Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)

ERWC is a curriculum written by CSU faculty, high school teachers, and school administrators to better prepare twelfth grade students for the rigor of college writing. It focuses on rhetorical writing strategies with a focus on expository texts and authentic writing tasks. (For more information, click here).

In an effort to support the greater Bay Area in preparing students for college, the Alameda County Office of Education proudly serves as the Region IV ERWC lead. We support seven counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano, San Francisco, and San Mateo in certifying 12th grade teachers to teach this course, as well as all other secondary-level teachers in implementing modules that are aligned to ERWC. We also offer trainings for teachers who would like a refresher and updates on the curriculum.

Update

ERWC 2.0 will be officially archived on September 1, 2021. This means that the readings will no longer be available (online or in print) and the modules will no longer be updated. The expectation is that all ERWC teachers will have transitioned to ERWC 3.0 in their classrooms.

ERWC 3.0 has many more choices for teachers, many more opportunities to engage with different genres, the ability to adopt both at the 11th and 12th grade levels, and various ways to meet the Common Core State Standards. All 3.0 modules are enhanced with universal design for learning, inquiry-based approaches, support for emergent bilinguals, assets-based and culturally- and linguistically-sustaining pedagogies, and more! Also, some 2.0 modules have been updated and enhanced and now appear in 3.0.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Summer/Fall 2021 ERWC Training Dates (ALL Virtual) -- Please check back at the end of April for dates!

Please see our at-a-glance flyer [coming soon] or the dates below for our upcoming Region IV training dates. Note that:

• Trainings are now offered as "weeks," where the first day of the week will include a synchronous (live video) learning session, and the rest of the week will be devoted to asynchronous, self-paced online learning and production.
• Participants may register for any regional training, regardless of the county office or CSU that is hosting.
• We recommend that school sites/districts all register for the same training so that they can be part of the same online learning cohort.
• Introductory courses are for educators who have not been previously trained in ERWC and therefore need to be certified.
• Update courses are for educators who have previously been trained in ERWC but need to become certified in version 3.0 (which was released in 2019).

In addition, the CSU hosted summer webinars to assist ERWC teachers in offering the course virtually. View a video on how to access new materials here; then view the recorded webinars here.

Wondering how the Expository Reading and Writing Course helps 12th graders in their first year at a CSU?

• View the California State University's Academic Preparation: Maximizing Student Success booklet to learn about first-year course placement and the Early Start Program
• View the Office of the Chancellor's Academic Preparation for Success presentation on CSU policy changes
• View CSU East Bay's Freshman Placement Pathways presentation to understand the application of these policy changes at the local level