National Writing Project

The National Writing Project is a federally funded, nationwide network of educators who strive to improve student writing and learning by improving the teaching of writing in the nation's schools. More than 100,000 teachers across the country participate in NWP programs every year. Local writing project sites bring teachers together in the summer, on weekends, and at the end of the school day to learn from other successful teachers how to improve their own teaching of writing. Back in their own schools and communities, writing project teachers conduct writing programs for teachers, school administrators, students, and parents. Headquartered at the University of California at Berkeley, the NWP currently has more than 160 local sites in the U.S., D.C., and Puerto Rico. Since its inception in 1974, the NWP has served more than 1.5 million teachers.

All sites are based on the same model--teachers-teaching-teachers, with these teachers drawn from all levels (K-16) and all disciplines. For each summer institute, teachers known to have successful practices in the teaching of writing are identified and invited to attend. These teachers gather for five weeks of intensive workshops and study, learning successful approaches from one another and other experts. The NWP taps what is known about writing and the teaching of writing from all sources: key research findings, books and articles, and, most importantly, the classroom practices of effective teachers. The Institute teachers then conduct workshops in schools during the school year. Because each site prepares a new group of exemplary teachers each year, the core of teachers is constantly expanding.

National Writing Project programs include:
Invitational Institutes
Inservice Workshops
Emergent Literacy Programs
Assessment Workshops
Writing Across the Curriculum Series
Writing and Reading Conferences
Parent Workshops