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Improving the Blank

Page with

Argumentative

Writing: How Community Partnerships

Can Improve Student

Preparation for Postsecondary

Writing Tasks

Written by Megan C. Breaux,

Director of College and Career Writing

Programs (for the National Writing

Project of Acadiana) and GEAR UP

College and Career Coach (for the

Lafayette Parish School System)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................... 3

The National Writing Project of Acadiana ............................................... 4

Problem ...................................................................................................... 5

College, Career, and Community Writers Program .................................. 8

NWP-A and C3WP ................................................................................. 8

Data ......................................................................................................... 8

Next Steps ................................................................................................ 11

GEAR UP Fellowship .......................................................................... 11

Improving the Blank Page Initiative .................................................... 11

Moving Foward .................................................................................... 12

Conclusion ............................................................................................... 13

References ............................................................................................... 14

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National Writing Project of Acadiana

The National Writing Project of Acadiana (NWP-A), also known as the Acadiana

Writing Project (AWP), is a branch of the National Writing Project. It operates on the

philosophy that writing should be taught at every grade level. While there is not one correct

method or strategy to teaching writing, it is important for teachers to be well informed and

effective in their teaching. There are numerous approaches to the teaching of writing, and

effective teacher-led professional development is one way to share various approaches to

teaching writing. Therefore, it is the mission of NWP-A to focus the knowledge, expertise,

and leadership of Acadiana’s educators on sustained efforts to improve writing and learning

for all learners.

NWP-A makes their mission a reality through the provision of professional

development for educators, at all levels, to ensure that they are equipped to teach writing,

not just assign it. After participating in professional development, through in-depth

institutes, Teacher Consultants then take their learning back to their classrooms and

districts, where they are encouraged to share their learning with their colleagues and

students.

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Problem

Surveying the Problem

Participant Teaching Level:

Participant Subject Area:

Students are not adequately prepared for

postsecondary writing tasks centered around

healthy argument and civic discourse.

A survey was administered to sixty Acadiana-

area teachers of writing within various subject

areas and levels.

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Survey Data:

56.7% of participants reported that their students’ writing presents summary statements

about source material, rather than debatable, defensible, nuanced claims:

88.4% of participants reported that their students’ ability to distinguish between their own

ideas and that of source material is at or below “developing”:

85% of participants reported that their students’ ability to select and use evidence to

support claims is at or below “developing”:

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51.7% of participants reported that their students’ ability to provide

commentary on source material in a way that connects the material to the claim

is ineffective:

53.3% of respondents reported that their students’ ability to characterize the

credibility of source material or authors is ineffective:

The survey data shows that the majority of respondents consider their students

to be ineffective in all of the major argumentative writing skills (illustrating

using examples from the text, authorizing with credible sources, extending

beyond the text, and countering:

Data-Based Conclusion:

Acadiana-area students would benefit from quality instruction in the area of

argumentative writing. According to Thompson (2019) argumentative essay writing

fosters the development of critical thinking skills, research skills, logic and rhetoric,

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and the anticipation of objections. All of these skills can be easily applied to

postsecondary endeavors. Therefore, practice in the area of argumentative writing

may improve students’ postsecondary outcomes.

College, Career, and Community Writers

Program (C3WP) After receiving an Investing in Innovation grant in 2012, the National Writing

Project designed professional development to improve teachers’ ability to teach to

college- and career-ready writing standards, with a specific emphasis on improving

students’ skills in writing arguments based on nonfiction texts. The College, Career,

and Community Writers Program (C3WP), formally known as the College Readiness

Writers Program (CRWP), focuses on providing intensive professional development

to support classroom implementation, curricular resources, and formative assessment

to inform instruction (Gallagher, Woodworth, & Arshan, 2015).

C3WP has also proven to lend to statistically significant growth in

argumentative writing skills. According Arshan, Park, and Gallagher’s (2018)

controlled study on the impacts of C3WP, students who are exposed to both short-

term and long-term implementation of C3WP show more growth than students who

are exposed to traditional writing programs. The study spanned twenty-two districts,

with over 300 teachers of 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts.

