A Writing Center in Every FCPS Secondary School

Proposal to Instructional Services Leadership Team

December 13, 2013

Proposal Drafted by Writing Center Directors:

Beth Blankenship, Oakton High School
Kate Gillen, Herndon High School
Jenny Goransson, West Springfield High School
Kathleen Hansen, Woodson High School
Meg Herndon, Woodson High School
Alison Hughes, Centreville High School
Amber Jensen, Edison High School
Janice Jewell, Herndon High School
Nikki Lehman, Chantilly High School
Kim Sloan, Interagency Alternative Schools

Introduction
In the past five years, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has risen to the forefront of a national movement that
advances student learning and engagement in writing through student-staffed writing centers. Faced with the
systemic challenges that affect schools nationwidegrowing class sizes, tightening budgets, increasingly diverse
student populations, and a focus on standardized testspioneers and supporters of FCPS writing centers
recognize the educational opportunities and rewards of this investment.

Through one-on-one peer conversations, writing centers make use of more of the school day for student learning,
build a culture of student and teacher leadership, and reinforce classroom instruction. Most importantly, they
assure that students stay in the center of their learning, and both tutor and tutee are inherently guided by essential
21st Century Skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. The writing center provides
students enrichment alongside targeted remediation for gap groups in literacy across the curriculum.
While FCPS has made remarkable progress in leading the national secondary schools writing centers movement, it
now faces a critical juncture wherein these programs need to be strategically implemented, adequately funded,
and institutionalized county-wide to guarantee their long-term success and sustainability.
Why Writing Matters for Every Student

Success in school, college, and work depends on the ability to write well. However, a 2011 study 1 suggests that the
standardized testing movement has shifted the focus away from writing, particularly writing across the
curriculum, in our nations schools. High-stakes tests usually favor impromptu and timed writing tasks over the
multiple and extended writing tasks that we know engage students in authentic growth as writers. 2 Additionally,
students with diverse linguistic and educational backgrounds require extra help from their teachers as they
negotiate the challenges of writing in a new language or context. Administrators and teachers at FCPS schools
recognize the importance and challenges of teaching all students to write effectively. Writing centers have proven
to be a successful way to support the teaching of writing schoolwide.
Why Writing Centers?

Writing centers enrich writing instruction by drawing on student tutors as accessible experts who engage their
peers in academic discourse and navigate expectations of audience, purpose, and clarity in writing. Relatively
inexpensive to open and maintain, writing centers draw mostly upon resources already available in the schools: a
teacher as director, trained students as staff, and a classroom or other available space as the center itself. Input and
buy-in from administrators and teachers across content areas strengthens the writing centers ability to foster and
support a rich writing culture throughout the school.
Next Steps and Proposal

Writing centers are at the nexus of core FCPS initiatives of developing 21st Century learners who are engaged in
service learning, who are college and career ready, and who are deeply engaged in their learning. This proposal
outlines an implementation plan to achieve the goal of a writing center in every FCPS high school as follows:

FCPS Writing Centers: Current Status

Impact on Learning
Strategic Implementation
Adequate Funding
County-Wide Institutionalization

Applebee, Arthur N., & Langer, Judith A. (2011, July). A snapshot of writing instruction in middle schools and high schools. English Journal,
100 (6), 14-27.
2
NCTE Policy Brief, An Administrators Guide to Writing Instruction (2009)

FCPS Writing Centers: Current Status

Over the past five years, Fairfax County Public Schools has established writing centers with various models of
implementation and evidence of success. Currently, there are 18 high school and 2 middle school writing centers
in FCPS, with steady growth since 2009 (For a
current list of FCPS writing centers, see Appendix A).
Writing centers have grown due to the leadership of
teachers and writing center directors in the county
and due to the support of administrators who
understand the high value and impact of this kind of
program on student learning.

