Conference to Focus on Developing Writing Centers in Secondary Schools

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David Jollife, Brown Chair in English Literacy

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Educators from throughout Arkansas will gather on the University of Arkansas’ Fayetteville campus Saturday, April 27, to study how middle, junior, and high schools can develop instructional centers to help their students become more effective writers.

The one-day conference will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in room 144 of the J. B. Hunt Transportation Building.  Registration is free, and participants will be able to get lunch near campus.

Pamela Childers, one of the nation’s leading experts on secondary school writing centers, will deliver the keynote address, “What is a Writing Center?  Why Have One?”  Following the keynote, participants will be able to participate in active sessions.  Session topics include setting up a writing center, selecting and training tutors, dealing with common problems and developing successful tutoring sessions.  Six hours of professional development credit will be awarded to participants.

Childers, the Caldwell Chair of Composition Emerita from The McCallie School, has taught English, science, and creative writing in public and independent secondary schools, where she also started and developed writing centers.  She currently serves as executive editor of the Writing Across the Curriculum Clearing House at Colorado State University.

The conference is sponsored by the Brown Chair of English Literacy at the University of Arkansas. David Jolliffe is holder of the Brown Chair in English Literacy and professor of English in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Supported by the Brown Foundation and the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, Jolliffe directs programs to increase literacy in Arkansas, such as community-based tutoring, professional development workshops for teachers, summer workshops and reading programs.

For more information, or to register for the conference, email Jolliffe at djollif@uark.edu.