The Write Tools has helped schools around the nation improve their writing instruction, increase student engagement, and improve test scores.
View some of the exciting results schools and districts have experienced when partnering with The Write Tools. These schools and districts received in-depth training and coaching that cemented the strategies across grades and subject areas.
Click the school or district names to view results.
Michelle Franci
Principal
“The Write Tools was instrumental in the academic success of our students. Having common language and a framework to build upon for teachers resulted in the upward movement of our state writing scores. As one of the top 10 of schools in Colorado, I am thankful that we adopted the Write Tools!”
Jeff Williamson
Principal
“Three years ago, we noticed our writing scores were lagging and we began working on a way to help our students become successful writers. The Write Tools was our answer. The staff at Old Adobe love the professional development and the individualized grade level coaching sessions and they quickly began finding success in implementing the practices of The Write Tools strategies with their students. As a staff, have seen our writing scores climbing and the quality of the writing being done in the classroom is greatly improving. We love the professional development and training The Write Tools has provided and we are ecstatic with the growth our students have shown. I have seen all of our academic scores increase in our school since adopting The Write Tools along with the quality of professional development The Write Tools provides. Our student achievement has increased across the board but particularly in writing. This is measured with standardized tests.”
Danell Stepp
Principal
Demographics
100% Free/red. lunch
96% Hispanics/45% ELL
Most parents not H.S. grads
“In order to improve our students’ writing, our District has been working with The Write Tools… All of our teachers have been thoroughly trained through numerous group trainings, classroom demonstrations, and instructional observations with feedback. Consequently, a consistency of expectations in writing is woven through every grade level. The advantage of using common strategies and common language allows our students to be able to move seamlessly from one grade level to the next, never skipping a beat in their writing instruction. Additionally, every classroom displays the same charts that reinforce the form for writing in both informative/explanatory and narrative text types. While some might be concerned that this level of uniformity might stifle student’s creativity, we have found this allows them to focus on developing their ideas, vocabulary and sentence structure, as well as express their ideas with clarity and thoughtfulness. As a result of our training with The Write Tools and the commitment of our staff we’ve made tremendous progress in improving our students’ writing.”
Alyssa Gallagher
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
Los Altos School District
Los Altos California
“We are thrilled with our continued improvement in our writing scores. This year 97% of our Grade 7 students scored in the Proficient/Advanced range with 71% of them scoring in the Advanced range. This same cohort of students took the Grade 4 writing test in 2008 and had 25% of the group scoring in the Advanced range. The constant growth we have experienced points to the power of quality professional development, and the importance of consistent language embedded in explicit writing instruction.”
James Etherington
Desert View Elementary
Rock Springs, Wyoming
Demographics
Free Lunch: 54%
Minority: 38%
ELL: 21%
“We have seen significant growth using The Write Tools professional development workshops combined with The Write Tools coaching support to classrooms. The increased performance demonstrated on the state as assessment was impressive, but most rewarding was seeing the quality of the writing displayed in the hallways change so dramatically as the year progressed. The Write Tools provides every student the “right tools” to become a better writer!”
Kristie Cole
Edwards Elementary School
Clark County School District
Las Vegas, NV
Demographics
Free Lunch: 92.4%
Minority: 93.8%
ELL: 61.7%
“Our fifth-grade kids rocked, increasing by 23 percent the number of students scoring proficient. We were one to two tenths within district average in all traits.”
Mary De Splinter
Elder Creek Elementary
Sacramento Unified School District
Sacramento, CA
Demographics
Free Lunch: 100%
Minority: 76%
ELL: 55%
“Our school failed to meet the NCLB requirements, so we became a PI School-Year 1.”
“We embarked on a four-year journey with The Write Tools which involved professional development and coaching which were both crucial.”
“We are no longer PI.” “Our API (Annual Performance Index) soared.”
State set goal of 5 points per year
- Year 1–school failed to meet requirements
- Year 2–started working with The Write Tools
- Year 3–students’ scores increased 24 points.
- Year 4–students’ scores increased another 34 points.
- Year 5–Shining Star Award California Department of Education
“In my position as Curriculum Supervisor of Writing for Pittsburgh Public Schools, I have been charged with the training and implementation of a district-wide writing program. After reviewing several writing programs, the Academic Leadership Team in
Pittsburgh chose to implement “The Write Tools.” We are now nearing the end of our first year of implementation and the feed-back from the teachers is overwhelmingly positive. Evaluations of the workshops reveal that teachers feel confident to implement strategies immediately. Most importantly, teachers reported that the writing performance of the students has improved.”
Frances Doyle, Curriculum Supervisor, Writing K-12, Pittsburgh Public Schools
“Every day I see evidence of The Write Tools strategies being used in classrooms. Teachers have found these ideas easy to implement and very student friendly. The strategies also provide natural differentiation for students. The Write Tools has also provided valuable on-site support via grade level meetings, demonstration lessons, and observational coaching. All these factors have contributed to Hassayampa’s significant increase of students meeting or exceeding state standards on the AIMS Writing Assessment.” – Mike Anderson, Principal, Hassayampa Elementary
“As they say “the proof is in the pudding.” In one year of concentrated implementation, our elementary school students demonstrated incredible growth in writing as demonstrated in our AIMS test results. In our 3rd grade, only one student did not meet the standard. The Write Tools provides the structure and the language needed for teaching students how to write.” –Carissa Hershkowitz, Federal Projects Director, Wickenburg U.S.D., AZ
“Our students have always had good ideas for writing— they just didn’t know how to organize their thoughts. After one year of The Write Tools, our entire school was focused and systematically using the same strategies to improve our students’ writing. We saw the students who used to sit in the back and complain that they didn’t want to write anything, suddenly eager to get their thoughts down on paper. I often hear them tell the teachers, ‘This is easy. Why didn’t we do this before?’ Most of the teachers were thinking the same thing. Thanks to The Write Tools, our students improved 33.1% on the Pennsylvania State writing test in one year. We all worked together to teach these writing skills and our success was amazing!”
Danielle Harris, Pittsburgh Classical Academy, Reading Coach
“The Write Tools is the program that differentiates for all learners, whether they are SPED, ELL, high performing or at-risk. In the 5th grade last year we had 20% of the students classified SPED, and we still had 89% meet the standard. The Write Tools works for everyone if done systematically and consistently.
Robbie Koerperich, Assistant Superintendent, Holbrook USD #3