As a citizen, it’s beyond me to
understand why important educational programs, like the National Writing
Project, are being cut. I urge Congress to get their priorities in
order and continue funding and reauthorization for NWP. In the rush to
get rid of “earmarks,” don’t throw out valuable programs.
I’ve been Director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project for
five years and on the Executive Board since its inception in 1992. I’m
also a Professor of English at UMass Amherst. I’ve stayed involved with
WMWP and NWP for these nearly twenty years because I’ve seen the
difference it makes in so many teachers’ professional lives, and I value
the difference it’s made in mine as well.
Here’s what I know about WMWP and NWP that shows why it should be funded:
NWP supports the kind of teachers we want to keep in education by
creating a professional community that acknowledges their expertise and
provides further opportunity for development. The teachers involved
in WMWP, over one thousand each year, are committed, hard-working
teachers, looking for a teaching community that respects them and
stretches them to develop further as teachers and writers. A good
number go on to pursue our graduate Certificate in the Teaching of
Writing and some even doctoral studies.
NWP brings teachers together across grade levels to focus on
interests that cut across grades, including use of digital technologies
and K-12 to college transitions.
Over the past few years, I’ve participated in technology workshops
put on by our Technology Team, which is led by a sixth grade teacher and
includes another middle school teacher, two high school teachers, and a
university professor. I, a challenged user of new media, have learned
how to use digital storytelling for teaching and use other tools such as
Google.docs for collaborative writing and peer editing. Our
Technology Team has also contributed resources to the NWP Digital Is
website which is a rich resource for all teachers as we strive to
support our students in learning to use new media for educational, not
solely social, purposes.
In a study group on Language Diversity, with participants from
elementary school through the University, we’ve learned linguistic
principles for analyzing students’ language practices and developing
effective teaching interventions. As was evident from our group, we
are an increasing multilingual nation and if we are to meet the
challenges in our classrooms, we need to understand language systems,
know how to diagnose our students’ language resources and difficulties,
and plan effective teaching approaches. The Study Group was also an
opportunity to gain a better understanding of how to build on student
learning across years, including as they make the transition to
college.
Through our partnership—WMWP and the University of Massachusetts
Amherst—we have co-sponsored two major conferences over the past six
years that have brought together teachers across grade levels to explore
two major topics facing educators: 1) New Technologies and Teaching
and 2) Re-Envisioning Writing Assessment: Relevance, Diversity, and
Achievement. Both conferences have spawned research studies and from
one, a co-edited collection, Teaching the New Writing: Technology, Change, and Assessment in the 21st Century Classroom that is a Teachers College Press best seller.
NWP is cost-effective: for a small investment NWP brings large
returns as proven by NWP research studies on student outcomes at NWP
sites. NWP is also smart in leveraging its funds. All sites must
show matching support for federal dollars from their home institutions:
for WMWP it is the University of Massachusetts Amherst. NWP also has
been successful in obtaining major grants from the Carnegie Foundation,
the MacArthur Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.
NWP is in the vanguard of providing programs that address the challenges and opportunities for learners in the 21st Century.
This is not just PR statement; it’s true. These include initiatives
for working with English Language Learners, using new technologies for
learning, assessment, and changing curricula and pedagogy to achieve the
goals of the new Common Core. Our site has profited greatly from
these initiatives. The Gates Foundation supported project focused on
the Common Core is enabling us to develop materials to help local
schools examine their curricula in depth in order to make the kind of
substantive changes called for by the Common Core to prepare students
for college and careers.
NWP is a teacher driven initiative that keeps good teachers of all ages teaching by re-energizing them.
I don’t mean to be presumptuous by saying “re-energizing us,” but I do
know that participating in programs at our site renews my energy by
supporting me while also putting me in a situation where I’m always
learning. From Wilma Ortiz, a middle school teacher and leader of our
ELL Team--also Massachusetts Teacher of the Year for 2011, I’ve learned
much about working with English Language Learners; from Kevin Hodgson,
sixth grade teacher and leader of our Technology Team, I’ve learned much
about using new technologies; from Dawn Fontaine, history teacher at
Central High in Springfield, MA and Co-Director of our intensive Summer
Institute for teachers, I’ve learned much about how to stay true through
action to voiced commitments to access and serving students in under
resourced districts. I could go on.
Fund NWP. It’s a program that matters for teachers and learners of
all grades. Without the support of the federal grant, we, at the WMWP,
would lose the core support that enables the many programs I have
mentioned. Invest in the future, invest in the teachers that will
help our nation’s students contribute to that future.