Within the writing centers, students are at the center

of learning and communication: student tutors
conduct tutorial sessions with their peers on writing
in any content area or for any purpose, ranging from
writing lab reports or history research papers to
college and scholarship application essays.
Learning Gains for Tutors. Learning gains for
student tutors are evident in the realms of social,
academic, and leadership development. According to
the Peer Writing Tutor Alumni Research Project
directed by Harvey Kail at the University of Maine,
student writing tutors develop in the following
meaningful ways that take them beyond their
tutoring experience and into their future academic
and professional careers 3:
Understanding writing and the writing
process
Learning collaborative learning
Confidence in speaking and writing
Critical and analytical reading
The value of listening
Joining a community of knowledgeable peers

These results are corroborated by research conducted by FCPS writing center directors: Edison Writing Center
Director Amber Jensen presented Whats in it for the Tutor? at the Conference for College Composition and
Communication in 20114 and Herndon Writing Center Director Kate Gillen reported the results of her research in a
paper, From Writing Tutors to Tutor-Writers: The Evolution of Herndon Writing Center Tutor-Writers in 2013 5.
Their research shows that tutoring helps student tutors:
Build identity and confidence as writers
Prepare for academic and professional communication
Foster authentic interaction with peers
Become adaptable to working in new situations
Take ownership over their learning
Learning Gains for Student Writers. With the growth of writing centers in the county, the impact on students has
grown tremendously. As teachers become accustomed to how the writing centers can support their teaching and
their students learning, the writing center becomes integral into schools pedagogical strategies and support
3

http://www.writing.wisc.edu/pwtarp/?page_id=286
http://prezi.com/-m1zie9xdu3e/whats-in-it-for-the-tutor/
5
https://topicscompositiontheory697.pbworks.com/w/page/66060468/From%20Writing%20Tutors%20to%20Tutor%20Writers
4

services. The Writing Center Director and tutors can identify the writing needs within school in order to adapt
their tutoring training and partnerships with teachers across the curriculum.

In the 2012-2013 school year alone, over 500

student tutors across Fairfax County Public
Schools conducted over 12,000 individual writing
tutoring conferences with their peers in subject
areas ranging from science to history to PE to
English. Students also came to their writing
centers for help on SAT/ACT test essay
preparation, SOL preparation and remediation,
IB/AP test preparation, college and scholarship
application essays, and research skills.

Results. Data shows that students scores on

writing tasks improve when they have a writing
conference with a trained peer tutor at a high
school writing center as part of their composition
and revision process. Teachers whose students use the writing center can track the progress of their students by
comparing their scores on a writing task before and after a writing center visit. Other results show that students
attitudes and perceptions about writing and the writing process improve as a result of visiting the writing center.
The examples below indicate some results achieved at FCPS high schools in the past five years.
Honors English 9: Edison students
who took their drafts to the writing
center improved their scores on a
particular literary double entry
journal response assignment by
24%, as measured by a before and
after score.

College/Career Writing. Through

workshops and tutoring, writing
centers offer support for students
preparing for college by taking
SAT/ACT exams and writing college
and scholarship application essays.
Students who use these resources
report more confidence in writing.

English 11 SOL: At Oakton, tutors

prepare an SOL preparation series
for English 11 students. At Edison,
students worked with writing tutors
on a research paper in preparation
for the Writing SOL. 72 students had
individual conferences.
IB Mathematics. Student tutors
participated in reading articles
about Math Literacy and preparing
discussion questions and a writing
prompt for students in IB Math.
Teachers and tutors worked to
develop students understanding of
literacy in Math over 2 years.

Biology 9. Edison students attended

workshops on incorporating data
tables in their science lab reports.
They met individually with tutors
before submitting their final reports.
Teachers reported clearer writing
overall with writing center help.
AP Government. Student tutors
prepared a workshop on writing
essays on the AP Government exam.
Working from their own research
and experience, the student tutors
co-presented the workshop after
school with Government teachers.

Target Populations. Writing centers are a vehicle to reach out to schools gap groups and target populations.

ESOL Students. Herndon Writing Center tutors partnered with the ESOL 3 classes working on their Global
Awareness in Technology (GATP) projects, and are continue to partner with ESOL 3 and 4 students.
LD Students. Tutors at Edison and Herndon have researched and published papers on how to tutor
students with learning disabilities. This research is now required reading for EWC and HWC tutors.
AVID and CPP Students. Through mentoring programs, workshops, tutors work with AVID and CPP
students through workshops, Rent-A-Tutor, and individual tutoring conferences to develop resumes,
prepare for SAT and ACT test essays, and to write college and scholarship essays.

Impact on Learning
The writing center benefits students (both clients and tutors) and teachers, contributing to an overall school
culture that promotes writing across the curriculum, student academic leadership and collaborative learning.
Student Writers say

Student Tutors say

I had substantial suggestions to take home and work

with, and it definitely made me feel more
comfortable with what I had written.
He really helped me spark my own ideas as well as
organize them properly.
[My tutor] wasn't being too controlling of my paper
and my own ideas. She was being a tutor instead of a
teacher (trying to teach me the whole assignment
again) and I really appreciate that.
She wrote the same paper before, so she could give
advice of how she went about certain things.
We did everything from learning to cite in MLA form
to helping me think clearer to opening my thoughts
so that I can go deeper for my thesis statement.

Teachers say

Administrators say

[After visiting the writing center], writing was more

clear. Tutors are smart and well-trained to find the
most egregious problems and help with them,
knowing it may leave big issues, but also knowing
that you have to take it one step at a time!
Kids come out of the tutoring sessions feeling
empowered. They understand assignments better.
They feel accomplished when they complete part of
the assignment during their tutoring session, and
many go back voluntarily after the first time.
The tutors were very prepared. They worked very
well with the students while giving whole group
instructions and when working one on one.
The tutors were AWESOME! They were very
attentive to the needs of my students and provided
excellent feedback. I think my students benefited
from hearing suggestions from their peers.
I talked to the writing center tutors about how to
write a literature review. Some of their questions
helped me better define how to tell other students
how to write a literature review.
Working with the tutor liaisons "changed the way I
see writing in a natural evolution"
The student tutor liaison did an "excellent job rewriting my assignment, making it more clear and
easier to follow. He also created an excellent rubric
for the paper that resulted in higher success rates
for the cadets.

The most important transformation is the trust in the

tutors thats developed. Education in America has always
been hierarchical: teacher knows all, and students get the
information. With this approach, what these students
experience is that they have value. They can work with a
peer. They can learn from each other, in a collaborative
effort. Isnt that something that we are all trying to strive
for with our students anyway? Student teachers have
become student leaders: they work with ESOL students,
Special Education students, AP students, so its really
great to watch them grow. Dr. John Banbury, Principal,
Oakton High School

Strategic Implementation

Ive grown tremendously as a writer. Writing [and

tutoring] in different genres has helped me become
more well-rounded.
I wrote a tutoring strategies paper on tutoring LD
students. I used a lot of information I researched for
my paper [in tutoring]. At the end, [LD 12th grader]
said, I should come here more often!
I learned how to give voice to my writing. I learned
how to be professional. I learned how to give my
papers variety.
"The writing center has become a place of creativity
and community. We plan, we collaborate, we grow
together."

We trained the tutors, got the awareness out -- we sent

out flyers all around the school. We had a grand opening
of our writing center. We had t-shirts for the English
teachers, the administrators, the counselors, and the
kids in the writing center to let these kids know that we
were really proud of what the kids were doing.
Ellen Reilly, Principal, McLean High School

Students benefit tremendously from our writing center

model. By providing support during our intervention
and enrichment period, we have a high number of
students who go to the center whether directed there by
their teacher, or interested in working with a peer for
assistance. The model allows teachers across the
curriculum to advise students in the center as well.
Teresa Johnson, Principal, Chantilly High School

Writing centers adapt to the local needs of the school; considerations of hours, staffing, training, and outreach
should reflect the schools instructional schedule and academic priorities. School administrators and teachers
should work together to assess the needs of the school when designing the best program for their site. Most FCPS
secondary schools run one of the following two implementation models:
Model 1: After School and Flex Time Model

Many schools establish their writing centers in an After School/Flex Time model, where student tutors volunteer
their time and student clients sign up or drop in for conferences. Recruiting and selecting tutors is an important
first step in establishing the credibility and success of the center. Student clients may be required or encouraged by
their teachers to visit the writing center, where they collaborate with a peer tutor on their writing for a 20 30
minute individual conference. A receipt signed by the tutor may be used to verify the visit.
Recommendations for Implementing an After School/Flex Time Model
Select a Writing Center Director who will:
Define and implement the vision of the center.
Recruit tutors and conduct ongoing tutor training and development.
Manage tutors and other teacher supervisors.
Promote the centers services to teachers and students.
Maintain and report data and results to faculty and administrators.
Identify teachers from multiple departments to rotate as supervisors of the writing center. This may be
especially important during Flex Time hours so the director can remediate his/her own students in the
classroom. Involving teachers from all departments reinforces a schoolwide focus on writing.
Set a consistent location and hours for the writing center to be open.
Host regular tutor trainings to ensure tutor preparation and success.
Encourage use by students and teachers from all content areas.
Compensate Writing Center Directors with a yearly stipend to cover the hours they spend in the writing
center after school and to manage the administrative aspects of the center.
Five FCPS Schools currently use this model: Chantilly, Lee, Marshall, Robinson, TJHSST
Model 2: Advanced Composition Course Embedded Model

