Hoosier Writing Project

Improving writing and learning in Hoosier schools

The Hoosier Writing Project (HWP), founded in 1993, is a vibrant, teacher-centered, professional community working to improve writing and learning in schools throughout Indiana. HWP is a site of the National Writing Project, the nation’s premier professional development network for teachers of writing. NWP was established in 1974 in Berkeley, California, with core principles that remain the same today:

• Teachers learn best from other teachers.
• Teachers of writing should be writers.
• Teachers can learn by examining their own practice.

HWP supports Indiana teachers and students in two vital ways:

1. During the annual Summer Institutes, teachers learn new classroom approaches to more effectively engage their students and improve students’ writing and reading skills. The Institutes also provide teachers time to write, research, and enjoy the invaluable support of colleagues.
2. When teachers successfully complete the Summer Institute, they become Teacher-Consultants who offer consulting, coaching, and workshops in all areas of writing, reading, and digital literacies.

The Hoosier Writing Project is located in the Department of English at IUPUI. HWP has a satellite site in South Bend. Thus, we serve teachers in counties across central Indiana (in a triangle stretching roughly from Terre Haute to Indianapolis to Columbus) and counties around South Bend. Over 300 teachers have gone through our Summer Institutes, and many remain active in Indiana schools today, leading the way in literacy education.