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Immersion in writing

By Learning Forward
April 2022
Ruth Devlin has been teaching young writers for 15 years, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. The books her 2nd graders have written fill their classroom library, a testimony to her skill and dedication. Devlin is constantly on the prowl, reading her students’ writing every day so she can build lessons that will move them forward. Her keen eye and her expertise have emerged over time, beginning in 1993 when she attended a summer institute at the Southern Nevada Writing Project on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus, a site of the National Writing Project (NWP). For Devlin, the five-week institute was “transforming,” a word many teachers use to describe the experience of spending extended time with a group of K-12 colleagues committed to learning

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References

Academy for Educational Development. (2002). National Writing Project: Final evaluation report. New York: Author.

Biancarosa, G. & Snow, C.E. (2004). Reading next: A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy. A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Dickey, K., Hirabayashi, J., Murray, A., St. John, M., & Stokes, L., with Senauke, L. (2005, December). The National Writing Project client satisfaction and program impact: Results from a satisfaction survey and follow-up survey of participants at 2004 invitational institutes.

Gray, J. (2000). Teachers at the center: A memoir of the early years of the National Writing Project. Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project.

Lieberman, A. & Wood, D. (2003). Inside the National Writing Project: Connecting network learning and classroom teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.

National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (2003). The neglected “r”: The need for a writing revolution. New York: College Entrance Examination Board.

National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (in press). Writing and school reform. New York: College Entrance Examination Board.

National Writing Project. (2003). Annual report 2003. Berkeley, CA: Author.

National Writing Project. (2005, February). Local site research initiative report — Cohort I (2003–2004). Berkeley, CA: Author.

National Writing Project. (2006, February). Local site research initiative report — Cohort II (2004–2005). Berkeley, CA: Author.

National Writing Project & Nagin, C. (2006). Because writing matters: Improving student writing in our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Smith, M. (1993). Introduction: Portfolio classrooms. In M. Smith & M. Ylvisaker (Eds.). Teachers’ voices: Portfolios in the classroom (pp. 1–9). Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project.

Tompkins, G. (2004). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.


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Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.


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