The purpose of this empirical study was to determine if there was a measurable difference on the content and organization portion of a narrative writing test by a sample of students taught by teachers who received professional development (PD) as compared to students whose teachers did not have this training and thus their students did not receive this level of instruction. The PD trained teachers how to provide instruction to students in using the criteria contained within the New Jersey Registered Holistic Rubric and a set of higher-order reflective questions as self-assessment and reflection devices when composing, revising, and editing narrative essays. Results of the study suggest that carefully planned, small-group PD implemented with an awareness of change processes can be empirically tested and (a) change the instructional practices for teachers and (b) positively impact student achievement. (Contains 6 tables.)