Dear UMWP Teachers,
We just returned from the Spring Meeting in Washington DC, and we had some news to pass along.
This is an important time for us as teachers as we are looking at the issues of National Writing Project funding, the discussions surrounding the Common Core Standards, and the rewriting of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
We will try to keep you posted on updates as they come along.
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Updates on NWP Funding
News from DC
Here's the good news: the Mississippi support for National Writing Project funding is amazing! Congressman Travis Childers was the only Mississippi Representative to sign on to the Dear Colleague Letter in the House. Senator Wicker co-sponsored the Dear Colleague Letter in the Senate, and Senator Cochran is the champion of the NWP in the Senate.
Here's where we still need your help: The National Writing Project funding is still not safe. If ever there was a time to thank our legislators for their support, this is the time. Tell them your stories. Tell them about your classrooms. Tell them about the difference that the NWP through the UMWP has made in your teaching. They still need to know what the NWP funding means for us in Mississippi.
Send your emails to the following legislative assistants:
Travis Childers: Nissa Hiatt - nissa.hiatt@mail.hourse.gove
Roger Wicker: Emily Ferris - Emily_Ferris@wicker.senate.gove
Thad Cochran: Will Todd - Will_Todd@cochran.senate.gov
We still need your voices. Be an advocate for the NWP!
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Common Core Standards Discussion
Whether you have been hearing about this discussion from your districts or whether you read about them in one of our fall newsletters, you need to get involved.
From the website Common Core Standards Initiative:
"As part of the Common Core State Standards
Initiative (CCSSI), the draft K-12 standards are now available
for public comment. These draft standards, developed in collaboration with
teachers, school administrators, and experts, seek to provide a clear and
consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce.
Governors and state commissioners of education from 48
states, 2 territories and the District of Columbia committed to developing a
common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for
grades K-12. This is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors
Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CCSSO)." 
A new draft came out on March 10, 2010. Teachers have until April 2nd to give feedback. There were some teachers affiliated with the National Writing Project who gave some technical assistance in the earlier drafts, and many of you responded back in fall that you did not like the standards for writing instruction. Your voices were heard and revisions were made.
Whether we like the standards or not, they are coming. As one NWP leader said, "The train has left the station, but we can still determine some of the direction." Most states will make a decision to adopt the standards in Fall 2010.
As I was reading the draft of the writing standards,I had some questions that guided my inquiry:
- What might these standards look like in my classroom?
- How will these standards impact my teaching?
- How would we use the language in the standards to talk about the teaching of writing?
- How might these standards be turned into assessments?
- Where is the place of the teaching of rhetoric in the standards?
So I invite you to follow the link to the standards and submit your comments. Remember, we have until April 2nd to give feedback.
Get involved!
Common Core Standards for English/Language Arts and Mathematics
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