Anne Herrington
-- director, Western Massachusetts Writing Project
As a citizen, it’s beyond me to understand why important educational programs, like the National Writing Project, are being cut. I urge Congress to get their priorities in order and continue funding and reauthorization for NWP. In the rush to get rid of “earmarks,” don’t throw out valuable programs.
I’ve been Director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project for five years and on the Executive Board since its inception in 1992. I’m also a Professor of English at UMass Amherst. I’ve stayed involved with WMWP and NWP for these nearly twenty years because I’ve seen the difference it makes in so many teachers’ professional lives, and I value the difference it’s made in mine as well.
Here’s what I know about WMWP and NWP that shows why it should be funded:
NWP supports the kind of teachers we want to keep in education by creating a professional community that acknowledges their expertise and provides further opportunity for development. The teachers involved in WMWP, over one thousand each year, are committed, hard-working teachers, looking for a teaching community that respects them and stretches them to develop further as teachers and writers. A good number go on to pursue our graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing and some even doctoral studies.
NWP brings teachers together across grade levels to focus on interests that cut across grades, including use of digital technologies and K-12 to college transitions.
Over the past few years, I’ve participated in technology workshops put on by our Technology Team, which is led by a sixth grade teacher and includes another middle school teacher, two high school teachers, and a university professor. I, a challenged user of new media, have learned how to use digital storytelling for teaching and use other tools such as Google.docs for collaborative writing and peer editing. Our Technology Team has also contributed resources to the NWP Digital Is website which is a rich resource for all teachers as we strive to support our students in learning to use new media for educational, not solely social, purposes.
In a study group on Language Diversity, with participants from elementary school through the University, we’ve learned linguistic principles for analyzing students’ language practices and developing effective teaching interventions. As was evident from our group, we are an increasing multilingual nation and if we are to meet the challenges in our classrooms, we need to understand language systems, know how to diagnose our students’ language resources and difficulties, and plan effective teaching approaches. The Study Group was also an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how to build on student learning across years, including as they make the transition to college.
Through our partnership—WMWP and the University of Massachusetts Amherst—we have co-sponsored two major conferences over the past six years that have brought together teachers across grade levels to explore two major topics facing educators: 1) New Technologies and Teaching and 2) Re-Envisioning Writing Assessment: Relevance, Diversity, and Achievement. Both conferences have spawned research studies and from one, a co-edited collection, Teaching the New Writing: Technology, Change, and Assessment in the 21st Century Classroom that is a Teachers College Press best seller.
NWP is cost-effective: for a small investment NWP brings large returns as proven by NWP research studies on student outcomes at NWP sites. NWP is also smart in leveraging its funds. All sites must show matching support for federal dollars from their home institutions: for WMWP it is the University of Massachusetts Amherst. NWP also has been successful in obtaining major grants from the Carnegie Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.
NWP is in the vanguard of providing programs that address the challenges and opportunities for learners in the 21st Century. This is not just PR statement; it’s true. These include initiatives for working with English Language Learners, using new technologies for learning, assessment, and changing curricula and pedagogy to achieve the goals of the new Common Core. Our site has profited greatly from these initiatives. The Gates Foundation supported project focused on the Common Core is enabling us to develop materials to help local schools examine their curricula in depth in order to make the kind of substantive changes called for by the Common Core to prepare students for college and careers.
NWP is a teacher driven initiative that keeps good teachers of all ages teaching by re-energizing them. I don’t mean to be presumptuous by saying “re-energizing us,” but I do know that participating in programs at our site renews my energy by supporting me while also putting me in a situation where I’m always learning. From Wilma Ortiz, a middle school teacher and leader of our ELL Team--also Massachusetts Teacher of the Year for 2011, I’ve learned much about working with English Language Learners; from Kevin Hodgson, sixth grade teacher and leader of our Technology Team, I’ve learned much about using new technologies; from Dawn Fontaine, history teacher at Central High in Springfield, MA and Co-Director of our intensive Summer Institute for teachers, I’ve learned much about how to stay true through action to voiced commitments to access and serving students in under resourced districts. I could go on.
Fund NWP. It’s a program that matters for teachers and learners of all grades. Without the support of the federal grant, we, at the WMWP, would lose the core support that enables the many programs I have mentioned. Invest in the future, invest in the teachers that will help our nation’s students contribute to that future.
Anne Herrington
-- director, Western Massachusetts Writing Project