THE SOUTHWEST GEORGIA WRITING PROJECT
The Southwest Georgia Writing Project Website
| 2003 Fact Sheet What It Is: The Southwest Georgia Writing Project is currently celebrating its 18th year in Georgia. It is the local site of the National Writing Project, which is in its 30th year as a nationwide program--to improve student writing abilities by improving the teaching and learning of writing in Georgia's schools to develop collaborative college and school professional development programs for classroom teachers to expand the professional roles of classroom teachers. An Expanded Network: At present, the NWP has over 175 sites in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Every year, more than 100,000 teachers across the country participate in National Writing Project programs. Georgia currently has 12 sites and others are being proposed. The Southwest Georgia Writing Project has trained over 200 teachers and administrators in over 28 school systems in ten Summer Institutes. Additionally, the Teacher Consultants have conducted full thirty-hour in-service programs in school systems and numerous workshops in their own schools, affecting hundreds of teachers. This summer the SWGWP is conducting its first Advanced Institute for Teacher-Researchers and is supporting three Youth Writing Projects in Fitzgerald, Albany, and Plains. Why It Was Needed: Writing is fundamental to student learning and it is the key to success in schools and the workplace; however, it has been traditionally neglected. Teachers were not taught how to teach writing, and students were not writing enough or well enough. In Southwest Georgia, nearly all the writing test scores fell below the state average in 1986; some systems are still below the state average, but other systems, which have participated in the SWGWP In-Service, are showing increases in test scores. How It Works: Like the NWP, the Southwest Georgia Writing Project is a program of teachers teaching teachers. Successful writing teachers from all grade levels, K – College, are identified and brought together in Invitational Summer Institutes and trained to teach other teachers how to teach writing. During the school year these Teacher Consultants provide workshops for other teachers in Project-sponsored programs in the schools. CONTACT: Dr. Peggy Ellington Email: mae@canes.gsw.edu
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Peggy and Tom
SWGWP Youth Group
SWGWP Adult Group |
