Mission and Guiding Principles

Mission:

The mission of the Northern Virginia Writing Project is to work with teachers of all levels of education and all disciplines to develop effective writing instruction and writing practice; to support students’ development of critical thinking skills through writing; and to create a community to share practices, research, and innovations in the teaching of writing.

Guiding Principles:

1. Teachers are the most effective teachers of other teachers.
2. In order to teach writing effectively, teachers must experience being writers themselves. 
3. Experienced classroom teachers know what works in classrooms; therefore, the most effective professional development programs are those in which successful classroom teachers share their expertise and collaborate with colleagues through “hands-on” demonstration
4. As professionals, teachers need to challenge, validate, and enhance their work in the classroom by familiarizing themselves with current and past research and by gathering evidence to support the effectiveness of their teaching practices.
5. A successful professional development program requires ongoing collaboration among teaching colleagues who continually share and pool their expertise beyond a few scheduled workshops or even beyond an extended summer institute.