Inside the National Writing Project: Connecting Network Learning and Classroom Teaching
Ann Lieberman and Diane Wood (Teachers College Press, 2002)List Price: $22.95
In 1997, Ann Lieberman, senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Diane Wood, assistant professor at the University of Southern Maine, had spent a number of years studying school reform networks. During that time, they had heard the stories of how one of these networks, the National Writing Project, changed lives. Since they were not regularly hearing similar claims from participants in other networks, they began to wonder what attracted so many teachers to the National Writing Project.
Lieberman and Wood set up a research design that focused on the UCLA Writing Project and the Oklahoma State University Writing Project to get an idea of how NWP sites enable (or constrain) teacher development and student learning, how they build professional community, and how they function in the network context, both locally and nationally.
Inside the National Writing Project details their findings and analyzes what makes the National Writing Project so successful, and shows how other professional development efforts can learn from NWP's model.
Also read: "Respected Researchers Publish Book About NWP", by Art Peterson
"An essential addition to the education reformer's bookshelf! Inside the National Writing Project shows how the social practices that suffuse this vital network transform teachers' work and provide a powerful model of professional development that is applicable across settings."
— Milbrey W. McLaughlin, David Jacks
Professor of Education
School of Education, Stanford University
