Dakota Writing Project

Who and What We Are

Sharing Writing

The Dakota Writing Project is a non-profit teachers' organization at the University of South Dakota that focuses on improving the teaching of writing and improving learning at all grade levels and in all subject areas. We are affiliated with the National Writing Project (NWP), which has about 190 sites across the United States. Writing takes many forms in the 21st century, and like the NWP, the Dakota Writing Project "envisions a future where every person is an accomplished writer, engaged learner, and active participant in a digital, interconnected world."

These core principles guide the Dakota Writing Project:

  • Schools and universities are ideal partners for investing in writing improvement through professional development.
  • Writing can and should be taught, not just assigned, at every grade level. Professional development programs should provide opportunities for teachers to work together to understand writing development across grades and across subject areas.
  • Writing improvement occurs over time. Teachers also need time to design and implement writing strategies that will help their students.
  • Knowledge about the teaching of writing comes from many sources: theory and research, the analysis of practice, and the experience of writing. Effective professional development programs provide frequent and ongoing opportunities for teachers to write and to examine theory, research, and practice together systematically.
  • There is no single right approach to teaching writing; however, some practices prove to be more effective than others. A reflective and informed community of practice is in the best position to design and develop comprehensive writing programs tailored to students’ needs.
  • Teachers who are effective in their practice can be successful teachers of other teachers as well as partners in educational research, development, and implementation.

Early History of DWP

by Constance R. Krueger, North Middle School, Rapid City

In 1981 I attended the first Dakota Writing Project Institute in Aberdeen, South Dakota. That month-long immersion in the tenets of the writing project (teachers of writing need to be writers themselves; everything in the classroom must be intentional and research-based; the best teachers of teachers are their fellow teachers) propelled my teaching career and continues to influence it to this day.

At that institute, I learned humility: as a high school teacher, I didn't think a first grade teacher had much to teach me. I was wrong. As the teacher demonstrated her lesson, she showed me how much could be expected of a young child and how much growth could occur with the right guidance. I think of her often in my current work with teachers of middle school students.

At that institute, I learned reflection. We were required to reflect after every presentation. I became a daily journal writer and know the value of reflecting on my work and my life. Last year I completed a master's in Literacy where my action research project studied the effect of reflection upon sixth graders' ability to comprehend text. I thought back often to that long-ago experience as I wrote each chapter of my project.

At that institute, I learned confidence. I wrote, wrote, wrote and began to view myself as a writer.

And, finally, at that institute, I learned an important lesson from a session with the remarkable Beverly Bimes, who at that time was the national teacher of the year. She looked at the twenty of us and said, "Teachers, take hold of your profession." It was a startling thing to hear. Up to that point, I had expected an administrator, or some Deus ex Machina to make my job workable. Now, with Beverly Bimes' words chiming in my ear, I had to take responsibility for my position as a teacher and I have honored the idea of being a teacher leader ever since.

I can think of no other program in my career that began in 1969 and is still going strong where there is  greater "bang for the buck". The National Writing Project is an education-changing experience that directly impacts student achievement in a positive way.

DWP: Twenty-Six Years and Counting

Twenty-six Years of the Dakota Writing Project:
A Real-Life Drama in Three Acts  

by Nancy Zuercher, DWP director 1989-May 2007 


Act I: 1980s: Vision, enthusiasm, institutes (and mystery about its grandiose beginnings and sudden shrinking)

The Dakota Writing Project officially became a site of the National Writing Project in early 1981, at least according to NWP.  When James Gray, NWP’s founder, met with faculty of higher education from South Dakota (including Nancy Zuercher), Minnesota, and North Dakota in Fargo in 1981, he ignited enthusiasm for sites in the Upper Midwest. Led by Bill Proctor and Hazel Benn (NSU), South Dakota group had an ambitious vision of exemplary teachers of writing coming together to share their best practices with other teachers, kindergarten through college in all disciplines and held the first four-week invitational institute in Aberdeen that summer. A troika of Bill Proctor (NSU), Jim Swanson (DSU), and Stewart Bellman (BHSU) directed the project in its infant years, with DSU and BHSU holding a summer institute for K-12 teachers.

During the early 1980s, with Board of Regents’ encouragement, which did not extend to funding, each campus named a DWP co-director with the understanding that the DWP directorship would rotate annually among the campuses. When that arrangement proved unworkable, Stewart Bellman became the sole DWP director, leading to DWP’s move to BHSU in 1986. Apparently, attempts at securing funding from the Bush Foundation and the Department of Education, and possibly other sources, had not succeeded.

In 1988, the University of South Dakota hosted its first summer institute, a two-week event with no federal funding. Group spirit more than made up for the lack of funding. The Write Connections, DWP’s newsletter, began publishing “at least twice a year.”  In 1989 Bellman named Jean Helmer and Nancy Zuercher as his successors. They decided to become equal partners, calling themselves each DWP director, and the University of South Dakota officially became DWP’s home.


Act II: 1990s: Experiments, collaboration, expansion

During the early 90s, the summer invitational institute, which expanded to three weeks, moved around the state, mainly to provide somewhat equal access to teachers on both sides of the state. Institutes met at the School of Mines, the Belle Fourche Community Center, Black Hills State, and the University of South Dakota, the latter two as joint DWP and South Dakota Humanities Institutes.

Teacher-consultants offered schools their institute demonstrations as professional development. In 1992 DWP became a charter member of NWP’s Rural Sites Network, which began with three years of complaining and later achieved status within NWP for rural sites equal to that of urban sites. DWP TCs later served on its leadership team and planning committees. In 1995-97 DWP provided two-week open institutes for three summers as part of NSU’s year-long Writing for Learning grant. In 1996 Michelle Rogge Gannon, after her first summer invitational institute, established DWP’s web site. NWP got ESEA status, and DWP began its tradition of communicating with our SD Congressional delegation for continuing federal support. The web site began DWP’s tradition of experimenting with cutting-edge technology. In 1999 DWP and NWP assisted Sinte Gleska University in developing its NWP site, Sicangu Writing Project, with a mission to preserve Native American culture through writing and provided the leadership for its first summer institute.

 

Act III: 21st Century: Technology, accountability, (re)vision

Technology blossomed. The University of South Dakota, via WebCT, hosted the NWP E-Anthology for two years. Summer institute applications gradually grew to total submission on-line, The Write Connection's last paper issue was snail-mailed, and the newsletter morphed into an on-line newsletter and then a weblog. Experimenting with cutting-edge technology during electronic writing marathons and other activities gained DWP national recognition as a pathfinder in technology.

NCLB and state standards forced DWP and the schools to new levels of accountability and influenced summer institute demonstrations, which grew to include videotaping and hiring a demo coach. The DWP Board held monthly meetings on-line and met face-to-face for (re)visioning retreats. DWP teachers participated in an increasing number of NWP activities and leadership roles, among them: NWP annual and spring meetings;  Professional Writing Retreats; Rural Sites Leadership Team, Retreats, and Institutes; Technology Institutes and Retreats,; and the NWP Electronic Design Team. The Northern Midwest Regional NWP, which included NWP sites in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota, organized and met once a year. In 2007 DWP’s hosted its own professional writing retreat, led by Nancy Zuercher and Cindy Heckenlaible.