The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their existing curriculum across all content areas. Findings from…

This paper analyzes the influence of three different learning paradigms for learning literacy--formalist, cognitive-processing, and literacy practices--on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. It argues that the Common Core State Standards are based largely on a formalist paradigm as evident in the emphasis on teaching text…

The University of Washington is developing a mandatory teaching portfolio system for its writing program teaching assistants (TAs) to help graduate students in the job market and to create a fairer and more useful way to review teachers while they are working in the writing program. Implementation of the 3-stage program is taking place over 4…

The new Writing for Television Program at Morgan State University (suggested by Warner Brothers at a summer seminar) has added new courses each semester: (1) basic 200-level courses in the "Fundamentals of Writing for Television" and "Introductory Script Writing"; (2) more specialized 300-level courses in "Episodic…

This paper presents a proposal for "Perspectives on Professional Knowledge," a course designed to introduce junior-level Syracuse University students to rhetorical and linguistic concepts as tools for the examination of professional knowledge and professional education. The paper briefly describes the course and discusses the…

The anchor of successful writing-across-the-curriculum programs is an organized nucleus of features called the four Ps: planning, proposing, preparing, and prototyping. Planning requires organization and connections among the mechanisms of designing and implementing both program activities and evaluation designs. It should begin at least two years…

According to researchers Herriott and Gross in their book "The Dynamics of Planned Educational Change," educational innovations fail because administrators (1) fail to diagnose problems correctly, (2) fail to anticipate and resolve implementation problems, (3) adopt an "ad hoc" approach to educational innovation, (4) accept…

The idea of setting up a computer center in the Creighton University English department was conceived in 1982 shortly after the department chair purchased his first computer. A committee on the relationship between the computer and English composition was established. In 1987, a proposal for 30 computers and 15 printers was turned down by the…

The critical components to be considered when establishing a writing center at the secondary level are facilities, staff, and operation. The term writing center is used because writing center is a more inclusive concept than writing lab, dealing not only with remedial work but also with polishing acquired skills and assisting students with…

A descriptive study investigated whether a common middle-level writing program exists, and what factors impact the writing program and the relationships among these factors. A random sample of 1,500 classrooms in California and Missouri stratifying on four grade span school types (K-8, 6-8, 7-8, 7-9) was chosen. A survey was developed, sent, and…

This paper presents research in progress from a project which studies inclusive classrooms where culturally relevant literacy instruction is collaboratively planned and implemented. In such programs, teachers, preservice teachers, and professors analyze home and school connections for literacy learning. The core of this co-teaching process is…

Although to speak of achieving the ideal writing center is to entertain a most romantic notion, there are steps that can be taken to improve the quality of a college or university writing center. The mission of the writing center, which may vary from school to school, must be clearly established. The organization of the center should be examined.…

Flexibility and change have characterized the 3-year history of the English curriculum-enrichment component of the Biomedical Sciences Preparatory Program (BioPrep)--a program that stresses science for rural high school students but includes the importance of writing and communication skills. In the program's first year the curriculum team set out…

A study was conducted to determine the extent of implementation of the Bay Area Writing Program (BAWP) and how the extent varied for different components of the program or for the elementary versus secondary level. The role of staff development in helping teachers use the program--which emphasizes prewriting, writing, and rewriting phases--was…