Part K—National Writing Project

§8331. Findings

The Congress finds that—

(1) the United States faces a crisis in writing in schools and in the workplace;

(2) the writing problem has been magnified by the rapidly changing student populations and the growing number of at-risk students due to limited English proficiency;

(3) over the past two decades, universities and colleges across the country have reported increasing numbers of entering freshmen who are unable to write at a level equal to the demands of college work;

(4) American businesses and corporations are concerned about the limited writing skills of entry-level workers, and a growing number of executives are reporting that advancement was denied to them due to inadequate writing abilities;

(5) the writing problem has been magnified by the rapidly changing student populations in the Nation's schools and the growing number of students who are at risk because of limited English proficiency;

(6) writing and reading are both fundamental to learning, yet writing has been historically neglected in the schools and colleges, and most teachers in the United States elementary schools, secondary schools, and colleges have not been trained to teach writing;

(7) since 1973, the only national program to address the writing problem in the Nation's schools has been the National Writing Project, a network of collaborative university-school programs whose goal is to improve the quality of student writing and the teaching of writing at all grade levels and to extend the uses of writing as a learning process through all disciplines;

(8) the National Writing Project offers summer and school year inservice teacher training programs and a dissemination network to inform and teach teachers of developments in the field of writing;

(9) the National Writing Project is a nationally recognized and honored nonprofit organization that recognizes that there are teachers in every region of the country who have developed successful methods for teaching writing and that such teachers can be trained and encouraged to train other teachers;

(10) the National Writing Project has become a model for programs to improve teaching in such other fields as mathematics, science, history, literature, performing arts, and foreign languages;

(11) the National Writing Project teacher-teaching-teachers program identifies and promotes what is working in the classrooms of the Nation's best teachers;

(12) the National Writing Project teacher-teaching-teachers project is a positive program that celebrates good teaching practices and good teachers and through its work with schools increases the Nation's corps of successful classroom teachers;

(13) evaluations of the National Writing Project document the positive impact the project has had on improving the teaching of writing, student performance, and student thinking and learning ability;

(14) the National Writing Project programs offer career-long education to teachers, and teachers participating in the National Writing Project receive graduate academic credit;

(15) each year over 100,000 teachers voluntarily seek training in National Writing Project intensive summer institutes and workshops and school year in-service programs through one of the 154 regional sites located in 45 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and in 4 sites that serve United States teachers in United States dependent and independent schools;

(16) 250 National Writing Project sites are needed to establish regional sites to serve all teachers;

(17) private foundation resources, although generous in the past, are inadequate to fund all of the National Writing Project sites needed and the future of the program is in jeopardy without secure financial support;

(18) independent evaluation studies have found the National Writing Project to be highly cost effective compared to other professional development programs for teachers; and

(19) during 1991, the first year of Federal support for the National Writing Project, the National Writing Project matched the $1,951,975 in Federal support with $9,485,504 in matching funds from State, local, and other sources.

(Pub. L. 89–10, title X, §10991, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, §101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3859.)

§8332. National Writing Project

(a) Authorization

The Secretary is authorized to make a grant to the National Writing Project (hereafter in this section referred to as the "grantee"), a nonprofit educational organization which has as its primary purpose the improvement of the quality of student writing and learning, and the teaching of writing as a learning process in the Nation's classrooms—

(1) to support and promote the establishment of teacher training programs, including the dissemination of effective practices and research findings regarding the teaching of writing and administrative activities;

(2) to support classroom research on effective teaching practice and to document student performance;

(3) to coordinate activities assisted under this section with activities assisted under subchapter II of this chapter; and

(4) to pay the Federal share of the cost of such programs.

