Since the creation of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) at UC Berkeley in 1974, the writing project model for professional development in the teaching of writing has been replicated statewide and nationwide. The Area 3 Writing Project (A3WP) at UC Davis is one of 15 sites in the California Writing Project network and one of 175in the National Writing Project network.
Established in 1981, A3WP is a professional development network for California teachers and administrators that follows the writing project teachers-teaching-teachers model, based upon the following principles:
- Student writing can be improved by improving the teaching of writing, and the best teacher of other teachers is a successful classroom teacher.
- Programs designed to improve the teaching of writing must involve teachers of all grade levels and disciplines and should be collaboratively planned by schools and universities.
- Large-scale educational change occurs only over time and can best be accomplished by those who work within the schools.
- What is known about the teaching of writing comes from research and from the successful practices of those who teach writing.
- Teachers of writing must also write, for only by writing can teachers fully understand what they are asking of their students.
In addition to the writing project’s core Invitational Leadership Institute for the Teaching of Writing, we offer demonstration workshops, summer programs, and professional learning opportunities for schools and districts throughout our seven-county region, which extends from the inland reaches of the Sacramento River Delta, throughout the Sacramento Valley, and up to the Sierra foothills and the greater Lake Tahoe region.
Contact Us:
Katharine Cortes, PhD, Director
(Because our desk is not staffed full-time, email is usually best.)