In the News

Video Features Mississippi Students Writing Letters to the Next President (October 10, 2008)

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
A Tupelo High School class taught by Ellen Shelton, a teacher-consultant with the University of Mississippi Writing Project, was one of three schools nationwide chosen to be videotaped for taking part in Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future, a joint project sponsored by NWP and Google. More ›

Arizona Kids Write Book About the Desert (October 5, 2008)

Arizona Daily Star
Students from Tucson, Arizona, wrote essays and drew illustrations for a book titled Desert Living Is Different! to help explain desert life for new residents. The book is a project sponsored by the Southern Arizona Writing Project. More ›

Illinois Students Write Letters to Presidential Candidates (October 3, 2008)

The News-Gazette
Students from Urbana High School in Illinois are participating in NWP's Writing Our Future: Letters to the Next President project. The letters will be brought to the attention of Congress, and possibly the candidates themselves. More ›

Textbook Guides Teachers on Alexie and Racial Issues (September 24, 2008)

The Missoulian
Teachers are using Sherman Alexie in the Classroom, coauthored by Montana Writing Project Director Heather Bruce, to introduce the works of Alexie to students and help start discussions about Native American and racial issues. More ›

Idaho Teachers Find Novel Ways to Engage Students in Writing (September 16, 2008)

Idaho Statesman
Jeffrey Wilhelm, former director of the Maine Writing Project, and other writing project fellows have contributed to an award-winning educational series called "The 10," which promotes deep analysis and constructive argument rather than passive consumption. More ›

Experts Broaden Approach to Pre-K Literacy (September 15, 2008)

Education Daily
Educators and parents should allow children to tap into their creative and exploratory skills, said early childhood literacy experts at the Sept. 15 unveiling of Our Book By Us!, a children's activity book codeveloped by NWP. More ›

Two Ozarks Teachers Give Students Insight into the Holocaust (September 15, 2008)

Springfield News Leader
In an opportunity made possible through the Rural Sites Network, two southwestern Missouri teacher-consultants attended a seminar on teaching about the Holocaust. They've developed a curriculum to help students understand such horrendous events, and now they're teaching other teachers what they've learned. More ›

American Professor Shares Teaching Ideas in Malta (September 12, 2008)

timesofmalta.com
Lil Brannon, director of NWP's UNC Charlotte Writing Project, traveled to Malta to train a group of teachers on how to help their students be better writers, and how to train other teachers to develop teaching strategies. More ›

Oregon Teachers Dive Into Writing (August 28, 2008)

The West Linn Tidings
Teachers with the Oregon Writing Project at Lewis and Clark College learned "new ways to make writing happen" at this year's summer institute. More ›

Indianapolis Students Engaged in “Letters to the Next President” Campaign (August 28, 2008)

TheIndyChannel.com
Teacher-consultant Nikia Garland signed her students up for NWP's Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future project, seeing the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain as a way to use current events to inspire her class. More ›

Education Week Spotlights Writing Project Success (August 25, 2008)

Education Week
The National Writing Project showcases writing as a tool to unlock students' critical thinking and analytical skills as much as their creativity. More ›

North Carolina's Tar River Writing Project on the Radio (August 20, 2008)

WUNC
East Carolina University English Professor Will Banks and two educators who took part in the Tar River Writing Project's summer institute discuss why teachers need to hone their writing skills to be better teachers. More ›

Creative Writing Gets High Marks in Summer (August 13, 2008)

The Solon Times
A two-week writers camp, organized by the National Writing Project at Kent State University, culminated in a coffeehouse sharing of participants' work with families and friends, as well as a published anthology with writing from every camper. More ›

Michigan Children Paint Pictures with Words (August 8, 2008)

The Daily News
A summer camp put on by the Lake Michigan Writing Project taught kids how to improve their writing, including fiction and nonfiction. More ›

Writing Craft Deserves More Attention (August 8, 2008)

The Citizen
A high school principal in New York argues that writing deserves more attention in schools. He notes that the local Seven Valleys Writing Project is providing such attention and having a successful impact on teachers. More ›

Rural Educators Work to Strengthen Teaching about the Holocaust (August 7, 2008)

Riverdale Press
Partnering with the Holocaust Educators Network, NWP supported teacher-consultants from the Rural Sites Network to attend the Memorial Library Summer Seminar on Holocaust Education. The seminar aims to help teachers develop a comprehensive curriculum for teaching and writing about the Holocaust and other difficult issues. More ›

