Long Island Writing Project
The Long Island Writing Project (LIWP) is an official site of the National Writing Project, part of a federally-funded network of 200 sites nationwide and eight sites in New York State. Through our work with teachers in Nassau and Western Suffolk counties, we seek to improve writing, reading and learning in area schools. Since our inception in 1993, over 1000 teachers have participated in our programs.
The LIWP comprises teachers from kindergarten through university. Our seminar leaders are outstanding educators from different grade levels and disciplines in local schools, and we have a strong, ongoing partnership with Hofstra University's Department of Literacy Studies. LIWP teacher-consultants keep up with research and changes in education and their work is grounded in practical classroom approaches. Through our model of teachers teaching teachers, participants in the LIWP strengthen the classroom strategies they already find effective in teaching writing and develop new ones.
One of the most important foundational beliefs of our Project is that teachers improve their knowledge of teaching writing by writing themselves. Another is that the best way to improve our own teaching is through sharing what works with other effective teachers. We welcome your inquiries, and look forward to writing, learning and teaching with you.
About Us
Who We Are
The National Writing Project is a federally-funded national organization headquartered at University of California, Berkeley. It began in 1976 and currently has over 200 sites nationwide, including eight in New York State. The Long Island Writing Project, a site of the NWP, was founded in 1993 and is based at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York. We have an ongoing partnership with the graduate education department of our neighboring institution, Hofstra University. Our director and some of our leadership are based at NCC, but much of the Project direction comes from outstanding teacher-consultants based in area schools.
Who We Reach
The Long Island Writing Project works with area teachers, K-college, who teach in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Queens and Brooklyn. Since our inception, we have worked with over 1000 teachers through our summer courses, conferences and district-based work. Some districts for which we have designed and implemented programs include Baldwin, Bethpage, Freeport, Hauppauge, Massapequa, Roosevelt, Sewanhaka, Valley Stream and Wyandanch. We are a certified provider of in-service for teachers under ESEA (NCLB).
What We Do
The Long Island Writing Project (LIWP), like the rest of the sites in the network, works to improve the teaching of writing and reading across grade level and discipline. We have a “teachers teaching teachers” model; in our seminars, participants share effective techniques through a hands-on, workshop format. LIWP course facilitators are familiar with a large range of effective classroom approaches and conversant with the theory behind sound pedagogy. We work with teachers in a variety of formats – through a 90-hour intensive summer seminar; through shorter courses tailored to specific teacher interests, such as Assessment or English Language Learners; through Writing Retreats; through Teacher Interest Groups and through in-service workshops and seminars designed for specific districts.
