Introduction

The OSU Writing Project, begun in early 1992, is a collaborative university-school program aimed at improving writing instruction in elementary and secondary schools through summer and school year staff development programs. In addition to providing teachers across Oklahoma with strategies that help their students write better, the Project offers teachers a long-term professional development community. Researchers have noted that teachers who are able to adapt instruction to student needs are often teachers who are connected to a network of professionals--such as the Writing Project provides--who address problems and find solutions together.

The Project is a part of the National Writing Project, a network of 193 local sites housed at colleges and universities in all 50 states, plus the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. The NWP has been recognized internationally for its highly effective model of professional development. In 1994, the OSU Writing Project was named an exemplary site of the National Writing Project, a designation that recognizes the important work being done the by OSU Writing Project on behalf of Oklahoma teachers and school children.

Teachers, students, and parents benefit from summer and school year programs sponsored by the OSU Writing Project. Current programs include the following:

Summer Institute of Writing

The Summer Institute is the heart of OSU Writing Project programs. Each summer 16 experienced teachers of writing from grades K-college are invited to attend an intensive, five-week writing institute as Summer Fellows of the University. Each participant receives a stipend to help offset tuition and expenses related to graduate study. Partial funding for stipends comes from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. During the Institute, participants study writing theory and research; experience the writing process by writing themselves and sharing writing in small groups, and prepare to teach other teachers how to effectively use writing in the classroom. Demonstrations by teachers during the Summer Institute are developed into staff development workshops for teachers, students, and parents.

Teachers are chosen for the Institute because of their commitment to teaching writing and their openness to new ideas and approaches to teaching. Those selected must be willing to spend time during the Institute and beyond reading and writing and studying research. As one participant wrote about her experience in the Summer Institute, "The knowledge and inspiration gleaned from the Project will change the way I teach. I now have a theoretical framework based on the experience of other teachers to support many of the things I once did intuitively. This type of network puts us one step closer to the kind of solidarity and mutual respect Oklahoma teachers have been desperately lacking."

After the Institute, participants become Teacher Consultants for the Project. Teacher Consultants hold key roles in the ongoing work of the Project: as instructors and coordinators of school-year staff development programs, directors of youth programs, and part-time Writing Project staff members. The OSU Writing Project has hosted Summer Institutes each year since 1992.

The OSU Writing Project reaches out to teachers, schools, and school districts through local staff development workshops. For example, just this year OSU Writing Project teachers have crisscrossed the State, presenting workshops in Glencoe,Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Stillwater, and OEA Conference.  More than 1,000 teachers representing more than 30 school districts have benefited from Writing Project programs and resources in 2007.

Oklahoma teachers benefit from staff development workshops offered directly through the OSU Writing Project. In addition, teachers put the training they get through the Writing Project to work as presenters at workshops sponsored by the State Department of Education and subject matter organizations such as the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English, Oklahoma Association of Social Studies Teacher, and the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Funding from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education is used to support outreach programs for teachers in their school districts. Money for administration, materials, and travel are vital to the ongoing work of OSU Writing Project Teacher Consultants, who often travel long distances so that teachers in every part of the State can have access to information about teaching writing.

Parent Workshops

"How to Help your Child Be a Better Writer" is the title of a series of workshops available to parents and school districts through the OSU Writing Project. These workshops encourage family literacy by outlining ways that parents can support their children as writers at home and at a school.

Continuity Meetings

Several times a year Teacher Consultants attend continuity meetings, typically held on Saturdays. Continuity meetings may feature a guest speaker, presentations by Teacher Consultants, or discussions of timely topics in the field of education. For instance, the July 2007 continuity retreat brought together more than 20 teachers to celebrate the OSU Writing Project’s 15th anniversary through writing, learning, and reflection with author Mary Rose O'Reilley.

It is this commitment to continuity that defines the ongoing nature of OSU Writing Project activities. Each year's Summer Scholars are integrated into the large group and become part of a network of teachers which, as one Teacher Consultant wrote, "provides me with a support group for sounding out ideas and keeping a finger on the pulse of our profession statewide."

