The Red Cedar Writing Project (RCWP) has an exciting opportunity for teacher professional development focused on the teaching of/with writing in academic year 21-22. We know that screen-to-screen learning, hybrid schedules, and teacher/student movement since March of 2020 created both positive outcomes and difficult challenges for our students, teachers, and school districts in mid-Michigan. This is why we are glad to be partnering with the National Writing Project to bring this opportunity to our Michigan school districts. This opportunity is part of our ongoing work with the College, Career, and Community Writing Project (C3WP) and is designed to build on the outstanding work you are already doing while also addressing any needs you might identify for your students, teachers, or programs. 

This is an opportunity to focus on evidence-based argumentative writing that is designed to help prepare students for college, career, and community writing in a variety of genres and formats. At RCWP we have been working with the C3WP protocols for several years; the schools and teachers who have used this approach to teaching evidence-based writing have found it to be widely successful, both here in mid-Michigan and across the country. As this research brief explains, “The National Writing Project’s (NWP) College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) is designed to improve students’ argument writing through intensive teacher professional development, instructional resources, and formative assessment.” All three independent studies designed to study the program’s effectiveness have found “positive and statistically significant effects on student achievement.” 

Here are a few other facts to consider regarding how RCWP can work with both principals and teachers:

• C3WP has proven to connect to a wide range of standards and learning goals set by districts across the country. You can check an overview of these connections here. 
• This approach works from grades 4-12+, and RCWP TCs have utilized this approach at all of these levels–upper elementary, middle school, high school, and college.
• Title I monies, including the American Rescue Plan or other learning loss funds can be used for this work in the state of Michigan
• Check out this whole issue of The Language Arts Journal of Michigan devoted to C3WP.
• An additional article from NWP about this approach to argument writing.