The MWPN implements research based programs to improve student achievement.

Summer Invitational Institutes

Every site within the National Writing Project offers Summer Invitational Institutes, the heart of the Writing Project itself.  Before each institute begins, Missouri Writing Projects Network local sites work to identify outstanding teachers to participate in the four week long journey to become Teacher Consultants.  Participants examine the theory and practice of writing through individual teacher demonstrations of their most successful method of teaching writing, study current research on the teaching of writing, and practice writing themselves in small writing groups.  By completing the Summer Invitational Institute, participants join the network of Teacher Consultants available to conduct NWP professional development programs, becoming leaders in their universities and schools in the effort to improve student achievement.

Summer Advanced Institutes

Advanced Invitational Institutes at local MWPN sites are open only to former participants of Summer Invitational Institutes. The core of NWP institutes remains within Advanced Institutes: teachers participate in demonstrations of successful methods of teaching writing, study current research, and practice writing in small groups. Advanced Institutes are usually designed around a theme, which changes from year to year and site to site, and intended for those interested in working toward publishing their writing.

Writing Retreats

Writing Retreats are the product of the belief that writing instructors must be active writers themselves. At Professional Writing Retreats teacher-writers are provided the time and space to write and are supported in their professional writing, something somehow so often forgotten in the effort of “professional development.” Many pieces that either begin at a retreat, or take shape and are reworked through the careful help of a colleague at a retreat, find their way into local, regional, and national publications. Several local sites sponsor Writing Retreats that are open to Teacher Consultants and applicants from across the state; occasionally we’re even blessed to welcome fellow Teacher Consultants from around the nation.

Contract work for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Department (DESE)

Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, MWPN has conducted contract work for DESE. In addition to offering the Invitational Institute and advanced institutes for teachers, each Missouri NWP site is conducting a Cross Content Literacy professional development series aligned with Common Core State Standards and compiling videotaped lessons and resource materials. For more information about this work, contact Julie Sheerman, MWPN's professional development director.

State-wide Conferences Co-sponsored by DESE

Since 2009, MWPN has co-sponsored a fall conference with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education related to writing/literacy teaching. The 2012 conference, "On Common Ground: Digital Writing in the 21st Classroom," will be held September 20-21, at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Click here for conference registration and program information.

Middle School Literacy Academies

From June 2006 to May 2008, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education contracted with the Missouri Writing Projects Network local sites to deliver Middle School Literacy Academies at each of the state’s nine Regional Professional Development Centers.

The academies were a multi-year project designed to improve students’ performance on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP), Missouri’s No Child Left Behind accountability exam. The state’s nine Regional Professional Development Centers hosted/sponsored the academies, with at least two National Writing Project Teacher Consultants facilitating each academy. The TCs used a common format, delivery, set of instructional resources and assessment materials.

Read more about how the MWPN developed the statewide in-service series with DESE’s assessment division, and the survey results following the course.

Youth Writing Programs

• Scholastic Writing Contest - The Missouri Association of Teachers of English, the Missouri Writing Projects Network, and Prairie Lands Writing Project are proud to sponsor the Missouri Writing Region's Scholastic Writing Awards Contest. Over 250 students, parents, teachers, and authors participated in a ceremony and reception honoring Missouri winners and their teachers for the state's 2012 Scholastic Writing Awards Contest. See photos of the ceremony, held at the 2012 Write to Learn Conference in early March.
• Writing Conferences/Camps -Local sites are proud to offer one day Youth Writing Conferences and multi-day Summer Writing Camps. Teacher-nominated students from elementary, middle, and high schools participate in highly engaging workshop sessions lead by Writing Project Teacher Consultants.  These interactive workshops range the gamut of genre and skill, and always prove to be fun and eventful experiences for students and teachers alike.