Boston Writing Project:
History and Development
Founded in 1979, the Boston Writing Project (BWP) is a program of the
Institute for Learning and Teaching (ILT) in the Graduate College of Education
(GCOE) at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. The goal of the BWP
is to work with schools and teachers to improve the teaching and learning
of writing in Massachusetts classrooms, K-College. To further this goal,
the BWP has conducted annual summer institutes, inservice programs and
a graduate certificate program in the teaching of writing for a wide variety
of urban and suburban schools and teachers.
In all BWP activities, teachers write and examine their writing processes
as well as those of their colleagues and students. The teaching of writing
is approached in a cross-disciplinary context which focuses on current
research, theory, and exemplary practice.
The BWP is a local affiliate
of the National Writing Project (NWP), the nation’s largest and most
successful professional development organization for teachers of writing.
The NWP, begun in 1974, now has 189 local sites in 50 states, the District
of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, plus sites in Canada and overseas and receives
$19 million per year in federal funding. Multiple assessments and evaluations
over the past twenty years have found the NWP/BWP professional development
model to be highly effective in improving the teaching of writing by its
impact on students, teachers, and schools. Both NWP and BWP have been
repeatedly recognized for excellence and for the success of their efforts.
As the only Writing Project site in Massachusetts, the BWP struggled
for twelve years to respond to needs across the entire state. Basic funding
for the project was limited to an annual matching grant from the National
Writing Project, plus release time from UMass Boston for a part-time Project
Director. In contrast, other states provided legislative funding for multiple-site
Writing Project networks.
This picture began to change in 1992 with the formation of the Western
Massachusetts Writing Project (WMWP). The WMWP is centered in the English
Department at UMass Amherst and builds on a 15-year history of collaboration
between English Department members and a strong group of teachers from
the Amherst and Springfield areas. The creation of a second Writing Project
in Massachusetts raised the possibility of a multi-site, state funded
network similar to those in other states.
For three years the Boston and the Western Massachusetts Writing Projects
worked with members of the Massachusetts Legislature to build support
for a statewide Massachusetts Writing Project. As a result of this work,
the 1995-96 state budget contained a line item creating a Massachusetts
Writing Project with sites at Boston and Amherst.
The K-12 Educational Reform
section of the FY 2000 state budget contained a similar appropriation
to continue these projects for a fifth year. The legislative funds come
to the respective campuses through an Interagency Service Agreement with
the Massachusetts DOE. Each year, the BWP outlines the goals to be addressed
and programs and initiatives to be undertaken with the funds at the Boston
campus.
This happy scenario came to
an end when budget cuts eliminated support for the writing projects. Cuts
have eliminated state funding and made necessary the elimination of staff.
Consequences have been felt in the ability of the BWP to implement and
support programs. Currently, Bruce Rettman, BWP fellow '86, is working
on a part time basis to provide a presence in the BWP office.
Withal, two new Writing Project
sites have emerged at Worcester State College, the Central Massachusetts
Writing Project, and at U/Mass Dartmouth, the Buzzards Bay Writing Project.
The state network of Writing Project sites, the Massachusetts Writing
Project, is seeking to restore state funding and to increase
its work in helping teachers become better teachers of writing.
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