November 19, 2009, Philadelphia. Mary Nicolini and Steve Fox,Directors of the Hoosier Writing Project, presented a workshop in Philadelphia on the relationships between high schools and National Writing Project sites.

The co-directors of this Writing Project site, ran a workshop entitled, “Ways In: Writing Project Sites Partnering with High Schools,” which examined how school reform initiatives influence how teacher consultants conduct professional development in their schools and schools around the state.

“We must focus on providing authentic professional development and authentic literacy amid PLCs (Professional Learning Communities), SLCs (Small Learning Communities), Academy Structures, and more,” Nicolini stressed as participants shared their own experiences in their own schools, in their own states.

Nicolini and Fox were joined in this presentation by National Writing Project Fellows, Laura Roop and Laura Schiller from the Oakland (MI) Writing Project

“I don’t know that we can do it alone as writing project sites.” Schiller noted as she spoke of Michigan’s schools that are not making adequate yearly progress She continued, “there is not enough thriving going on.”

Steve Fox asked the room full of Writing Project teachers, “Are we ourselves agents of reform, or are we supporters of reform and agendas that other people have.” Though he acknowledged the question was rhetorical, he and his co-presenters highlighted two different partnerships at work in both Indiana and Michigan.

Schiller and Roop highlighted a handful of Michigan districts where data-driven instruction turned classrooms around. “At our site we are grappling with the inequities. How do we roll up our sleeves and get in there and do whatever it takes to help these kids succeed?”

Though their state and the schools with which they are working face many challenges, Schiller and Roop spoke optimistically of the ongoing relationship between these high schools and the Oakland Writing Project.

South of the Indiana-Michigan border, Fox explained how eight teachers from four different content areas, “met once a month and thought about reading in ways that illustrated strategies” at Nobilesville High School.

Fox said, “it was a wonderful year of workshops with those teachers. This has been a really strong partnership in classes like Business, Art, Health, and Special Ed, and the goal is for those teachers to lead professional development in reading in their areas.”

Fox finished his part of the presentation to an audience of two hundred or so with advice. “You have to have TCs there to lay the groundwork, to make the connections, to create a fruitful relationship.” Hoosier Writing Project Teacher-Consultants Joe Akers and Kristin Katsu were those teachers at Nobilsville fomenting the relationships Fox spoke of.

Nicolini finished the workshop with a focused analysis of the vital partnerships between schools and the Hoosier Writing Project. She stressed the importance of the Summer Instituts as a starting point for strong professional development work.

“Partnership work starts with the summertime work.” Coming from Penn High School in Mishawaka, IN, Nicolini explained that fifteen of the twenty eight Writing teachers at her school have gone through National Writing Project training.

“I have found success in taking what I am doing in my home school to other schools in the area.” Thinking about her work throughout the state, she added, “My job as a writing project person is to build on what they need and provide them with more.”

With high stakes testing dictating much of the professional development around the state, Nicolini gently spoke of the dialogue that needs to happen between partnering schools and Project sites. “You have to have a conversation about where they are so you can provide them with what they need.”

Though sometimes the Professional Development Training that NWP Teacher-Consultants may not seem to connect directly with standardized tests, her belief that writing imorives thinking underscored her assertion, “writing project work is at the core of these initiatives too.”