Jessica Early, associate professor of English at Arizona State University, is a scholar of English education and secondary literacy. She is the director of the English education and the Central Arizona Writing Project, a local site of the National Writing Project, at ASU. She initially began her career in the field of education as a high school English language arts teacher. Her research combines qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the teaching of writing and writing practices in ethnically and linguistically diverse secondary English Language Arts classrooms as well as the preparation and professional development of urban English Language Arts teachers.
Early has published widely. Her forthcoming co-authored book, "Creating Literacy Communities as Pathways to Success: Equity and Access for Latina Students" offers a concrete model for researchers and teachers to create literacy communities of practice for students to explore their future selves in connection to a specific content area or discipline (Routledge, 2018). Her second book, "Real World Writing for Secondary Students" (Teacher College Press, 2012) presents theoretical grounding and concrete strategies for teaching writing to ethnically and linguistically diverse secondary students. She is also the author of "Stirring up Justice: Reading and Writing to Change the World" (Heinemann, 2006) a classroom-based examination of a literacy curriculum revolving around issues of activism within an urban secondary English classroom and she is a co-editor of "Advances in International Writing Research: Cultures, Places, and Measures" (Parlor Press, 2012).
Early's research appears in numerous scholarly journals including Research in the Teaching of English, English Journal, Educational Leadership, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Journal of Reading & Writing, Writing Research, Literacy Today, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Rethinking Schools. Early serves on Editorial Review Boards for the Journal of Teacher Education and Voices from the Middle and she is on the conference committee for the innagural Writing Through the Lifespan Research Conference.
She is the director of the Central Arizona Writing Project (CAWP), located in the Department of English at Arizona State University. The CAWP is part of the National Writing Project network, the oldest and largest professional development project in the United States. In addition to working with K-12 teachers throughout the greater Phoenix area, Early teaches Research Methods in English Education, Methods of Teaching Composition in Secondary Classrooms, and Teaching Texts and Critical Literacy in Secondary Classrooms. Her current research focuses on the writing at the secondary level and on finding successful ways of shifting curriculum to better prepare ethnically and linguistically diverse students for the kinds of writing tasks they will need in college, the work place, and the community.
Heidi Weinmann has been teaching elementary school students for nearly twenty years. For the past 16 years she has taught in Tempe elementary schools. She has served as a team leader and mentor teacher to several aspiring teachers and student interns from ASU and other institutions. She first became involved with the Central Arizona Writing Project during the Invitational Summer Institute of 2010. She attended a second ISI in 2013, and began teaching youth through YAWP (formerly rlTxt) at ASU Tempe, ASU West, and ASU Polytechnic. She has presented at local and national English and Language Arts conferences, and is currently pursuing certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Justin Scholes is in his 8th year teaching middle school English Language Arts and is currently a doctoral student in the English Education program at Arizona State University. He became a teaching fellow of the Central Arizona Writing Project in 2017 and has taught the Young Adult Writing Program at ASU for the last couple summers. He enjoys reading and writing and is particularly fond of dystopian, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic literature and film. His research interests include writing instruction in secondary schools, grammar in the context of writing, and young adult literature.
As a Chicanx educator of over 15 years, writing researcher, and English Education Doctoral student, Monica is thrilled to be part of the Central Arizona Writing Project. She is interested in the ways that writing teachers can approach writing instruction that is equitable, engaging, and effective for all all learners. She is passionate about professional development that matters. Becoming an NWP fellow in 2015 opened leadership opportunities for Monica. She has been able to work with in the organization as an advocate in D.C in 2017 and 2018, a Teacher workshop leader, a presenter at the NWP national conference in 2017, and as a Co-Director for CAWP's 2018 and 2019 Summer Institute and the CAWP Renewal in October of 2018.