UCLA Writing Project Strengthens Writing Skills for Korean Students (August 6, 2008)

UCLA International Institute
A group of 86 Korean students are enhancing their English reading and writing skills for four weeks through the UCLA Writing Project. More ›

Northern Virginia Writing Project Institute Offers Tips for Teachers (August 6, 2008)

The Winchester Star
The 30th annual Northern Virginia Writing Project summer institute provided peer-to-peer professional development that teachers say will improve their teaching. More ›

Tar River Writing Project Inspires Teachers (August 4, 2008)

The Daily Reflector
With its array of warm-hued floor lamps, the home for the Tar River Writing Project feels more like a cozy writers' lair than a classroom. And that's by design. More ›

Eastern Illinois Institute Exposes Teachers to New Forms of Writing (August 1, 2008)

Journal Gazette
At the first summer institute of the Eastern Illinois Writing Project, teachers reported that they learned how to teach different styles of writing, and they built the kind of professional bonds that last a lifetime. More ›

Teacher Reflects on Candidates’ Education Platforms (August 1, 2008)

Los Angeles Times
Kate Applebee, Inland Area Writing Project teacher-consultant, writes in the Los Angeles Times that neither presidential candidate's proposed education solution can address underlying issues with the K–12 system. More ›

U.S. Ambassador Visits Malta’s Writing Process Schools (August 1, 2008)

timesofmalta.com
U.S. Ambassador Molly Bordonaro paid a visit to Vittoriosa and Mqabba primary schools, where she witnessed the progress in language development by the children and their families. The writing process schools are doing a three-year program with the Malta Writing Programme (MWP), an Associated International Site of the NWP. More ›

Lack of Correct Grammar Needs Our Full Attention (July 27, 2008)

El Paso Times
Ana Diaz, a high school English language arts teacher and a teacher-consultant for the West Texas Writing Project, says bilingual Americans have added pressure to use correct grammar. More ›

Writing Skills Promoted at San Marcos Camp (July 24, 2008)

The Californian
At the conclusion of a summer writing camp run by the San Marcos Writing Project, dozens of students shared the stage to read their works aloud. More ›

Teachers Become Students—and Writers—at Arkansas Writing Program (July 24, 2008)

Northwest Arkansas Times
Teachers at the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project's summer institute work on a variety of writing exercises and experiment with writing different types of material. More ›

Seven Valleys Writing Project Teachers Write On, and Read (July 20, 2008)

The Post-Standard
Teachers enrolled in a summer institute with the Seven Valleys Writing Project (New York) get put on the spot when reading their own work. More ›

Write To Keep Yourself Sane (July 19, 2008)

El Paso Times
Eric Ramos, a West Texas Writing Project teacher-consultant, lists the many reasons all of us should write. Above all, he emphasizes that to write is to be a writer. More ›

Students Benefit From Teachers’ Writing Project Experience (July 19, 2008)

The Minot Daily News
Teachers from the Northern Plains Writing Project say that what they learn from their summer institute experience carries into the classroom and ultimately helps the students themselves. More ›

Teachers Battle Image Problem, Mistrust, Empowerment Gap (July 13, 2008)

El Paso Times
Jonna Perrillo, director of the West Texas Writing Project, explores the historical reasons why some leaders who have no "experience or expertise in the classroom" are chosen to head the state's education board. More ›

Building Vocabulary Promotes Thinking, Enhances Communication (July 12, 2008)

El Paso Times
West Texas Writing Project Teacher-Consultant Chrissy Beltran argues that the well-being of our society depends in part on childrens' ability to increase their vocabulary and use new words in their writing. More ›

High Schoolers Take Writing to Next Level (July 12, 2008)

The Citizen of Laconia
The Plymouth Writing Project (New Hampshire) organized a two-week summer writing camp for high school students and topped it off with a public reading. More ›

Writing Can Make Learning Math Personal (July 12, 2008)

El Paso Times
Melinda Cofield, a math teacher and teacher-consultant with the West Texas Writing Project, contends that writing should be an integral part of teaching math. More ›

Summer Institute Enriches South African Voices (July 11, 2008)

San Antonio Express-News
Three South African educators attended the San Antonio Writing Project's annual five-week summer institute on the teaching of writing. Now they'll return to South Africa and create the Limpopo Writing Project. More ›

With FIRE In Their Pens, Young Writers Hone Skill (July 8, 2008)

The Tampa Tribune
Young writers' camps hosted by the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project prove to be so popular they have expanded into three cities. More ›

