Vermont Writing Collaborative Inc.

“Expenses website design 1,410 citrix go to meeting 750 class supplies 1,480 sales taxes paid 50 lake morey conference space 13,912 course materials - books 3,889 consulting 21,185 reimbursements 1,667 tuition returns 249 total 44,592”

“The vermont writing collaborative was founded in 2007 by five vermont public school teachers. At that time, the five had been working, individually and collectively and at all grade levels, with an approach to writing instruction we were developing. We call this approach writing for understanding, and it is premised on the idea that writing is all about meaning. If students are to write effectively, it is clear that 1) they need to have solid understanding of the ideas about which they are writing, 2) they need to have a clear structure to build that understanding so that orthers can follow their thinking. In writing for understanding, teachers "plan backward", with an outcome clearly in mind so that they are able to build in successful opportunities to learn for students - and then to show that understanding in effective writing.”

“1) this year, we completed our benchmark writing project that we have been working on for the past two years. In november, we held a 3-day conference using these benchmarks to help educators understand and ultimately create strong writing instruction. This was attended by about 50 educators, most from vermont and new hampshire and the rest from out of state (massachusetts, philadelphia, and washington dc). 2) we began the planning for our next book, a handbook for writing for understanding instruction, k-12. 3) we worked with the stamford connecticut schools to provide professional development around writing. 4) we completed our work with the publishers of read 180, a program for struggling students in reading and writing grades 5-12. 5) we have continued to make materials available to people free of charge from our website, including scoring checklists and the new benchmarks, and comprehensive writing rubrics. 7) our newsletter now reaches over 2,000 people. Financial statement at the end of 2019, the vermont writing collaborative had 64,315.88. We did receive a 10,000 grant, but other than that our income is generated entirely from services as described above and from selling books (writing for understanding), and we will continue to offer these services as much as possible.”