Central West Virginia Writing Project

Invitational Summer Institute: This is the core program to develop Teacher Consultants (TCs). Participants are selected with the expectation that they will assume leadership roles in their counties, while guided and supported by CWVWP. For 1 day in May and 15 days during the summer, each participant inquires into their teaching practice, the literature on teaching writing and writing across the curriculum, and develops a personal culture of writing that will enable him or her to incorporate writing in the classroom and to teach other teachers. A generous stipend is offered as a Fellowship to allow this time for deeper study into the art and craft of teaching writing. Six hours of master's level graduate credit, offered at reduced tuition by Marshall University South Charleston is available on completion..

Inservice Programs: Inservice programs--offered both in the summer and during the school year--have as their primary purpose to provide professional development to teachers, teacher candidates, administrators, schools (kindergarten through university), and districts in our site's service area. CWVWP Teacher Consultants (TCs) deliver series programs that contribute to creating a culture of writing within a school, increasing the amount and quality of writing that children are guided to do, and building local leadership through support of continuity programs.

Continuity Programs: Designed for TCs from all Invitational Summer Institutes, these programs develop leadership. They provide an ongoing professional community for teachers committed to improving their students' writing, their own writing, and their leadership skills.

Study Groups: Teacher Consultants are invited to organize teachers in their schools to study methods of teaching writing and using writing across the curriculum for student improvement. CWVWP supports Study Group coordinators with stipends, book purchases, and encouragement.

Evaluation Studies: CWVWP designs various assessments of the effectiveness of our programs and their impact on teachers and schools.

Central West Virginia Writing Project Mission Statment

As an affiliate of the National Writing Project (NWP), the Central West Virginia Writing Project (CWVWP) endorses their mission and assumptions (beliefs) which are contained herein with some additions and revisions for our locality.

The mission of the CWVWP is to improve the teaching of writing and improve learning in the schools of central West Virginia. Through its professional development model, CWVWP recognizes the primary importance of teacher knowledge, expertise, and leadership which impact students, schools, and extends into the community. CWVWP believes that access to high quality educational experiences that incorporate 21^st century skills is a basic right of all learners and a cornerstone of equity. Through its network of teachers, the CWVWP seeks to promote exemplary instruction of writing in every classroom in central WV. CWVWP values diversity—our own as well as that of our students, their families and their communities. We recognize that our lives and practices are enriched when those with whom we interact represent diversities of race, gender, class, ethnicity, and language.

Leadership Team

Director:

Principal Investigator

Paul Epstein
Marshall University South Charleston
100 Angus E. Peyton Drive
South Charleston, WV
304-746-1947
pepstein@suddenlink.net

Dr. Barbara O'Byrne

Co-directors:

Carol Buckalew
Capital High School

Charleston, WV

Beth Moore
Sacred Heart Grade School
Charleston, WV

Leadership Team

Special Projects

Sharon Huffman, Lisa Miller, Becky Ryder, Jessica Workman

Doug Walters

Webmaster:

Paul Epstein
pepstein@suddenlink.net

Last updated March 13, 2012