Writing Program Inspires Participants to Go Beyond Basics (July 5, 2008)

The Huntsville Item
A Sam Houston Writing Project creative writing program for third through eighth grade students has sent home 34 participants with the inspiration to go above and beyond the basics of Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) testing. More ›

Writing Program Gives Kids a Creative Start (June 26, 2008)

The Aiken Standard
The Young Writers Camp put on by the Aiken Writing Project (South Carolina) stretches the limits of students' creativity. More ›

Getting to Know Sharon Washington (June 26, 2008)

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education profiles NWP's executive director, Sharon Washington, and reviews her two-decade career and commitment to social justice. More ›

Teacher-Consultant Helps Young Writers Find Their Voice (June 26, 2008)

Sacramento Bee
Cheri Olmstead of the Area 3 Writing Project (California) oversaw an eight-month writing project that allowed three girls to write, revise, edit, and eventually publish their own books. More ›

Aiken Writing Project Opens Doors for Teachers (June 25, 2008)

The Aiken Standard
Teachers at the Aiken Writing Project in South Carolina are finding that the summer institute is showing them how to be "more inclusive and authentic in the teaching of writing." More ›

Educators Test the Limits of Twitter Microblogging Tool (June 25, 2008)

Education Week's Digital Directions
The "microblogging" and social-networking website Twitter has begun to capture the attention of educators, including New York City Writing Project Technology Liaison Paul Allison, who built his own site, Youth Twitter. More ›

Nueva herramienta bilingüe para enseñar a escribir y leer a los niños (June 22, 2008)

La Raza
La Raza introduce el libro Nuestro Libro ¡Hecho Por Nosotros! El libro es particionado por el National Writing Project con la colaboración de otras dos organizaciones. El artículo explica como el libro promociona la literatura e ayuda a los padres hispano hablantes para que sus niños lean y escriban más temprano en la niñez. More ›

Tri-State Teachers Sharpen Writing Skills Over Summer (June 19, 2008)

The Herald-Dispatch
After only a week-and-a-half into the summer institute at the Marshall University Writing Project, teachers there say the program has improved their writing and teaching. More ›

Student Book Recalls North Dakota Tornado (June 19, 2008)

Grand Forks Herald
Students of Sarah Burger, a teacher-consultant with the Red River Valley Writing Project (ND), compiled a book of their personal writing about the tornado that devastated the town. More ›

Former Site Director Discusses Summer Reading and Teaching Writing (June 11, 2008)

Bloomberg
Bruce Penniman, former site director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project and a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, talks with Bloomberg's Tom Keene about summer reading for students and teaching writing. More ›

Zero-Thumb Game: How to Tame Texting (May 28, 2008)

Edutopia
Writing project teachers weigh in on how to harness the popularity of text messaging among teens to generate interest in academic subjects and writing in general. More ›

Nebraska Students Find a Place in Poetry (May 2, 2008)

Grand Island Independent
Assigned to write poems as part of a class assignment sponsored by the Nebraska Writing Project, some student poets were selected to read their poetry at the state capitol. More ›

North Dakota Senator Praises the Writing Project (April 18, 2008)

KXMB
North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad emphasizes the importance of reading and writing—and the role the Northern Plains Writing Project plays in helping teachers teach writing more effectively. More ›

Site Director Responds to Gender Gap in Writing (April 7, 2008)

Education Daily
In this Ed Daily piece examining results that show NAEP scores for boys lagging behind those for girls in writing, Mary Buckelew of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project offers suggestions for closing the gap. More ›

Illinois Teachers Emphasize Writing—and Get Results (April 7, 2008)

Illinois educators note that though writing isn't tested under No Child Left Behind, they have made sure it's a priority. That emphasis paid off: Illinois eighth-graders outperformed most of their peers around the country in NAEP's 2007 report. More ›

State Superintendent Credits Wyoming Writing Project for Boost (April 4, 2008)

Casper Star-Tribune
Wyoming students outscored the U.S. national average on the National Assessment of Educational Progress's 2007 writing test for the first time. The state superintendent said that professional development provided by Wyoming Writing Project teachers played a key role in improving student writing. More ›

ELL Network Leader Named Teacher of the Year (April 3, 2008)

Centre View North
Michelle Ohanian, a co-chair of the ELL Network Leadership Team and teacher-consultant with the Northern Virginia Writing Project, was named Fairfax County Public Schools 2008 Teacher of the Year. More ›

Writing Project Rewards Teachers for Local Efforts (March 31, 2008)

