Inverness 2010 Spring Meeting Final

8/14/2019 Inverness 2010 Spring Meeting Final

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UNDERSTANDING THENATIONAL WRITING PROJECT

March 2010

Dr. Mark St. John

Dr. Laura Stokes

Inverness Research


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KEY POINTS

I. THERE IS A NEED FOR HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT

II. THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT IS A SIGNIFICANTFEDERAL INVESTMENT IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF

TEACHING

II. CONTINUOUS FEDERAL FUNDING IS CRITICAL TO THENWPS ABILITY TO DO ITS FUTURE WORK


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POINT I. THERE IS A NEED FOR

HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT


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Research shows that

Good teaching is key to studentlearning

Teacher learning is key to goodteaching

The nations school systems lack thecapacity to provide good professionaldevelopment for all teachers


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Conclusion from 2009

international study of professionaldevelopment

Given what we know about the current lack ofcapacity and infrastructure of many school

organizations to provide the kinds of powerfullearning opportunities that teachers need to supportstudent learning, the question that remains is this how can states, districts, and schools build theircapacities to provide the kinds of high-qualityprofessional development that is effective in building

teacher knowledge, improving their instruction, andsupporting student learning?

From: Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report onTeacher Development in the U.S. and Abroad (p. 62). Wei, et al., National StaffDevelopment Council (2009)


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POINT IITHE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT ISA SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN THE

IMPROVEMENT OF TEACHING WRITING

A. The National Writing Project is the largest scale and longest-standingteacher development program in U.S. history.

B. The NWP is not just another professional development project. It is

a national infrastructure of over 200 linked sites that span all 50states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. VirginIslands.

C. Federal funding of the NWP is not just another annual expenditure.It is an investment that is cost efficient and generates ever-expanding

capacity to serve teachers.

D. The federal investment in the NWP infrastructure produces highquality programs that lead to large-scale improvements in theteaching and learning of writing.


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A. The NWP is the largestand longest-standingteacher development

program in U.S. history


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Since its beginning as one site in

1974, the NWP has expanded its

capacity to national scale

In 2010, NWP has 126 sites that are 10

years old or older.

80,000 - 100,000 individual teachers

served annually

35 years of cumulative service and

impact


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B. The NWP is not just anotherprofessional developmentproject.

It is a national infrastructurecomposed of over 200 linked sitesthat span all 50 states, the Districtof Columbia, Puerto Rico, and theU.S. Virgin Islands.


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By infrastructure, we mean a foundational

system that literally empowers the daily

work of millions of people.

Everyday exampleselectrical grid, air traffic

systems, roads and highways

Strong central capacity supports customized

local services

Broad and equitable access


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Across the network, 79% of all public

school teachers are within 50 miles of a

Writing Project site.


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C. Federal funding of the NWP is

not just another annualexpenditure.

It is an investment that is costefficientand

generates ever-expanding capacityto serve teachers.


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The NWP investment is

highly cost efficient


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Through effective leveraging, the

federal investment is nearly doubled by

university, state, and local school funds

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The NWP generates working capital

for the nations education system

NWP National NetworkFederal $

University andstate $

Activities reach 80-100,000 individual teachersLocal schoolsystem $

Over 200 local NWP sites,

all school-university partnerships

7,000 active teacher consultants


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D. NWP infrastructure produceshigh quality programs that lead tolarge-scale improvements in

teaching and learning.


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(Source: Survey of summer institute participants 2009)

96% of teachers at NWP institutes say

NWP is better than other professional

development.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

"Much better"

80.9%

"Better" 15.0%


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85.4% 86.1%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

L ngu g A / n h D p n


Th WP h n b d m o h w d ng of ud n mo ff v y.

NWP institutes are equally effective

for teachers of all content areas.


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NWP institutes help teachers of all grade

levels improve their teaching.

89. 84.9% 84.2%73. %

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

5 6 8 9 12 e e


The WP has enab ed me t teach a wider ran e f studentsm re effective y.


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96% of teachers at NWP institutes say

that what they learn translates into

improved writing skills for their students.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

" grea dea

will tra slate"

74.3%

" lot" 21.7%



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POINT IIIFEDERAL FUNDING

REMAINS CRITICAL TO THENWPS ABILITY TO DO FUTURE WORK

A. Federal funding enables the infrastructure to function.

B. The NWP is already the kind of large-scale, effective programthat the DOE wants to support.

A discontinuity in federal funding could put the entire

infrastructure, built over 30 years, at risk.


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A. FEDERAL FUNDING ENABLES THENATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE TOFUNCTION


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Think of infrastructure as a woven

cloth

The power of the infrastructure is in its unitary, coherent, whole

interconnected nature.

It is important to support the whole cloth, not some disconnected

threads


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Federal funding enables the

infrastructure to function, grow and

improve

Core support for local sites

-Growing teacher leadership capacity

-Grants for innovation

Core support for national office

-Annual site review

-Research and evaluation

Support for the connectivity and mutually supportiveinteractions among all levels

-Publication and dissemination

-Sub-networks and special initiatives

Support for growth and improvement

-Technical assistance

-Professional development for directors


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People count on an infrastructure to

provide reliable, high quality service

States, districts, schools, teachers and students

are counting on NWP capacity that is available

right now

More than 200 fully functional writing project sites

across the country

Over 700 experienced site directors and co-directors in

place, each with an average of 6 years of experience

Thousands of teacher-consultants providing support to

their colleagues


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B. The NWP is already the kind oflarge-scale, effective program thatthe DOE wants to support.


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NWP has 30 years of research and

evidence

At a national scale and continuing to grow

A proven model for building teacher leadership

Serves tens of thousands of teachers and students

every year Cost efficient

Meets local needs and adapts to local contexts

Supports and spreads innovation locally andnationally

A portfolio of research and evaluation studiesshowing indirect and direct contributions to studentimprovement in writing


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A connected network that is a

national infrastructure


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A discontinuity in federal funding could putthe entire infrastructure, built over 30 years,at risk.

Documents

Inverness 2010 Spring Meeting Final