The National Study of Writing Instruction - University at Albany

coordinator to help in scheduling visits and collecting student work. The coordinators were
paid a modest stipend for their contributions to the project. Once a coordinator had been
appointed, they were put in contact with the state team of field researchers to arrange visits at
mutually convenient times.
Training of Field Researchers
Seven NWP sites collaborated with CELA in this project, with each site contributing anywhere
from 1 to 6 field researchers, 16 in all. To insure consistent data gathering across multiple sites,
CELA staff prepared a series of common instruments to guide interviews, classroom
observations, summaries of school visits, and collection of student work. The project held two
one-day training sessions, one in Albany and one in Chicago, to introduce the field researchers
to the details of the study and to practice using the interview protocols and classroom
observation protocols (using selected classroom videotapes). All of the instrumentation was
distributed in electronic formats, and researchers were strongly encouraged to complete them
in real time using laptop computers for data collection. With practice, most of the field
research teams were comfortable recording the substance of their interview and observation
data as it was being gathered, and tidying up the files later.
Each field researcher also received a field manual providing detailed descriptions of data
collection procedures for all aspects of the school visits, as reference material after the training
sessions.
After the training sessions, each state was assigned to a CELA staff member who stayed in
regular contact with the field researchers throughout the project, by telephone and email.
CELA staff answered questions about site entry, data gathering, and sharing of data with CELA,
as well as monitored progress to be sure all aspects of the project were unfolding as planned.
Periodic conference calls and meetings at the NCTE annual convention were also scheduled,
allowing field researchers to share their problems and solutions with one another as well as
with CELA staff. Google Groups was also used to raise questions and share materials across all
sites.
Site Visits
Once permission had been obtained and an on-site coordinator had been appointed, the
visiting team leader arranged convenient dates for the school visit directly with the on-site
coordinator. Data gathering usually required three days of observation and interviewing, with a
two-person visiting team. In consultation with the on-site coordinator, the field researchers
typically selected 16 teachers to observe. The 16 teachers were chosen to represent the
strengths of each department, as well as diversity in interests and approaches. Eight teachers,
similarly chosen, were interviewed. To the extent possible, observations and interviews were
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