Pocono Record
Four teachers from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Writing Project received awards for their innovative work in the classroom. More ›

Oregon Students Get Busy Writing on Bird Day (March 3, 2008)

Argus Observer
The Oregon Writing Project teamed up with a local elementary school to put on Bird Day, a day devoted to learning about birds—with an emphasis on writing. More ›

NWP Head Links Writing to Community Development (March 3, 2008)

Education Daily
In this interview published in Education Daily, NWP's Executive Director Sharon Washington discusses her professional background and connects the work of the writing project to her passion for helping all young people succeed. More ›

Writing Project Teacher’s Podcast Club Featured on TV (February 26, 2008)

WIVB
Kristen Frawley, Western New York Writing Project teacher-consultant, was featured on a local TV station news story titled "Cool 4 School: West Seneca East Elementary Podcasts" for her work with elementary students on podcasting. More ›

Top Teacher Chronicles Pursuit of National Board Certification (February 17, 2008)

Washington Post Magazine
After a year of intensive study, Emmet Rosenfeld of the Northen Virginia Writing Project missed national certification by 10 points. Rosenfeld is undeterred, however. He aims to reach the highest level of the profession. More ›

Eleven New Sites Added to NWP Network (February 14, 2008)

Eleven new sites have joined NWP's network—helping the NWP move toward a goal of putting a writing project within reach of every teacher. More ›

Elementary School Students Become Published Authors (February 12, 2008)

The Daily News
Michigan elementary school children became published authors thanks to grants from the Belding Area Schools and the Lake Michigan Writing project. More ›

University Inspires Passion for Teaching Writing (February 11, 2008)

The News-Gazette
With a grant from the National Writing Project, the University of Illinois is launching its own writing project site, starting with a monthlong collaborative writing course for about 20 area teachers. More ›

Mississippi Students Take to the Airwaves (February 10, 2008)

Starkville Daily News
Twice a day, the voices of Mississippi's students and teachers hit the airwaves as part of the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute's Rural Voices Radio program. More ›

Getting It Just Write (January 20, 2008)

The Washington Times
In an age of high-tech communications and declining newspaper sales, it may seem as if good writing is a thing of the past. But Richard Sterling, executive director emeritus of the National Writing Project, says cutting-edge technology—contrary to what some might think—has only improved writing. More ›

Putting the “Quality” into Professional Development (January 8, 2008)

The NWP is hosting a forum on Capitol Hill to explore what kinds of professional support are successful in retaining teachers, benefiting students, and improving the larger educational landscape. More ›

Bridging Gaps, Telling Stories (December 5, 2007)

Ancestry Magazine
Motivated by a coworker's loss of her grandmother, Cathie English of the Nebraska Writing Project started the Aurora High School Oral History Project, teaching her students the valuable art of chronicling life stories. More ›

Writing Project Site Hosts Classroom Technology Conference (November 15, 2007)

The New Paltz Oracle
The Hudson Valley Writing Project hosted a conference called "Beyond the Web: Connecting to the World," focusing on the use of blogs, wikis, and digital storytelling in the classroom. More ›

Putting the “Author” in “Authority” (November 2, 2007)

Eureka Reporter
In this issue of his monthly column for the Eureka Reporter, Bob Sizoo of the Redwood Writing Project tells how he inspires students by revealing that they can gain authority over their lives through writing. More ›

New Thinking on Staff Development (October 25, 2007)

Teacher Magazine
The success of the National Writing Project model is noted in this article from Teacher Magazine that discusses how ideas about what makes high-quality professional development have changed over the years. More ›

Heartland Teacher Named 'Teacher of Excellence' (May 29, 2007)

York News-Times
Sharon Bishop, co-director of the Nebraska Writing Project, was named the 2006 NCTE NELAC Teacher of Excellence, adding another award to her distinguished career. More ›

Images Help Focus Young Writers (May 6, 2007)

Central Maine Morning Sentinel
Organized by teachers in the Maine Writing Project, the Digital Storytelling Festival allowed students to use multimedia presentations to tell their own stories. More ›

Cochran, Rockefeller Introduce National Writing Project Act (March 29, 2007)

American Chronicle
Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced legislation to reauthorize a program focused on improving writing education. More ›

Her Class Brings Out Tears, Laughter (February 14, 2007)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nancy Addy, co-director of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, is winning students over with a thought-provoking class that produces powerful writing. More ›

Students Freed to Dabble in Creative Waters (February 2, 2007)