Plans are to continue the current programs of the OSU Writing Project and to expand the Project's outreach in the following ways:
Increase accessibility of writing project programs.

We have a long-term commitment to making summer and school-year programs more accessible to teachers who live in rural areas or locations distant from the university. Funding from the OSRHE supports efforts to disseminate information to parts of the State where teachers have less access to university courses and programs.

Expand youth writing project programs.

Working directly with student writers is an important way that the OSU Writing Project can impact literacy in Oklahoma. Youth writing camps brings students into a community of writers where they can build on the skills they learn in school and prepare them for college and the world of work. With continued funding the Writing Project can expand its programs beyond the Stillwater campus into communities where literacy can be enhanced.

Incorporate available technologies into writing project programs.

Finding ways to connect with isolated teachers and their students is essential. Plans are to continue to look for ways to provide information, technical assistance, and funding that will enable teachers to communicate with each other. As funding is available, the Project will experiment with a number of technologies such as distance learning through interactive video and teleconferencing to serve teachers and school districts in underserved and remote areas of the State.

Publish information about the work of Writing Project teachers.

Publications by the Writing Project are a means of disseminating information about teaching and teaching writing to an even wider audience that the Project now reaches. Writing Project teachers can be a powerful voice for educational reform through the written word. Continued support from the OSRHE will allow the Project to begin a publications program.

Benefits to the University

The OSU Writing Project provides a unique link between the University and public schools. Through summer and school-year programs, Oklahoma teachers have contact with the OSU College of Education and College of Arts and Sciences. Several participants in the Summer Institutes have decided to pursue advanced degrees in Curriculum or Instruction or English as a result of their contact with the professors who direct the Project. The Project is further linked to other universities through the National Writing Project affiliation. Institutions such as University of California at Berkeley, Auburn University, University of Vermont, George Mason University, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Missouri as well as 150 other colleges and universities across the country and internationally, make up the network which connects OSU with composition researchers. (A complete list of NWP sites is available upon request.) Additional benefits to the university include opportunities for school-university research and publication by school teachers and university faculty. The OSU Writing Project promotes collaboration among teachers, university faculty, and school districts. This collaboration is useful in many ways, particularly in building a network of effective teachers who will welcome observers and student teachers into their classrooms. Such a network also serves as a way to place Oklahoma State University graduates in Oklahoma schools. The Project's positive image reflects well on the University as a whole. The work of the OSU Writing Project offers opportunities to recruit students, and it offers these students an opportunity to be better prepared for the demands of college writing. University support for a Project that invites dialogue about teaching puts into practice the belief that good teaching is valued at all levels of instruction.

Benefits to Oklahoma Schools

The OSU Writing Project is well respected by teachers because its programs offer teachers much needed information about teaching in general as well as the teaching writing. Many teachers have never had a college course in the teaching of writing, yet they are expected to prepare students to write effectively. The OSU Writing Project offers teachers relevant professional development opportunities. By taking staff development to a school district, teachers have access to university programs. The Writing Project can be a resource to all schools and especially to those that may be seeking specific assistance in improving writing test scores on the statewide assessment or other writing achievement measures. Writing Project programs offer teachers a network that will support their efforts to improve their classroom practices. Results of a five-year student By Milbrey W. McLaughlin and the Center for Research on the Context of Secondary School Teaching at Stanford University found that, while improved academic content is a critical variable, the most effective teachers joined a network of professionals who addressed problems and found solutions together. Such a network is provided for teachers through ongoing programs of the OSU Writing Project. Summer and school-year programs also offer teachers the opportunity to take on new roles and responsibilities, strengthening them as teachers and at the same time strengthening the profession.

Summary

The OSU Writing Project has a strong corps of some of the State's finest teachers committed to delivering information about how to teach writing to teachers across the state. In conjunction with the Oklahoma Writing Project housed at the University of Oklahoma, the OSU Writing Project is poised to have a major influence on improving the teaching and learning of writing in Oklahoma's classrooms.