TEACHING and learning go hand in hand for Carolyn Montalto (pictured far left).

“After 17 years I am still learning something new every week,” says Montalto, a literacy specialist at Hugo Newman School. “We are all learning, and that is the understanding you have to approach teaching with.”

Montalto’s attitude is common among participants of the TC Reading Writing Project (TCRWP). This multi-layered program uses research, collaboration and professional development to help teachers act as mentors and coaches for students who are learning to be powerful and independent readers and writers.

 Montalto spends one day a week at a coaching meeting, which involves intensive field-based study. Classroom teachers in her school devote about 20 hours a year to practical and lab time with specialists and colleagues. There are also monthly conferences and school-based study groups for principals and assistant principals.

TCRWP, which has run for more than two decades, is led by Lucy Caulkins and partners with about 300 New York elementary and middle schools. Costs vary from $400 to $1,200 a day for on-site services but there are also free activities, including field-based study group sessions for principals, visits from former superintendents, and an assessment tool for tracking students’ progress. For more information, call: (212) 678-8306, or visit: http://rwproject.tc.columbia.edu.

Other Curriculum Support stories that may be of interest to you: