Quincy Public Schools reports early gains from K–8 Writing Revolution rollout

Bridget Vaughn, presenter (title not specified in transcript), told the Quincy Public Schools Teaching and Learning Subcommittee that the district’s K–8 writing initiative is showing early signs of improvement and wider teacher uptake.

Vaughn said the district set specific MCAS targets for this school year: “we aim to increase the percentage of students achieving higher scores in the writing domain by 2 percentage points in grades 3 and 4, and by 4 percentage points in grades 5 through 8.” She described a three-part strategy of a district writing team, aligned assessments, and targeted professional development to reach those goals.

The nut graf: District staff said they combined a district K–8 writing team, standardized writing assessments aligned to ELA standards and MCAS performance tasks, and system-wide professional development (including Writing Revolution courses) to create consistent instruction across schools. Staff showed before-and-after student work and reported changes in classroom practice and student engagement.

Vaughn described the district K–8 writing team as “English language arts teachers representing 7 different schools, along with the principal and myself,” and listed district supports available to teachers: QPS writing guidance slides, student work samples, lesson plans, and shared materials on Google Classroom and Padlet. She said the district invited Natalie Wexler, a co‑author associated with Writing Revolution materials, to present virtually for two sessions and that every teacher who attended received her book.

Vaughn and classroom examples focused on explicit writing instruction and revision. She displayed a fourth‑grade paragraph from Snug Harbor and said the revised version “incorporat[ed] topic sentences, supporting details, transitional phrases,” and showed a fifth‑grade student moving from a surface response to “an insightful character analysis” after instruction. Vaughn characterized writing and reading as reciprocal: clearer writing, she said, supported students’ reading comprehension.

Teachers and committee members praised the student examples. Mrs. Hooigley (commenter) said, “I love hearing from the students,” and later thanked teachers for their work. A classroom teacher demonstration at Southwest Middle School illustrated a Writing Revolution lesson on appositives; a recorded student comment shown in the presentation said, “The writing revolution has helped my writing because I can clarify my sentences much more.” Vaughn also reported providing site‑based workshops for science and social studies teachers to support cross‑curricular writing practice.

Committee members asked about program coverage and supports for English learners. Vaughn said "every school has it in place," and described supplementary tools used for multilingual learners: Lexia supports with native‑language glossaries, CKLA vocabulary glossaries in multiple languages, and an AI companion site called the Writing Pathway that can translate materials into students’ home languages. She noted that one of the student samples came from an EL student and showed measurable growth from the beginning of the year to winter.

The presentation emphasized teacher professional development and peer‑to‑peer sharing. Vaughn said district staff encourage teachers who trained in a system PD day to lead follow‑up sessions for colleagues and to post materials in shared online spaces. She closed by thanking teachers and offering to answer questions.

The meeting record shows a brief public exchange of praise from committee members and classroom anecdotes after the presentation; no formal policy or hiring decisions about curriculum adoption were recorded during this item.