Note from a Teacher

Dear Laurie,

Just wanted to send you a writing update for our 8th grade. We received our state scores for the Tennessee Writing Assessment, and "ya'll" would be so proud. The scores range from one to six; four is passing; six being excellent. In our 8th grade we had 1 - zero (who refused to write), 1 - one (who wrote a few words and slept), and 3 - three's. The other scores were as follows: 21 - six's, 96 - five's, and 104 – four’s.

These are the best scores Hunter has ever had, and I believe it is Writing Workshop and YOU that have made the difference in our scores. Thank you for the time you have spent learning to do what you do so we can all be better at what we do.

Your #1 Fan,

Deborah Roberson,
8th Grade Teacher
Hunter Middle School, Chattanooga, Tennesee









How Can a Teacher, a School, a District Work Closely with the Reading and Writing Project?

The Project is eager to work with all different types of schools—public, charter, and private—in surrounding suburbs, districts across the US, and distant corners of the world, as well as with schools in New York City. Requests exceed our capacity but we regularly forge relationships with new schools and are eager to talk with you about that possibility. Priority is usually given to schools in which the indicators are strong that the work will be deep and long lasting enough to support sustainable reform.

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Our on-site (school-based) work usually includes:

  • a sequence which usually involves 10-25 school-based staff development days. Usually this work involves the entire faculty and focuses on reading, writing, and content area literacy. Often a school or district selects one focus as a starting point. Staff development days are spaced throughout the year and staff developers tend to divide their time on each of these days between:
    • leading demonstration teaching within classrooms in order to convey state-of-the-art methods of teaching;
    • coaching teachers engaged in reading and writing instruction, providing feedback and next-step goals;
    • helping teachers use and learn from systems of assessment (including performance assessments);
    • teaching teachers information related to upcoming units of study in reading and/or writing;
    • helping teachers support students with particular needs;
  • Home Grown Institutes . Usually 4-5 days long, the content and format of these are tailored to the needs of the participating school. These usually take place during the summer, but can be held during the school year. Historically, Home Grown Institutes have almost invariably provided a community of teachers with a turning point.


Our on-site (school-based) work can sometimes be focused in these areas:

  • a school or district that is engaged in a widespread implementation of Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study in K-2 or 3-5 Writing, or 3-5 Reading may want a day of professional development to launch this work. A senior staff developer (often a person who is also a co-author) then spends a single day supporting the adoption of these books. See Units of Study Workshops for more information.
  • a school can receive professional development designed specifically for middle school English Language Arts instruction. This PD is also supported by workshops held at TC.
  • a staff developer who has written professional books may visit a school in order to work with teachers who have been reading that person’s publications. See Author Visit.
  • a district may plan to conduct its own professional development internally, but requests support working with literacy coaches or other school leaders. We generally suggest these individuals attend a Summer Institute and then the Coaching Institute, but sometimes we provide site-based support for groups of leaders.
  • as part of its regular course of professional development, a school or district may request help in matters relating to Data Analysis, Quality Review, RTI, or integrating technology into language arts and content literacy.


Teachers at schools receiving on-site staff development often participate in the following at Teachers College:

  • study groups to support literacy coaches, teachers of ELLs, teachers who support struggling readers or learners with IEPs, teachers interested in exploring a particular topic, and administrators.
  • several workshops series designed to help teachers and teacher leaders who work with ELLs and with students with IEPs
  • Common Core conference days at Teachers College on the Common Core State Standards.
  • Summer Institutes in July and August; two five-day institutes in the teaching reading and two five-day institutes in the teaching of writing.
  • a Coaching Institute designed to provide participants with the tools, techniques, mentors, and intellectual community to lead state-of-the-art staff development and data-based literacy leadership.
  • a February Institute on content area literacy that spotlights a particular (new each year) aspect of content area instruction and learning.


For more information about receiving professional development services from the Project, please email us at services@readingandwritingproject.com.