(b) Requirements of grant

The grant shall provide that—

(1) the grantee will enter into contracts with institutions of higher education or other nonprofit educational providers (hereafter in this section referred to as "contractors") under which the contractors will agree to establish, operate, and provide the non-Federal share of the cost of teacher training programs in effective approaches and processes for the teaching of writing;

(2) funds made available by the Secretary to the grantee pursuant to any contract entered into under this section will be used to pay the Federal share of the cost of establishing and operating teacher training programs as provided in paragraph (1); and

(3) the grantee will meet such other conditions and standards as the Secretary determines to be necessary to assure compliance with the provisions of this section and will provide such technical assistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(c) Teacher training programs

The teacher training programs authorized in subsection (a) of this section shall—

(1) be conducted during the school year and during the summer months;

(2) train teachers who teach grades kindergarten through college;

(3) select teachers to become members of a National Writing Project teacher network whose members will conduct writing workshops for other teachers in the area served by each National Writing Project site; and

(4) encourage teachers from all disciplines to participate in such teacher training programs.

(d) Federal share

(1) In general

Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3) and for purposes of subsection (a) of this section, the term "Federal share" means, with respect to the costs of teacher training programs authorized in subsection (a) of this section, 50 percent of such costs to the contractor.

(2) Waiver

The Secretary may waive the provisions of paragraph (1) on a case-by-case basis if the National Advisory Board described in subsection (f) of this section determines, on the basis of financial need, that such waiver is necessary.

(3) Maximum

The Federal share of the costs of teacher training programs conducted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may not exceed $40,000 for any one contractor, or $200,000 for a statewide program administered by any one contractor in at least five sites throughout the State.

(e) Classroom teacher grants

(1) In general

The National Writing Project may reserve an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the authority of this section to make grants, on a competitive basis, to elementary and secondary school teachers to pay the Federal share of the cost of enabling such teachers to—

(A) conduct classroom research;

(B) publish models of student writing;

(C) conduct research regarding effective practices to improve the teaching of writing; and

(D) conduct other activities to improve the teaching and uses of writing.

(2) Supplement and not supplant

Grants awarded pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used to supplement and not supplant State and local funds available for the purposes set forth in paragraph (1).

(3) Maximum grant amount

Each grant awarded pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed $2,000.

(4) Federal share

For the purpose of this subsection the term "Federal share" means, with respect to the costs of activities assisted under this subsection, 50 percent of such costs to the elementary or secondary school teacher.

(f) National Advisory Board

(1) Establishment

The National Writing Project shall establish and operate a National Advisory Board.

(2) Composition

The National Advisory Board established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall consist of—

(A) national educational leaders;

(B) leaders in the field of writing; and

(C) such other individuals as the National Writing Project deems necessary.

(3) Duties

The National Advisory Board established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

(A) advise the National Writing Project on national issues related to student writing and the teaching of writing;

(B) review the activities and programs of the National Writing Project; and

(C) support the continued development of the National Writing Project.

(g) Evaluation

(1) In general

The Secretary shall conduct an independent evaluation by grant or contract of the teacher training programs administered pursuant to this chapter in accordance with section 8941 of this title. Such evaluation shall specify the amount of funds expended by the National Writing Project and each contractor receiving assistance under this section for administrative costs. The results of such evaluation shall be made available to the appropriate committees of the Congress.

(2) Funding limitation

The Secretary shall reserve not more than $150,000 from the total amount appropriated pursuant to the authority of subsection (i) of this section for fiscal year 1994 and the four succeeding fiscal years to conduct the evaluation described in paragraph (1).

(h) Application review

(1) Review Board

The National Writing Project shall establish and operate a National Review Board that shall consist of—

(A) leaders in the field of research in writing; and

(B) such other individuals as the National Writing Project deems necessary.

(2) Duties

The National Review Board shall—

(A) review all applications for assistance under this subsection; and

(B) recommend applications for assistance under this subsection for funding by the National Writing Project.

(i) Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated for the grant to the National Writing Project, $4,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years, to carry out the provisions of this section.

(Pub. L. 89–10, title X, §10992, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, §101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3861.)

Termination of Advisory Boards

Advisory boards established after Jan. 5, 1973, to terminate not later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date of their establishment, unless, in the case of a board established by the President or an officer of the Federal Government, such board is renewed by appropriate action prior to the expiration of such 2-year period, or in the case of a board established by Congress, its duration is otherwise provided by law. See sections 3(2) and 14 of Pub. L. 92–463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770, 776, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.