The UAB Red Mountain Writing Project has been awarded a $20,000 grant to give writing teachers professional development training throughout the 2012-13 school year.
RMWP received a SEED Evaluating the Impact of Professional Development to meet the Challenging Writing Standards in High-Need Elementary Schools award. Third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers at J. S. Abrams Elementary School in Bessemer, which is a considered a high-need institution, will receive a minimum 45 hours of professional development training.
Educators will learn to teach argumentative writing, a skill that has become increasingly important for students entering college and the workforce, says Program Director Tonya Perry, Ph.D. The program also includes an after-school intervention component for low-performing students.
“I think it is extremely valuable,” says Fred Primm Jr., superintendent of Bessemer City Schools. “It will get our teachers in the mindset of best practices.”
This summer, teachers and administrators from Abrams and the UAB School of Education met to map out a strategy for the coming school year. Perry and other SEED grant awardees from across the country gathered in Chicago to discuss best practices at a meeting sponsored by the National Writing Project.
“We are so very excited about this powerful partnership,” says Abrams Principal Brenda Rumley. “It is a marvelous opportunity.”