Seven Valleys Writing Project

BULLET-POINT DESCRIPTION

Overview

The Seven Valleys Writing Project (SVWP) is a regional site of the National Writing Project, a federally funded professional development program whose goal is to improve writing and learning in the nation's schools. With nearly 200 sites across the country, NWP university-school partnerships annually serve more than 141,000 teachers. SUNY Cortland has been approved at the federal level and the first workshops for master teachers will begin in the summer of 2008.

Scope

SVWP supports teachers from all grade levels -- kindergarten through university -- interested in strengthening student learning through literacy in their own classrooms. SVWP offers programs for both novice and experienced teachers, serving educators in Cortland and its seven contiguous counties: Onondaga, Madison, Chenango, Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Cayuga, as well as parts of Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Wayne, Oswego, Oneida, and Otisco.

Principles

The SVWP seeks to improve student achievement in Central and Southern Tier New York schools by providing powerful learning and leadership opportunities for local educators. Teachers in the SVWP network use writing to teach different disciplines and work in a range of school settings. As a part of the NWP, we embrace the following principles:

• Writing, reading, and expression are fundamental to learning in all disciplines
• Teachers improve their knowledge of writing by writing
• Writing is the best way for teachers to sustain and extend their expertise in their content area and pedagogy
• Successful practicing teachers are the best teachers of other teachers
• Effective professional development for educators is on-going and occurs when schools and universities work in partnership

Features

• Provides Professional Development to schools and districts: SVWP consults with school and district leaders to develop and provide in-service programs that are relevant to local needs
• Hosts Professional Development workshops: New and returning participants in the SVWP will be invited to apply for the fall writing/teaching workshops at Raquette Lake
• An invitational Summer Institute: The SVWP Summer Institute is designed especially for exemplary teachers of writing--K-16 and from all disciplines--to present and discuss their own teaching practices, examine and critique current research, and engage in professional and personal writing.

The Seven Valleys Writing Project is one of 195 National Writing Project sites across the country.