EVALUATION OF A TIERED MODEL FOR STAFF-DEVELOPMENT IN WRITING

This study sought to determine the value of a tiered model of staff de velopment for five districts using Teacher Consultants (TCs) drawn fro m a parent district with a long writing project history. In these outr each projects, these TCs actualized the National Writing Project (NWP) principle of regarding teachers as expert consultants to their collea gues. Stake's Contingency and Congruence Evaluation Model was used to establish 1) the relationships among the preconditions necessary for s uccessful implementation of the staff development program, 2) the proc esses by which the program was to be implemented, and 3) the outcomes which were intended. Data across five replication sites consisted of e valuations from 366 participants; self-reports of changes in skill lev els by 191 participants; self-reports of classroom practices implement ed by 216 participant and control teachers; and pretest and posttest s cores on essays written by 3,927 students of participant and control t eachers. It was determined that most required preconditions were obser ved; that all intended processes of the programs in the replication si tes were successfully accomplished; and that the expected outcomes in replication sites were, in fact, achieved. In terms of outcome data, m ost of the analyses reflect significant differences in writing achieve ment between treatment and control subjects, favoring students of trai ned teachers. A survey of classroom practices indicated that trained t eachers at all levels implemented more varied composition activities t han did non-trained teachers. The results are viewed in light of the l iterature on effective staff development and, in particular, on the NW P.