter to Expanding the Reach of Education Reforms, a new book from the RAND Corporation featuring education reform programs that have supported successful scale-up efforts. More ›

NWP Speaks: 30 Years of Writing Project Voices

The Voice, 2004
Richard Argys, Joe Bellacero, Vanessa Brown, Dana Dusbiber, Lynette Herring-Harris, Rudy J. Miera, Rochelle Ramay, Ralph Cordova
In the fourth of five parts to this series, writers reflect on their experiences in NWP national programs and at national program events. More ›

NWP Speaks: 30 Years of Writing Project Voices

The Voice, 2004
Joye Alberts, Meg Peterson, Patricia McGonegal, Liz Mandrell, Lynette Herring-Harris, Britton Gildersleeve, Anna Collins Trest, Ruby Bernstein, Barbara Bass, Carol Tateishi
Writing project teachers and site leaders recount defining moments in their association with the writing project in this engaging collection of short personal essays. More ›

NWP Speaks: 30 Years of Writing Project Voices

The Voice, 2004
Pen Campbell, Eileen Simmons, Bob Pressnall, Kathleen O'Shaughnessy, Richard Louth, Jane Juska, Tina Humphrey, Dan Holt, Beth Hammett, John Dorroh, Alisa Daniel, Janis Cramer, Kathy Woods
In this five-part series celebrating NWP's 30 th anniversary, writing project teachers and site leaders share personal accounts of their writing project experiences. In this third installment, writers consider how the writing project has helped them become writers. More ›

Walking in Our Students' Shoes: Reading Teachers and the Writing Project Model

The Quarterly, 2004
Peter Kittle
Kittle explains his experience with reading teachers—in all disciplines—who are learning and practicing new reading strategies to advance learning in their classrooms. More ›

A Day at the Annual Meeting

The Voice, January-February 2003
NWP staff offer photographs and thumbnail descriptions of some Annual Meeting sessions, hoping to capture the spirit of the meeting... More ›

Learning About Ourselves from Looking at Others

The Quarterly, Winter 2003
Mary Ann Smith
Those familiar with the National Writing Project know that the teachers-teaching-teachers model is at the heart of its success. When Mary Ann Smith has the opportunity to observe a similar model in use in a different field, she gleans from it a goldmine of reflection. Through her experience, she draws parallels between the two models that allow her to see the strength of the NWP model while simultaneously imagining possibilities for changes that could lend even greater strength. More ›

NWP Speaks: 30 Years of Writing Project Voices

The Voice, 2003
Sheridan Blau, Liz Stephens, Miles Myers, Judith Moore Kelly, Marjorie Kaiser, James Gray, Richard L. Graves, Bernadette Glaze, Don Gallehr, Linda Clifton, Marlene Carter, Bob Tierney
In the first of a five-part "oral history" of the National Writing Project, people who were there at the beginning recount their experiences... More ›

Satellite Sites Overcome Distance Barriers in West Virginia

The Voice, March-April 2003
Laura Tracy Baisden
To overcome the geographic obstacles of Appalachia, a satellite site of the Marshall University Writing Project was developed in Logan County, West Virginia. Baisden outlines some of the key components of building a satellite site. More ›

Through the Looking Glass- A Site Director “Visits” Sites at the Annual Review

The Voice, March-April 2003
Patricia McGonegal
After years of not knowing quite what happened to her annual NWP Site Application after putting it in the mail, Tish McGonegal, director of the NWP in Vermont, describes what it was like to be a colleague-reviewer at this year's site proposal review at UC Berkeley: "Instead of some kind of jury passing sentence on each application, picture instead a bunch of your colleagues sympathetically and constructively engaged with your proposal." More ›

Voices from the NWP Teacher Exchange Program

The Voice, March-April 2003
Lynn Welsch, Donna Vincent, Pat Fox
The NWP Teacher Exchange Program gives teachers the opportunity to share their knowledge and learn from other sites. Since 1995, more than 50 teachers from 25 states have been part of the exchange. Hear about the experience from teachers who participated, and find out how to get involved. More ›

Why a State Network Action Project?

