Drive to Write

Drive to Write is a professional development and coaching program for ninth-grade Global History teachers designed by New Visions for Public Schools. The program helps teachers improve student writing instruction by using Google Suite tools (including Google Classroom, Google Docs, Doctopus, and Goobric) to manage assignments, provide actionable feedback, and use data to differentiate instruction. Teachers participate in monthly professional development sessions and receive biweekly one-on-one coaching. The program includes a writing skills syllabus with four multi-day writing workshops throughout the year, a 19-skill rubric for assessment, and technology tools to streamline workflow. The intervention targets ninth-grade students preparing for the Global History Regents Exam essay requirement, with implementation occurring during the 2017-2018 school year across 11 New York City public high schools serving low-income students with below-average English Language Arts scores.