NWP-A and C3WP

In 2017, NWP-A was awarded the 2017-2018 Advanced Institute to Scale Up

the NWP College-Ready Writers Program Grant. Twelve English teachers from

across eight districts were invited to participate in the Advanced Writing Institute.

During the summer of 2017, the teachers earned 30 professional development hours,

as they were introduced the C3WP. During the introductory period, they read Harris’

(2017) Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts. They also read Graff and

Birkenstein’s (2014) They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing.

Throughout the professional development, they learned that C3WP is shaped around

these two books. They learned how to use Harris’ (2017) moves in argumentative

writing. These moves, forwarding, illustrating, authorizing, borrowing, extending, and

countering, help writers to build strong arguments with evidence. Birkenstein’s (2014)

assists writers in connecting with the concept of putting a personal spin on texts,

rather than “copying and pasting” ideas. After becoming familiar with the two texts,

the teachers were introduced to the C3WP Cycle of Instruction. They completed three

Cycles of Instruction during the 2017/2018 school year.

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What is a C3WP Cycle of Instruction? It is the interaction among professional development, quality

instruction, and formative assessment.

Start the cycle in a

professional

development meeting

that models

instructional

resources.

Try it out in your

classroom and

collect student

work.

Bring work to next

professional

development

meeting to

collectively analyze

student work.

Work with your

writing project to

select the next

instructional

resource, based on

the student data.

Start the cycle in a

professional

development

meeting that models

instructional

resources.

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After the 1st cycle…

After the 3rd

cycle…

Did the C3WP Cycles of Instruction make

an impact on students’ argumentative

writing skills?

51% of students used examples to support claims.

12.4% of students referred to “experts” to support

claims.

13.5% of students put their own “spins” on ideas

taken from texts

40.5% of students provided “push back” against

ideas found in the texts.

25.5% of students exhibited none of the above in

their writing.

58.8% of students used examples to support

claims.

51% of students referred to “experts” to support

claims.

47.1% of students put their own “spins” on ideas

taken from texts

56.9% of students provided “push back” against

ideas found in the texts.

13.7% of students exhibited none of the above in

their writing.

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Next Steps

According to data, C3WP’s professional development cycles improved student

outcomes in relation to argumentative writing, thus improving students’ preparation

for post-secondary writing and discourse. Unfortunately, NWP-A did not win a grant

for the following years. Although C3WP’s resources are readily available to the

public, it takes funding to properly recruit and train teachers to effectively execute the

Cycles of Instruction, and to promote the program in order to get multiple teachers

involved. Therefore, alternative options must be considered to ensure that students are

prepared for post-secondary writing tasks centered on healthy argument.

GEAR UP Fellowship

When national funding was cut from programs like the National Writing

Project, it left the responsibility of funding in the hands of individual sites. In 2014,

NWP-A partnered with the Lafayette Parish School System’s branch of Gaining Early

Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). This partnership

has allowed opportunities for more educators and students to benefit from the unique

services that NWP-A has to offer.

Over the past five years, the Acadiana Writing Project/GEAR UP Fellowship

program has offered two weeks of professional development, held on the campus of

the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The first week focuses on shaping quality

educators into strong teachers of writing. Then, during the second week, those same

teachers use what they learned to lead a week of writing activities for GEAR students.

Students and Writing Fellows are then expected to lead writing clubs in their schools,

complete follow-up professional development, and assist with the coordination and

execution of student showcases in the fall and spring. This partnership has become the

foundation of the Improving the Blank Page Youth Writing Program (IBP).

Improving the Blank Page Initiative In his poem, “Young Poets,” Nicanor Parra speaks to young, creative minds

and attempts to break down barriers often associated with poetry: “In poetry

everything is permitted/ With only this condition of course/ You have to improve the

blank page” (6-8). Dr. Toby Daspit, Co-director of NWP-A, founded the Improving

the Blank Page Youth Writing Program, back in 2006, with Parra’s words in mind.

The program has since become the foundation of the NWP-A/GEAR UP Fellowship,

as fellows and young writers are encouraged to “improve the blank page.”