Advanced Composition is a credit-bearing English elective course offered by many FCPS high schools in
conjunction with their writing centers. This model embeds the writing center into the school day and provides
ongoing training for student tutors. Offered during the class period that overlaps with lunch, Advanced
Composition gives place for student tutors to staff the writing center daily during lunch, increasing its hours and
accessibility to the student body. A Program of Studies designed in 2011 by FCPS writing center directors and the
FCPS English Specialist defines the standards and objectives of the course (See Appendix C for Advanced
Composition Program of Studies).

Student tutors enroll in Advanced Composition, where they complete several writing products, study and practice
tutoring methods, and participate in leadership activities that further the mission of the writing center. Schools
that offer Advanced Composition often require student tutors to enroll in the course during their first year as
tutors; some students may choose to re-enroll in the class in subsequent years, while others remain on staff as
After School or Flex Time volunteer tutors.
Recommendations for implementing an Advanced Composition Model
Offer the class during the class period that overlaps with lunch if possible, so the writing center may be
open to all students for lunchtime conferences. The student tutors enrolled in Advanced Composition may
rotate their lunch schedules to allow the writing center to be open during all lunches. Individual schools
have successfully adapted this model to fit the needs of their schedule.
Locate the class/writing center near the cafeteria or other central location in the school.
Limit course enrollment to 20 students, to account for the traffic of student clients.

 Select a teacher who is involved in running the writing center to teach the class (usually, at least one of the
Advanced Composition teachers is also the Writing Center Director).
Compensate Writing Center Director(s) with a yearly stipend equivalent to that of the Journalism or
Student Government teacher advisors, who also teach classes and run school-wide programs.

Thirteen FCPS Schools currently use this model: Annandale, Centreville, Edison, Hayfield, Herndon, IAS, Langley
(*run through AP Lang class), McLean, Oakton, Stuart, West Potomac, West Springfield, Woodson
Additional Programs to Foster School-Wide Writing

Student Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Liaisons are experienced writing center tutors who
collaborate with teachers in various content areas to evaluate and revise their writing assignments and
teaching methodology. Drawing upon their experience both as students and as writing tutors, these liaisons
can work with teachers on tasks such as revising assignment sheets and rubrics for clarity and consistency,
developing mini-lessons or handouts to clarify expectations, and collecting and evaluating student writing
samples for modeling good writing in the content area 6.
The Rent-A-Tutor Program makes student tutors available for teachers to invite into their classrooms
throughout the school day as the students schedule affords. With guidance from the teacher, tutors
develop and present a whole-class lesson on a specific writing topic, tutor students one-on-one, and/or
work with small pull-out groups on their writing in any stage of the process.

Other School-wide Writing Projects. In addition to the initiatives listed above, tutors at FCPS high
schools have contributed to a school-wide writing culture by leading initiatives and workshops to support
college and career readiness. Below is a partial list of student-led initiatives through the writing centers:
College and Career Readiness
Student writing contests and publication opportunities
College and scholarship essay workshops and tutoring
Collaboration with AVID and College Partnership Program
College Writing Symposiums

Support for Testing

English 11 Writing SOL remediation
SAT and ACT essay workshops and tutoring
AP and IB Exam review sessions

Outreach to Curricular and Extracurricular Writing and Learning

ESOL mentoring partnerships
JROTC writing contest support
Subject specific writing workshops and handouts, for example:
Lab report, literature reviews
MLA research, citation, quotation integration
Math literacy reading and discussion questions

http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/second_educ/jensen.cfm

Adequate Funding
Sustainability requires consistency. Of the eight FCPS high schools that currently do not have writing centers,
seven of them once did. According to surveys of these schools administrators and English Department chairs, the
writing centers fell by the wayside for some of the following reasons:

1. The teacher founder of the writing center is no longer teaching at the school;
2. There was not enough interest on the part of students, teachers, and/or administrators to run and sustain
an Advanced Composition elective course; and/or
3. The after school writing center was not sustainable due to student conflicts or teacher availability/interest.

Currently, all but two of the existing 18 FCPS writing centers are directed by their founding directors, many of
whom are fulfilling their responsibilities on a volunteer basis or with minimal financial compensation. There is a
high risk of failure for writing centers whose founding directors leave; unless systems that define and compensate
the writing center director position are put into place, the sustainability of FCPS writing centers is at risk.

