The Red River Valley Writing Project (RRVWP) is a site of the National Writing Project (NWP), a professional development organization devoted to teaching writing. The goal of of our writing project is to improve student writing abilities by improving the teaching and learning of writing in the region’s schools, provide professional development programs for classroom teachers, and expand the professional roles of teachers. We also organize teen writing camps and North Dakota’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in order to promote student writing in the region.

The Red River Valley Writing Project (RRVWP) hosts an invitational Summer Institute. The institute offers teachers a place to read, discuss, and share ideas about teaching writing -- plus time to write. During the institute, area teachers gather to share their best practice with each other and to explore the teaching of writing by writing. Through this interaction a community of teachers/writers is developed -- a community which can help to promote and be part of professional development opportunities for the teachers' colleagues in regional schools.

The Summer Institute is essential to the larger goals of the writing project: to create a network of teachers who can share their success in teaching writing, to develop a community of teachers who are also writers, to encourage professional growth in the teaching of writing, and to improve the writing of students across the curriculum at all levels.

Teachers are encouraged to become part of this community by participating in our summer institutes and through sponsored professional development opportunities throughout the year. We believe that the best way to improve the quality of writing in our schools, kindergarten to college, is for teachers to teach each other, sharing their best classroom practices and exploring the teaching of writing through study and writing.

Core Beliefs

• We write in order to learn, to make and convey meaning, and to express who we are and what we believe.
• All teachers, no matter their professional experience, need space and support to reflect on their educational practices.
• Writing instruction should be informed and supported by both an established body of research and thoughtful teaching practice.
• When teachers write and reflect on the practice of writing, they become better teachers. 
• Individual teachers, as well as organizations, must work collaboratively to enact lasting educational and social change.
• We support initiatives in the community and region that contribute to a rich literacy environment.