Professional Learning

Supporting On-Site Teacher-Consultants: New York City Writing Project’s Community of Learners

By Ed Osterman
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Summary:

 Ed Osterman demonstrates how sustained and regular professional development for on-site teacher-consultants not only benefits the teachers in the schools they serve, but also nurtures intellectual and personal growth at the New York City Writing Project. The monograph provides approaches and tools that can be adapted by local sites to support ongoing professional development for teacher-consultants. Originally published on January 1, 2008

The author chronicles the evolution of the site’s Friday professional development meetings for its on-site teacher-consultants (teachers serving full-time as mentor-consultants in schools).

In a safe, academically rigorous, and reflective professional community, these teacher-consultants develop their writing, teaching, and consulting skills, and collaboratively refine their work in the schools.

Osterman describes the meetings’ structures and processes, and the adaptations and additions made in response to the changing educational environment and the group’s increasing size. The appendix contains protocols, guidelines, sample forms and letters, and a bibliography with readings on professional development, language and literacy, and writing and reading.

This post is part of the Monographs collection.

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