Writing Center Director Stipend. In order to sustain the momentum of these programs, there needs to be a
reasonable stipend to compensate writing center directors work coordinating, administering, and supervising the
writing centers above and beyond their normal teaching responsibilities. Their responsibilities include:
-

Recruit, train, and coordinate student tutoring staff

Manage tutors and student clients during lunch and after-school tutoring
Plan, organize, advertise, and implement writing-based workshops across disciplines as needed
Coordinate with content area teachers to plan for and follow up with conferencing and workshops
Forge and maintain relationships with teachers, organizations, and courses to assess writing needs, identify
areas of support, and be responsive to writing needs and teaching opportunities
Promote writing center services to students, teachers, counselors, administrators, parents
Maintain and report regular data and statistics of writing center usage
Attend, plan, and contribute to professional development in writing, writing assessment, and writing
tutoring as necessary

The proposed stipend for a Writing Center Director is $4,232 to be paid as an Extra-Duty Assignment Contract
through the Student Activities Office. This amount is equivalent to the current stipend allocated for FCPS high
school Newspaper Advisors, Yearbook Advisors, and SCA Advisors, who, like Writing Center Directors, work with a
target group of student leaders to produce products and services that benefit each student in the school. This
amount would cover both the out-of-school hours that Directors manage the writing center as well as the extra
coordination and administration required for the center to run effectively.
Investing in a Writing Center Directors is an investment with a high value. If teachers were to be paid at their
hourly rate to tutor the 12,605 students that were tutored in FCPS writing centers during the last school year, it
would have cost the county a total of $189,075. This averages to $12,605 per school with a writing center.
Investing the amount of a Writing Center Director stipend per school creates countless hours of learning
opportunities to improve writing and communication for all students in all subject areas.

County-Wide Institutionalization
Writing Centers are already established in most FCPS schools; it is now a matter of deepening the roots and the
school divisions commitment to this kind of innovative learning and thinking by supporting their growth and
sustainability with financial and other support.
To date, FCPS has fostered the growth of writing centers in many ways:

Designing, piloting, and implementing an Advanced Composition elective course.

Sponsoring trainings for writing center directors through annual English in-service meetings.
Funding directors and tutors who present at and attend local and national writing tutoring conferences.
Publishing writing center administration and training materials on the FCPS 24/7 website.

Writing Center Directors and High School Principals recommend the following initiatives to support the continued
growth of writing centers within FCPS.

Initiative 1: Designate and provide a stipend for the Writing Center Director in every FCPS high school. This
will ensure consistency and sustainability by compensating Writing Center Directors for their extra duties and time
spent leading and administering the writing center (as defined on the previous page).
Initiative 2: Support ongoing professional development for Writing Center Directors and student tutors.
Investing in the training and development of new and existing Writing Center Directors and tutors should be a
priority, through traditional and specialized in-service opportunities as listed below. FCPS teacher leaders whose
experience and research qualify them to train and support their peers can direct this development are prepared to
lead this effort.

Annual English In-service Meeting (August)

Administrative Leave for annual Writing Center Conference (October)
Advanced Academic Institute course for new and existing Writing Center Directors (June)
Administrative Leave for Directors to make site visits (as needed)

Initiative 3: Include Writing Centers on the list of Instructional Programs Support for Students. Publishing
and advertising the writing center program is an important way to recognize and support the impact of these
services on student learning.

Initiative 4 (for full implementation): Create a full-time Writing Center Specialist position. This person will
coordinate development of writing centers in every high school and middle school in the county, to seek grant
funding to support this work, and to develop and implement an evaluation plan.

Appendix A. Current FCPS Writing Centers, 2013-2014

School

Opening Year

Adv
Comp

Director or Contact

Principal

Cluster

Annandale

SY 2010 - 2011

YES

Stephanie Hanson, Catherine Gibson

Vincent Randazzo

SY 2010 - 2011

NO

Danielle Hicks, Nikki Lehman

Teresa Johnson

Centreville
Chantilly
Edison
Fairfax
Falls Church
Hayfield
Herndon
IAS
Lake Braddock
Langley
Lee
Madison
Marshall
McLean
Mt. Vernon
Oakton
Robinson
South County
South Lakes
Stuart
TJHSST
West Potomac
West
Springfield
Westfield
Woodson

