Northeastern Pennsylvania Writing Project Receives Two Federal Grants

Posted by: admin on August 13, 2014, One Comment

Northeastern Pennsylvania Writing Project (NPWP) received two federal grants from National Writing Project totaling $40,000.00. The money will be used to enhance teacher development in northeastern Pennsylvania and to fund projects that will enhance writing instruction and develop teacher leaders.

The award of the 2014-2015 Professional Development in a High-Needs School Grant ($20,000.00), a competitive grant, will support a partnership between East Stroudsburg Elementary School in the East Stroudsburg Area School District and NPWP. NPWP will work with third- through fifth-grade teachers to enhance writers’ workshop, an instructional practice that helps students build knowledge of writing in a collaborative environment. The teachers will participate in 60 hours of professional development during the school year. The professional development will focus on helping teachers augment the facilitation of writing instruction to improve student achievement in writing.

The 2014-2016 Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Teacher Leadership Development Grant ($20,000.00) will support dual purposes: to facilitate teacher inquiry and to develop a cadre of teacher leaders who will lead NPWP programing for teachers, schools, students and the community. The grant will provide scholarships to qualifying teachers who attend the 2015 Invitational Summer Institute, a unique three-week graduate course for Pre-K-college educators and administrators interested in reading, writing and reflecting as a means to improve writing instruction.

For more information about these programs, contact Rhonda Sutton, Ed.D., ESU chair and assistant professor of reading and NPWP director, at rsutton@esu.edu or visit esu.edu/npwp.