Teachers Focus on Writing Skills at Four-Week University of Arkansas Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Good writing skills are considered essential regardless of the career field a person enters. Eleven Arkansas teachers have been invited to learn new strategies to improve their students’ writing skills this summer during the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project invitational institute on the University of Arkansas campus.

A recent national survey found the majority of Americans view good writing skills as essential to success in college and the workplace. However, just 17 percent believe that when students graduate from high school they have the writing skills they need for college, and 75 percent say the U.S. K-12 education system should put more emphasis on the teaching of writing. That’s according to the National Writing Project, with which the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project is affiliated.

The College of Education and Health Professions has operated the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project since 1997. Chris Goering, assistant professor of secondary English and literacy education, became director of the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project this year. He joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions in 2007 and immediately began learning about and participating in this project.

Goering’s experience with the National Writing Project dates back to 2002 at Kansas State University when he was a participant in the Flint Hills Writing Project. He was teaching high school English and began attending graduate school, ultimately serving Flint Hills as a returning fellow and co-director of youth and community programs between 2005 and 2007.

“When I was first involved with the writing project in Kansas, we were a new site and I was able to see that site grow and develop over the five years I was closely affiliated with it,” Goering said. “When I interviewed in Fayetteville, the site here was established and full of so many wonderful ideas and such a strong foundation, I knew immediately I wanted to work at this university, continue to be involved with the writing project, and help take this site forward into the future.”

The Arkansas teachers will study the latest research and effective classroom practices during the summer institute, one of more than 200 National Writing Project sites on college campuses across the country.

Each writing project institute is different, Goering explained, because they are conducted, in part, by teachers who participated in previous years. Teachers who have completed an institute are called teacher-consultants of the writing project. Jamie Highfill, who teaches eighth-grade pre-Advanced Placement English at Woodland Junior High School in Fayetteville; Scott Sullivan, who teaches 11^th-grade AP language and composition at Bentonville High School; and Goering are collaborating on the leadership of the summer institute in 2009.

“This program is unique in several ways,” Goering said. “Ultimately, the program is by and for teachers and it takes on its identity from the teachers and director who conduct it collaboratively. Each site of the National Writing Project is based on core principles and conducted in a similar fashion to others across the country but an element of autonomy is a natural, expected part of the work of a site. Jamie and Scott are two of the most talented teachers I have met and are a critical part of our site.”

Teachers of all levels and content areas (kindergarten through university) may apply for the grant-supported fellowships to attend the invitational. Applicants for the program are interviewed and they submit three letters of recommendation. The teachers will work in Peabody Hall on weekdays from June 29 through July 23. They will hear from several guest authors during the institute, including Eileen Simmons, a teacher from Tulsa and longtime participant in the National Writing Project, who will share her experiences as a teacher-author. Simmons has authored several articles while remaining in the classroom.

National research studies confirm significant gains in writing performance among students whose teachers participate in National Writing Project programs.

“We’re looking for teachers who have already been teaching for a few years,” Goering said. “They can bring their different experiences in the teaching of writing to the program. Before they attend an institute, teachers need a little time to get out and try what they learned in college. Then, they can share with others what methods and techniques they have tried and what has worked and get ideas of other methods they want to try.

“On occasion, we have taken some outstanding earlier-career teachers, too,” Goering said.

Teachers attending the 2009 Invitational Summer Institute and what and where they teach:

• Gentry Collier, eighth-grade English, Washington Junior High School, Bentonville
• Maria Conroy, a homeschool teacher of high school English
• Ellie Esry, eighth-grade language arts, Ramay Junior High School, Fayetteville
• Suki Highers, 10^th-12^th grade sociology, Fayetteville High School
• Amy Matthews, eighth-grade English, Central Junior High School, Springdale
• Della Hutcheson, third grade, Eastside Elementary School, Rogers
• Karen Johnson, seventh-eighth grade English, Kirksey Middle School, Rogers
• Brian Lee, certified in secondary English language arts
• Jana McVay, English as a second language, Berryville High School
• Jon Medders, 10^th-12^th grade literacy and English, Fayetteville High School
• Kelly Riley, ninth-11^th grade alternative education, Fayetteville High School

The Northwest Arkansas Writing Project also sponsors four children’s programs in the summer. Kidswrite and Kidswrite II are multi-day writing camps conducted on the university campus. Write On! is co-sponsored by the Springdale School District and the Brown Chair in English Literacy in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences to help children who are English-language learners overcome difficulty with the English language. Write On! also has two groups divided by age and takes place at Springdale schools. Teacher-consultants make up the majority of teachers who work with the children in both of these programs.

In 2006, several of the teacher-consultants published the writing project’s first book, Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen: Quick Writes for Kindergarten Through High School Teachers and Beyond, published by Information Age Publishing. Other books, including a second edition of the Quick Write book, have since been published.