SY 2010 - 2011
SY 2008 - 2009

No Writing Center

Writing Center Closed

SY 2013 - 2014
SY 2009 - 2010
SY 2010 - 2011

Writing Center Closed

SY 2011 - 2012
SY 2013 - 2014

Writing Center Closed

SY 2012 - 2013
SY 2011 - 2012

Writing Center Closed

SY 2009 - 2010

YES
YES
NO
NO

YES
YES

YES/NO
NO
NO

YES
NO
NO

YES
NO

YES

Alison Hughes
Amber Jensen

Aileen Scharl, Dept Chair

Anne Pegram, Dept Chair

Stephanie Passino

Janice Jewell, Kate Gillen

Kim Sloan

Bill McCabe

Susan Broad
Ed DeSantis

Steve Miller, AP

James MacIndoe
Emily Love

Beth Blankenship

SY 2012 - 2013

NO

Susan Frenck, Cindy Steiner,

Deborah March

Writing Center Closed

NO

Suzanne Abdelrazaq, Dept Chair

Writing Center Closed

SY 2013 - 2014
SY 2011 - 2012
SY 2009 - 2010

NO
YES
NO

YES

Troy Ketch, Dept Chair

Ashley Capen, Colette Mendoza

Stephanie Glotfelty, Suzette Henry

Kami Bodaghi, Melanie Hunt

Martin Grimm

Pamela Brumfield
David Goldfarb
Michael Yohe

Dave Tremaine
William Bates

Shannon Matheny
David Thomas
Matt Ragone
Abe Jeffers

Mark Merrell

Jay W. Pearson
Ellen Reilly

Nardos E. King
John Banbury

7
5
7
2
4
1

N/A
6
1
5
2
2
1
4
8

Matt Eline

Kimberly Retzer

Jane Lipp

Prosperanta Calhoun 3
Evan Glazer

Bruce Butler

SY 2010 - 2011

YES

Jenny Goransson

Mark Greenfelder

SY 2009 - 2010

YES

Meg Herndon, Kathy Hansen

Jeff Yost

Writing Center Closed

NO

Peter Laub

Tim Thomas

Appendix B. FCPS Writing Centers in National/Regional News and Scholarship

A distinct presence in the national crusade to promote writing centers in high schools, FCPS writing centers,
directors, and student tutors are contributing to the field and gaining recognition in meaningful ways.
Media Recognition

Featured on NPR affiliate WAMU 88.5 radio program and website: Edison Writing Center (March 2010)
Highlighted in a Spotlight on Learning on FCPS Apple21 TV: Edison Writing Center (April 2010)
Promoted in a video and article on the Northern Virginia Writing Project webpage (October 2011)
National Writing Project Radio Show: Investing in Leadership: Student-Run Writing Centers (Feb 2013)
FCPS Apple21 Feature: Secondary Schools Writing Center Conference at GMU (November 2013)

Professional Awards and Leadership: Directors

High School and Community College Leaders Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association (MAWCA):
Beth Blankenship, Oakton Writing Center Director (April 2012)
K-12 Representative, elected Executive Board position for the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA):
Amber Jensen, Edison Writing Center Director (November 2012 - November 2014)
Executive Board Member, Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association: Jenny Goransson, West Springfield Writing
Center Director (March 2013)
Standing K-12 Committee Member, International Writing Centers Association (IWCA): Beth Blankenship, Oakton
Writing Center Director (November 2013 November 2014)

Professional Contributions: Directors

National and Regional Conference presentations by FCPS writing center directors:

International Writing Centers Association (IWCA2010, 2011)
IWCA Collaborative @ NCTE (2011)
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE2011, 2012, 2013)
Conference for College Composition and Communication (CCCC2011, 2012)
Mid-Atlantic Writing Center Conference (MAWCA2010, 2012)

Publications by FCPS writing center directors and principal:

The Age of Student-Run Writing Centers published in The Journal of the Virginia Writing Project by Dave
Goldfarb, principal, Fairfax High School (2010)
Getting it off the Ground: A Look at the Wildcat Writing Centers Inaugural Year published in The Journal of
the Virginia Writing Project by Alison Hughes, Centerville High School writing center director (2011)
Empowering Students as WAC Liaisons at the Secondary Level published in peer-reviewed scholarly journal
Across the Disciplines by Amber Jensen, Edison Writing Center Director (November 2012)
From Writing Tutors to Tutor-Writers: The Evolution of the Herndon Writing Center Tutor-Writers
published in graduate composition theory class at George Mason University: by Kate Gillen, Herndon
Writing Center Director (May 2013)

