Argument writing is a standard component of English Language Arts instruction in middle and high schools. Oftentimes students select a topic they already have a strong opinion about, find evidence that supports that viewpoint, and craft an essay that lays out their position with supporting evidence. However, there are more nuanced ways to approach argument writing. The College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) provides professional development, instructional resources, and formative assessment tools for educators to teach source-based argument writing in their classrooms.
The National Writing Project (NWP) was founded in 1974 at the University of California, Berkley and has grown into a network of nearly 200 local sites in 50 states (National Writing Project [NWP] n.d.-e). NWP, a national nonprofit, supports this network of affiliate sites “to support educators in improving the teaching of writing” (Friedrich, Bear, & Fox, 2018). As the National Writing Project explains, “Writing is essential to communication, learning, and citizenship. It is the currency of the new workplace and global economy. Writing helps us convey ideas, solve problems, and understand our changing world. Writing is a bridge to the future” (NWP, n.d.-e). Many local Writing Project sites offer leadership institutes where teachers attend professional development with a cohort of other teachers, focusing on “research-based practices for teaching writing, teacher inquiry, and professional and personal writing” (Alford & Early, 2017). Teachers often describe the leadership institutes offered by Writing Project sites, which focus on teachers teaching teachers, to be life changing (Whitney, 2008, p. 144). Teachers appreciate the opportunity to learn with and from other teachers, as they read, write, and demonstrate lessons together.
Study Description
This study explored the impact that participating in the C3WP professional development had on secondary teachers’ argument writing teaching practices. The teachers who were part of the C3WP professional development at the (anonymous) NWP local site in this study were experienced middle and high-school English and social studies teachers and literacy coaches from predominately high-need schools. All of the teachers attending the C3WP professional development had previously participated in a Writing Project Institute, which was a requirement of the grant. This meant that the teachers were already familiar with the National Writing Project philosophy and were ready to dive in to learning together about teaching source-based argument writing
The teachers participated in a three-day intensive C3WP institute during the summer. During the professional development institute, the teachers collaboratively learned C3WP argument-writing practices. This collaborative learning was accomplished via discussions of professional readings and embedded teacher-to-teacher demonstration lessons (Gray, 2000). The teacher participants continued to meet throughout the school year on five evenings at the local university for additional professional development on teaching source-based argument writing.
Throughout the school year, the teachers participated in four “cycles of instruction,” which consisted of the following steps (NWP, n.d.-b):
1)Attend C3WP professional development that models instructional practices
2)Implement the C3WP practices in their classrooms and collect student work
3)Bring student work to the next professional development meeting and analyze student work to inform next steps
4)Work with C3WP professional development colleagues and leaders to decide what is the best next instructional resource to teach based on the students’ needs
5)Start the cycle over again by teaching the next instructional resource.
The professional development supported teachers in implementing source-based argument writing in their classrooms throughout the year. The teachers used formative assessment tools to help assess what their students could do and where to focus next instructional steps.
C3WP Components
C3WP includes three interrelated components: professional development, a set of instructional resources, and formative assessment tools (Friedrich, et al., 2018). These instructional resources, assessment tools, and professional development resources are also available for free on the C3WP website for teachers who would like to incorporate source-based argument writing into their instruction.
Professional Development
Too often in schools, professional development positions teachers as passive consumers of knowledge (Little, 1993). This type of professional development is often offered as a half-day or full-day teacher in-service session, seldom to be revisited again. There is a need for high-quality, ongoing professional development for teachers, which NWP provides. The Learning Policy Institute defines effective professional development as “structured professional learning that results in changes in teacher practices and improvements in student learning outcomes.” They list characteristics of effective professional development.
Effective professional development:
1. Is content focused
2. Incorporates active learning utilizing adult learning theory
3. Supports collaboration, typically in job-embedded contexts
4. Uses models and modeling of effective practice
5. Provides coaching and expert support
6. Offers opportunities for feedback and reflection
7. Is of sustained duration. (Darling-Hammond, Hyler, & Gardner, M., 2017)
C3WP is a program that includes these components of effective professional development as defined by the Learning Policy Institute. The professional development is focused on the content of argument writing, it incorporates active learning throughout, teachers model demonstration lessons for other teachers of the curriculum they create, and the professional development is of sustained duration, which amounts to 45 hours throughout the year (Friedrich, Bear, & Fox, 2018).
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