St. Petersburg Times
A writing program at Weightman Middle gives them a fresh approach to the essay portion of Florida's Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). More ›

Eight New Sites Added to NWP Network (January 29, 2007)

The National Writing Project welcomes eight new sites into its network this year, a network that now numbers 197 sites and spans 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More ›

Schools Emphasize Writing, Even in Math Class (November 1, 2006)

NPR
More high schools around the country are emphasizing the need for all students to be good writers. In Indianapolis, some math teachers are even integrating lessons about writing into their teaching. More ›

An Interview with Ralph Fletcher: On Boys Writing (October 23, 2006)

EdNews.org
An interview with Ralph Fletcher, who discusses his latest book, Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. More ›

Report Presents Effective Strategies to Improve Writing (October 1, 2006)

The Writing Next report analyzes eleven specific teaching techniques that research suggests will help improve the writing abilities of students, grades 4-12. More ›

Teachers Fired Up After Attending Summer Writing Institute (August 15, 2006)

Benton County Daily Record
"The true beneficiaries of my work here this summer will be my students," said Jennifer Jennings Davis, a junior English teacher at Van Buren High School in Arkansas." More ›

Teachers Postpone Fun in the Sun to Improve Student Writing (August 2, 2006)

Winston County Journal
Local teachers are spending four weeks studying teaching strategies that improve the way students of all ages write and learn. More ›

NWP Plunges Teachers Into Specific Expertise With a Thorough Immersion in Writing (June 21, 2006)

Journal of Staff Development
This article discusses the NWP model, research results, and classroom practices to improve the teaching of writing. It is particularly suitable for school administrators and teacher-leaders interested in knowing what makes a high-quality professional development program. More ›

Writing and School Reform (May 1, 2006)

The fourth report from the National Commission on Writing, Writing and School Reform, summarizes how to take the most effective writing instruction that is available to some students and make it widely available to all. More ›

Workshop Helps Make Writing More Fun (March 6, 2006)

The Record
In this summer program, students learn that creating videos and slide shows can help them express the things they want to say, making writing more enjoyable in the process. More ›

Six New Sites Added to NWP Network (March 1, 2006)

The National Writing Project welcomes six new sites into its network this year, a network that now numbers 195 sites and spans 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. More ›

Wyoming Writing Project Teacher Speaks to U.S. Senate Committee (February 16, 2006)

Carrie Langston, teacher-leader with the Wyoming Writing Project and a teacher at Chugwater High School in Chugwater, Wyoming, spoke before a U.S. Senate committee on motivating and educating students. More ›

Teacher Quality: Teachers Teaching Teachers (December 22, 2005)

Rethinking Schools
When high school language arts teachers in Portland were asked which professional development programs had the greatest impact on their students' learning, they overwhelmingly named the Portland Writing Project, the Summer Literacy Curriculum Camp, and the Professional Development Days — which were all led by classroom teachers. More ›

House Committee Recommends Continued Funding of NWP (June 9, 2005)

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education approved $56.7 billion in education spending recommendations for the next fiscal year, including $20.34 million for the National Writing Project. More ›

Expanding the Reach of Education Reforms: Scaling Up and Scaling Down (October 15, 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 ›

Writing: A Ticket to Work . . . Or a Ticket Out (September 1, 2004)

In its second landmark report, the National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges, calls writing a "threshold skill" for salaried employment and promotion. More ›

Quarterly Article Wins SNAP Award (June 18, 2004)

"Tolerating Intolerance: Resisting the Urge to Silence Student Opinion in the Writing Classroom," published in the Winter 2003 issue of The Quarterly, was honored at the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) EXCEL Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. More ›

Testimony to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (March 23, 2004)

NWP Executive Director Richard Sterling and Barbara Simons Smith, a teacher-consultant with the National Writing Project at Kent State University, testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education on the importance of a continued federal investment in the National Writing Project. More ›

National Commission on Writing Honors Senators Byrd and Cochran (February 1, 2004)

Senators Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), both long-time supporters of the National Writing Project, were honored by a national commission in January 2004 for their extraordinary support of the teaching of writing. More ›

National Writing Project Statement on the 2002 NAEP Writing Report (September 1, 2003)

Results from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Writing give cause for guarded optimism. Average writing scores for fourth- and eighth-graders increased between 1998 and 2002, while scores for twelfth-graders remained about the same. In addition, student exposure to many of the teaching and learning strategies fostered by NWP sites correlated with higher average scores on the NAEP. More ›