Professional Contributions: Student Tutors

National and Regional Conference presentations by FCPS student tutors:

Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association (MAWCA) conferences: (2010, 2012)
National Conference for Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW): (2012)
Northern Virginia Secondary Schools Writing Center Conference: (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)

Publications by FCPS student tutors:

The Successful High School Writing Center, a Teachers College Press book on high school writing centers:
chapter contributions (2011)

Appendix C. FCPS Advanced Composition Program of Studies

FCPS Program of Studies, Language Arts/English

Advanced Composition

Overview. This course provides students an in-depth study of writing in the academic disciplines. Students
improve their writing through intense word study, critical reading, and analytical thinking. Students expand and
refine their ability to write through analyzing and evaluating their own writing and that of others. Students may
also participate in the schools writing center.
READ AND ANALYZE A VARIETY OF TEXTS TO UNDERSTAND WRITERS' CRAFT

The student will analyze texts to evaluate how word choice, syntax, tone, form, structure, and voice create a
desired effect.
Study the techniques used by authors in non-print, expository, persuasive, narrative nonfiction,
and information texts.
The student will compare and contrast how authors use different styles and techniques for different
purposes and audiences.
Recognize point of view and bias in a variety of texts.
Explain how authors use rhetorical strategies and techniques.
Analyze how language choices impact a text.
The student will explore the use of writing in college and careers.
Identify expectations for postsecondary writing.
Analyze the types of writing appropriate to specific disciplines and industries.

WRITE NARRATIVE, EXPOSITORY, INFORMATIONAL, AND PERSUASIVE ESSAYS

The student will generate, gather, plan, and organize ideas for writing to address a specific audience and
purpose.
Apply a variety of planning strategies to generate and organize ideas.
Develop a clear thesis statement appropriate to audience and purpose.
The student will write in the style appropriate to different disciplines.
Adapt voice, form, and citations to discipline-specific standards.
The student will create coherence, clarity, and logical reasoning in writing.
Use transitions to create coherence.
Clarify ideas with precise and relevant evidence.
Apply organizational techniques most effective for a given purpose.

USE READINGS, RESEARCH, AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO DEVELOP WRITING

The student will apply techniques and strategies used by other authors to own writing.
Adapt word choice, syntax, tone, form, structure, and voice to create a desired effect.
Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship among style, audience, and purpose.
The student will narrow a topic and synthesize information from a variety of sources to support a thesis.
Critically evaluate the quality, accuracy, and validity of information.
Distinguish between credible and unreliable sources.
The student will credit sources accurately using discipline-appropriate citations according to a style guide.
Cite all sources according to discipline-appropriate standards.
Cite original sources of paraphrased information and direct quotations.
Use quotation marks when an author's exact words are used.

DEVELOP VOICE AND PERSONAL WRITING STYLE IN A VARIETY OF FORMS

 The student will experiment with language devices and use them purposefully for effect across a variety of
audiences in a variety of forms.
Adapt diction, syntax, tone, and perspective to craft an authentic voice in writing.
Write clear, varied sentences.
Use a variety of rhetorical strategies to accomplish a specific purpose.
Apply knowledge of grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and
paragraphing.

COLLABORATE TO HELP PEERS IMPROVE WRITING

The student will collaborate with peers during the prewriting, drafting, editing, and revision stages of
writing.
Engage in a pre-conference before responding to the writing.
Engage in active listening.
Use questioning techniques.
The student will communicate constructive, non-directive, encouraging feedback to peers.
Provide targeted feedback for the needs of individual writings.
Respond in a manner appropriate to the stylistic differences in writing from different disciplines.
The student will demonstrate a commitment to sensitivity, confidentiality, and suspension of judgment.
Foster an environment that is safe and supportive of experimentation and risk-taking in writing.
The student will reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of collaborative sessions.
Reflect on the collaborative sessions.
Establish goals to improve future writing.

REVIEW, PUBLISH, AND PRESENT WRITING

The student will proofread, edit, and revise final products for intended audience and purpose.
Use peer-evaluations and self-evaluations to prepare final products.
The student will publish writing using a variety of real-world contexts as determined by audience and
purpose.
Present writing to authentic audiences.
Use print and electronic media to publish writing.