Subpart 2 – National Writing Project

SEC. 2331. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this subpart are —

(1) to support and promote the expansion of the National Writing Project network of sites so that teachers in every region of the United States will have access to a National Writing Project program;

(2) to ensure the consistent high quality of the sites through ongoing review, evaluation, and technical assistance;

(3) to support and promote the establishment of programs to disseminate effective practices and research findings about the teaching of writing; and

(4) to coordinate activities assisted under this subpart with activities assisted under this Act.

SEC. 2332. NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT.

(a) AUTHORIZATION- The Secretary is authorized to award a grant to the National Writing Project, a nonprofit educational organization that has as its primary purpose the improvement of the quality of student writing and learning (hereafter in this section referred to as the grantee’) to improve the teaching of writing and the use of writing as a part of the learning process in our Nation’s classrooms.

(b) REQUIREMENTS OF GRANT- The grant shall provide that —

(1) the grantee will enter into contracts with institutions of higher education or other nonprofit educational providers (hereafter in this section referred to as contractors’) under which the contractors will agree to establish, operate, and provide the non-Federal share of the cost of teacher training programs in effective approaches and processes for the teaching of writing;

(2) funds made available by the Secretary to the grantee pursuant to any contract entered into under this section will be used to pay the Federal share of the cost of establishing and operating teacher training programs as provided in paragraph (1); and

(3) the grantee will meet such other conditions and standards as the Secretary determines to be necessary to assure compliance with the provisions of this section and will provide such technical assistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(1) be conducted during the school year and during the summer months;

(2) train teachers who teach grades kindergarten through college;

(3) select teachers to become members of a National Writing Project teacher network whose members will conduct writing workshops for other teachers in the area served by each National Writing Project site; and

(4) encourage teachers from all disciplines to participate in such teacher training programs.

(d) FEDERAL SHARE-

(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3) and for purposes of subsection (a), the term Federal share’ means, with respect to the costs of teacher training programs authorized in subsection (a), 50 percent of such costs to the contractor.

(2) WAIVER- The Secretary may waive the provisions of paragraph (1) on a case-by-case basis if the National Advisory Board described in subsection (e) determines, on the basis of financial need, that such waiver is necessary.

(3) MAXIMUM- The Federal share of the costs of teacher training programs conducted pursuant to subsection (a) may not exceed $100,000 for any one contractor, or $200,000 for a statewide program administered by any one contractor in at least five sites throughout the State.

(e) NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD-

(1) ESTABLISHMENT- The National Writing Project shall establish and operate a National Advisory Board.

(2) COMPOSITION- The National Advisory Board established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall consist of —

(A) national educational leaders;

(B) leaders in the field of writing; and

(3) DUTIES- The National Advisory Board established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall —

(A) advise the National Writing Project on national issues related to student writing and the teaching of writing;

(B) review the activities and programs of the National Writing Project; and

(f) EVALUATION-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall conduct an independent evaluation by grant or contract of the teacher training programs administered pursuant to this subpart. Such evaluation shall specify the amount of funds expended by the National Writing Project and each contractor receiving assistance under this section for administrative costs. The results of such evaluation shall be made available to the appropriate committees of Congress.

(2) FUNDING LIMITATION- The Secretary shall reserve not more than $150,000 from the total amount appropriated pursuant to the authority of subsection (h) for fiscal year 2002 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years to conduct the evaluation described in paragraph (1).

(g) APPLICATION REVIEW-

(1) REVIEW BOARD- The National Writing Project shall establish and operate a National Review Board that shall consist of —

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