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This study investigates the impact of a partnership between the New York City Writing Project (NYCWP) and six high schools in a large urban district where challenges include poverty, low student achievement, inexperienced teachers, and increasing demands for high-stakes testing. NYCWP had worked from one to five years in each of these schools, offering support through teacher-consultants and graduate seminars, both onsite. This report presents findings from Phase One of a two-year study, conducted in 2004–2005. The research examined how the NYCWP professional development model supports teachers' growth and, consequently, how it affects student writing outcomes, particularly for students who face challenges when writing in English. The study compares data from two sets of teachers and their students in grades 9–12. Eight program group teachers participated in the NYCWP professional development program at their school sites; three comparison group teachers—from a school with similar demographics—did not have access to NYCWP professional development. The students of teachers from both groups were more than 90% African American or Hispanic; ELL students made up 38% of the program group and 46% of the comparison group. The analysis of teachers' growth relied primarily on interviews and surveys about instructional practices and attitudes. Program and comparison group students' growth in writing was measured by pre and post assessments of student writing samples, written to a prompt drawn from an archive of established writing prompts. The samples were independently assessed at a national scoring conference. Program group teachers reported adopting views and practices drawn from NYCWP professional development. They called upon NYCWP teacher-consultants to address specific needs, and tried new strategies in their classrooms. They reported treating writing as a process, employing prewriting techniques, and engaging students in responding to each other's writing. Program group teachers in content areas other than English reported incorporating writing into their instructional practice. Comparison group teachers, on the other hand, felt that their professional development was less useful in their classroom practice, and employed writing strategies less consistently. Six case studies (of four program and two comparison group teachers) are presented in this report to illustrate the effect of the NYCWP on teacher growth.