“Improving the Blank Page” was the theme of the first NWP-A/GEAR UP

Summer Institute and Writing Camp in 2015, and it has left a lasting impression on

the GEAR UP cohort. Partner schools run “Blank Page” writing clubs to continue

encouraging students to confront the blank page. Additionally, NWP-A has partnered

with the Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective (FOW) in order to give Blank

Page writers opportunities to share their writing. Through FOW, students and teachers

have been given opportunities to participate in Word Crawl (a 12-hour literary

marathon), student writing contests, workshops with published authors, and

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community stage readings. However, IBP has traditionally focused on creative

writing.

Moving Forward

Since GEAR UP is focused on helping students to get to college and succeed,

IBP is focused on improving student writing, and C3WP is focused on improving

students’ academic writing in preparation for college, IBP should add an

argumentative writing element to their program. Such an element could involve the

provision of transitional argumentative writing courses for GEAR UP students. These

courses could be taught during the by College and Career Coaches who are 12-month

LPSS employees responsible for summer programming. Putting the coaches in charge

of the courses could save funds which would traditionally be used to pay instructors.

Additionally, area English teachers could be invited to observe and assist on a

volunteer basis, in order to ensure that the program reaches more students. Classes

may eventually be offered on weekends throughout the school year.

Proposed Summer 2020 Course Schedule:

Week Topic Activities Dates

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1. Entering the Conversation- This unit

focuses on argument as a conversation.

Students will learn to consider multiple

perspective issues and to find evidence

for those perspectives.

2. Purposeful Use of Sources- This unit

focuses on writing and revising claims,

connecting evidence to claims, and

making deliberate choices when using

others’ words.

• Week 1

Journal

• Gathering

Evidence Chart

• Making

Moves with

Sources

Activity

6/8-6/12

2 3. Advancing Arguments- In this unit,

students will learn to organize and rank

evidence to support nuanced claims, and

come to terms with opposing viewpoints.

4. On-Demand Arguments- This unit

will require students to read and respond

to several sources surrounding multiple

perspectives on a single issue.

• Week 2

Journal

• Ranking

Evidence

Activity

• Coming to

Terms with

Opposing

Viewpoints

Activity

• Op-Ed Draft

6/15-

6/19

3 5. Inquiry-Based Research- This unit

will require students to take positions on

issues, research and develop informed

claims, and present evidence for civic

advocacy.

• Week 3

Journal

•Civic

Argument

Final

6/22-

6/26

4 6. Publication- This unit will require

students to participate in collaborative

• Week 4

Journal

6/29-7/3

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writing groups, in order to revise

arguments and plan for publication.

• Publication

and

Presentation

Conclusion

Data has shown that Acadiana teachers feel as though their students are ineffective

argumentative writers. Since argumentative writing skills are necessary for college-

level writing, it is important that this be remedied. Since the C3WP curriculum has

proven effective in increasing student argumentative writing outcomes, the obvious

solution would be to find a way implement this program with more students.

Therefore, the Improving the Blank Page initiative, which is funded partly by GEAR

UP, should add C3WP courses to their summer programs. This will help students to

better prepare for post-secondary writing.

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References

Arshan, N. L., Park, C. J., & Gallagher, H. A. (2018). Impacts on students of a short-cycle

implementation of the National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community

Writers Program. SRI International. Retrieved from

https://www.sri.com/work/publications/impacts-students-short-cycle-implementation-

national-writing-projects-college

Gallagher, H. A., Woodworth, K. R., & Arshan, N. L. (2015). Impact of the National Writing

Project’s College-Ready Writers Program on teachers and students. Menlo Park, CA:

SRI International.

Harris, J. (2017). Rewriting: How to do things with texts. Logan, Utah: Utah State University

Press.

National Writing Project, The. (2015). College, Career, and Community Writers Program.

Retrieved from

https://sites.google.com/site/nwpcollegereadywritersprogram/instructional-

resources/secondary

Thompson, V. (2019). What students learn from writing an argumentative essay. Pen & the

Pad. Retrieved from

https://penandthepad.com/student-learns-writing-argumentative-essay-2088.html