The Voice, May-June 2003
Sherry Swain
Sherry Swain gives a brief description of the State Network Action Project (SNAP), developed to support statewide collaboration among sites, and describes some themes that developed from a leadership meeting in February 2003. More ›

Minigrant Report from Maine: Boys' Literacy Camp Sets a Standard

The Voice, May-June 2002
A unique wilderness program for boys in Maine helps reverse negative attitudes toward reading. More ›

My Trip to Baltimore: A Scrapbook from the NWP Annual Meeting

The Voice, January-February 2002
"Joe Teacher" (a pseudonym)
Impressions from many sessions at the NWP Annual Meeting in Baltimore are captured by "Joe Teacher" (a pseudonym). More ›

Respected Researchers Publish Book About NWP

The Voice, November-December 2002
Art Peterson
Ann Lieberman and Diane R. Wood analyze what makes the writing project model so successful and show how other professional development efforts can learn from it. More ›

The Emerging NWP Writing Retreat Model

The Voice, September-October 2002
Art Peterson
The annual NWP Writing Retreat, which gives teachers time to reflect on their teaching and write about their practice, has become a model for local sites and networks to develop their own retreats. More ›

James Gray On Coaching: An Excerpt from Teachers at the Center

The Voice, May-June 2001
James Gray
In this excerpt from Teachers at the Center, NWP founder James Gray shares some of the history and early insights behind developing the practice of coaching teachers before their demonstration at the invitational summer institute. More ›

Setting Your Sites: Thoughts on Being a New NWP Site

The Voice, September-October 2001
J. Elaine White
Although she had been a teacher-consultant at the Oklahoma Writing Project, when J. Elaine White became the director of the Live Oak Writing Project in Mississippi she found herself faced with new challenges and rewards. More ›

Site Lines: Helping Teachers Thrive

The Voice, March-April 2001
Ian Boulton
Site Lines is your forum to explore issues, re-create your experiences, and offer your insights on site leadership. In this space, we invite you to share your passion for language and literacy, tell stories of your professional struggles and successes, reflect on how you run your site, and offer advice for other NWP leaders. Send your ideas and queries to the NWP editors at editors@nwp.org. More ›

Back to Basics—Assumptions, That Is

The Voice, September-October 2000
Sherry Swain
Sherry Swain describes an exercise that directors at the 2000 NWP Directors Retreat used to take an in-depth look at three of NWP's Basic Assumptions. More ›

Site Lines: Mind the Gap

The Voice, September-October 2000
Mary Ann Smith
Mary Ann Smith launches Site Lines--a new Voice column for writing project leaders to share their stories of professional struggles and successes--makes a case for avoiding a fixed pedagogical path. More ›

Teachers at the Center: A Memoir of the Early Years of the National Writing Project

The Quarterly, Fall 2000
James Gray
An excerpt from Teachers at the Center by National Writing Project founder James Gray. More ›

Growing the Boston Writing Project: The Lessons of 20 Years

The Voice, Spring 1999
Joe Check
More ›

The Only New Thing Under the Sun: 25 Years of the National Writing Project

The Quarterly, Summer 1999
Sheridan Blau
In this 1999 article—originally delivered as an address at the 25th anniversary celebration of the California Writing Project—Sheridan Blau recounts the core idea of writing project founder Jim Gray that the most reliable and credible solutions to the problems of learning and teaching are to be found in the wisdom and knowledge possessed by experienced and successful classroom teachers. The teacher writing that has been the backbone of The Quarterly's content is an example of Blau's reiteration that experienced classroom teachers are experts who need to be heard. More ›

Twenty-Five Years of Making a Difference

The Voice, September-October 1999
Art Peterson
More ›

My Beliefs About Teaching Before the National Writing Project (and How They Have Changed)

The Voice, Summer 1998
Susan Bennett
More ›

NWP Programs Boost Nation's Young Writers

The Voice, Winter/Spring 1998
Art Peterson
More ›

Writing Projects and School Reform: A Local Perspective

The Quarterly, Spring 1998
Marcie Wolfe
More ›

NWP Sites Reach Out to Parents

The Voice, Fall 1997
Art Peterson
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Sites Helping Sites: Technical Assistance NWP Style

The Voice, Summer 1996
Jo Fyfe
More ›

Revisited article: Beating the "Writing Systems" on Our Own Ground

The Quarterly, Winter 1995
Mary K. Healy
More ›

Revisited article: School Culture

The Quarterly, Winter 1995
Miles Myers
In 1980, Miles Myers, then administrative director of the Bay Area Writing Project, wrote "The Problem of Teacher Authority" for The Quarterly. The article examined the nervous relationship between classroom teachers and university researchers. Myers made the claim that teacher authority must be based on the special knowledge gained by day-to-day experience working in the schools, an experience not generally available to university researchers. Here we excerpt from his article some of these school understandings accessible primarily to those regularly on the scene. More ›

Making Thinking Visible: Encouraging Interaction Among School and University Writing Teachers

The Quarterly, Winter 1994
Linda Norris
Linda Norris was the educational coordinator for the Making Thinking Visible Project, a school/university collaborative housed at Carnegie Mellon's Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy in Pittsburgh. She describes how she and a team of CMU researchers worked with teachers from very different classes and contexts to implement a specific writing technique called collaborative planning in their classrooms. The article narrates the evolution of teachers' use of the technique and gives numerous examples of teachers' process and students' work. More ›