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New York City
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Overview
Overview
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| History |
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| Goals |
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| Results |
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| Contact |
History
The New York City Writing Project (NYCWP) has been providing support in language arts and
literacy education to NYC public schools and teachers for twenty-seven years. Established
in 1978 as the New York City site of the National Writing Project, we are
a legacy site within a network of more than 185 university-based professional development
programs throughout the country dedicated to teacher professionalism and the improvement
of the teaching of reading and writing.
The NYCWP's school-based inservice program began in 1981 when we received a three-year
grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education (FIPSE). This grant enabled us to establish the basic architecture of our
professional development model, which includes the services of an on-site teacher
consultant and after-school seminars and workshops.
Teachers in Writing Project programs, many of whom work in the City's most difficult
schools, experiment with active, inquiry-based approaches for using reading and writing
across disciplines. We work to integrate technology and literacy, and publish a range of
student writing for an audience of peers, teachers and the community. Underlying all our
work are the principles and beliefs of the Institute for Literacy Studies.
Over our 27-year history, more than 12,000 NYC teachers have taken part in
Project-sponsored seminars, workshops, graduate courses and special programs. Their work
in the teaching of writing has reached more than 250,000 students.
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Goals
Our goal is to improve the teaching and learning of language and literacy in New York City
public schools by increasing teachers' abilities to use writing as a tool for learning,
thinking, and communicating. Through collaborations with teachers and schools, the NYCWP
seeks to transform the ways in which writing and reading are perceived, taught, and
evaluated in urban classrooms.
Beliefs
The NYCWP believes that access to high quality educational experiences is a basic right
and a cornerstone of equity. Teachers in Writing Project programs, many of whom work in
the City's most difficult schools, experiment with active, inquiry-based approaches for
using reading and writing across disciplines. We believe that reading, writing, and
thinking are interrelated activities that contribute to students' success in school,
college, the community and the workplace. We also believe that the key to improving
teacher practice and student performance in reading and writing across the curriculum is
through developing stable, long-term professional development relationships with schools.
We anchor our professional development model in the belief that teachers bring knowledge,
expertise, and leadership to their practice.
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Results
The NYCWP's approaches to literacy instruction take hold. In the majority of schools where
the Writing Project has been a presence for a year or more, student performance on
standardized tests, including Regents exams, improves. Data from 2003 surveys and program
evaluations further reveal that:
Membership
Participants in our summer and school-year programs are eligible to become members of the
New York City Writing Project. Membership includes access to our teacher-to-teacher
listserv, a subscription to the NYCWP Newsletter, and invitations to special events,
writing retreats, and institutes.
Funders
The New York City Writing Project has received funding from numerous sources, including
Chase Manhattan Bank, the City University of New York, DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest
Fund, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, JP Morgan/Chase, National
Writing Project, the New York City Department of Education, the U.S. Department of
Education, and the W.T. Grant Foundation.
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Contact
Nancy Mintz, Director
New York City Writing Project
Lehman College, CUNY
250 Bedford Park Boulevard West
Bronx, NY 10468
Phone: 718.960.8758
Fax: 718.960.8054
E-Mail: namintz@aol.com
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