| Myriad research reports highlight the need to improve the writing of today's high school students. In California, site of the current study, secondary teachers enter the profession with little preparation in how to teach writing, creating a disconnect between what teachers need to do and what they are prepared to do. Recent work by Ball, Thames, & Phelps (2008) suggests that acquiring the specialized content knowledge of a discipline allows teachers to make these connections, but few studies document ways to develop this knowledge. Collaborative learning situations may provide some answers. Work by Grossman, Wineburg, & Woolworth (2001) demonstrates the power of a professional teaching community in developing teacher knowledge, while Lieberman & Wood (2003) highlight the social practices in National Writing Project work which can lead to the development of community. The present qualitative study examined the features of a National Writing Project-based professional development program, known as Improving Students' Academic Writing, that may illuminate possibilities for developing the specialized content knowledge and related practices teachers need to develop academic writers. The foci of this study are: What features of ISAW enabled teachers' content-related knowledge of academic writing to develop, if at all? How did these features unfold in practice? And what knowledge and practices did teachers develop as a result of their participation in ISAW?... |
