Denver Writing Project awarded Gates Foundation grant to develop curricula for local teachers

Teams of teachers from the Denver Writing Project here at the University of Colorado Denver and the Northern Colorado Writing Project at Colorado State University have been entrusted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create tools for teachers in grades 6-12 across all content areas and cultivate high-quality professional development opportunities in which to share these tools.

Over the next two years, our own Denver Writing Project will create curricula models for classroom teachers in writing instruction that will support students to achieve the outcomes of the newly state-adopted Common Core Standards. To develop the models, the Denver Writing Project teachers will be documenting their own work and their students' work, assuring that curricula work in concordance with assessment strategies.

These models will serve as a centerpiece of professional development across the state, based on close study of the Common Core State Standards, Lesson Study protocols and processes, and strategies for developing knowledge around key subjects related to implementing the standards such as text complexity, college readiness, and English Language Learners.

The Denver Writing Project at the University of Colorado Denver and the CSU Writing Project at Colorado State University in Fort Collins are the local chapters of The National Writing Project, the recipient of the 2-year, $2,000,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in July 2011.

The National Writing Project (NWP) is a nationwide network of educators working together to improve the teaching of writing in the nation's schools and in other settings. NWP provides high-quality professional development programs to teachers in a variety of disciplines and at all levels, from early childhood through university. Through its network of more than 200 university-based sites located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, NWP develops the leadership, programs and research needed for teachers to help students become successful writers and learners. For more information, visit www.nwp.org. NWP can also be reached through Facebook (www.facebook.com/writingproject) and Twitter (twitter.com/writingproject).

To find the Denver Writing Project on Twitter search for @DenverWP.