CSUN Writing Project

Director, Jenn Wolfe Virgin Islands. From this vision emerged the core principles of the National Writing Project's national program model.

A Brief History of the National Writing Project: James Gray and colleagues in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, established a university-based program for K–16 teachers called the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) in 1974. Little did they know then that their project would develop into The National Writing Project (NWP), an organization currently comprised o

f nearly 200 sites in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. As a former high school English teacher and teacher educator, Jim envisioned a professional development model for teachers that valued the knowledge, leadership, and best practices of effective teachers and promoted teachers sharing their knowledge with other teachers. they are:

• Teachers at every level—from kindergarten through college—are the agents of reform; universities and schools are ideal partners for investing in that reform through professional development.

• Writing can and should be taught, not just assigned, at every grade level. Professional development programs should provide opportunities for teachers to work together to understand the full spectrum of writing development across grades and across subject areas.

• Knowledge about the teaching of writing comes from many sources: theory and research, the analysis of practice, and the experience of writing. Effective professional development programs provide frequent and ongoing opportunities for teachers to write and to examine theory, research, and practice together systematically.

• There is no single right approach to teaching writing; however, some practices prove to be more effective than others. A reflective and informed community of practice is in the best position to design and develop comprehensive writing programs.

• Teachers who are well informed and effective in their practice can be successful teachers of other teachers as well as partners in educational research, development, and implementation. Collectively, teacher-leaders are our greatest resource for educational reform. Over time, the NWP model has been recognized and celebrated for its effectiveness. The Carnegie Corporation of New York evaluated the National Writing Project as the best large-scale effort to improve composition instruction now in operation in this country. The National Endowment for the Humanities stated that the National Writing Project has been by far the most efficient cost-effective project in the history of the Endowment's support for elementary and secondary education programs. The National Council of Teachers of English honored the National Writing Project as an exemplary national resources. The Council for Basic Education stated that the National Writing Project is perhaps the most successful and certainly the most far-reaching of all the recent initiatives to improve the condition of writing. The National Writing Project is successful because it is helping teachers become competent writers themselves and thus be better teachers of writing. Today, NWP has a core grant from the U.S. Department of Education that is supplemented by local, state, and private funds. One goal of the NWP is to place a writing project site within reach of every teacher in the nation. If funded, our site here at Cal State Northridge will contribute to meeting that goal. The Cal State Northridge Writing Project:
The Cal State Northridge Writing Project begain as a satellite site of the UCLA Writing Project and was funded as an independent site in 2009, joining the network of California Writing Project sites situated at 17 California State Universities and University of California campuses statewide. Our Directors and Board members have strong ties to the Writing Project on both a national and local level. Five of us are long time Teacher Consultants from other Writing Projects. Several of us were Summer Fellows in the first Summer Institutes of our Writing Projects. We understand the power of the original Writing Project model and are strongly committed to adopting its goals as our own:

•To improve student writing by improving the teaching of writing;

• To improve university and school professional development programs for classroom teachers; and

• To increase the professional power of classroom teachers. Our focus is on the core mission of improving the teaching of writing and improving the use of writing across the disciplines by offering high-quality professional development programs for educators in their service areas, at all grade levels, K–16 and across the curriculum.

05/17/2026

Had our last hike and write of the year today! Was a special one where we met at and enjoyed the views. shared quotes about May reflect and write about, as led the way. and more shared there writing! And Jose even brought a Polaroid. Look how hipster we are! Counting down the school days until summmer!!!

05/03/2026

So excited! We are doing our final hike and write of the year at Griffith Park collabing with . and will be leading the hike. We’ll meet at Franklin Cafe at 9am.

Make sure to bring a journal or your phone to write with. We’ll have a prompt and share during the hike.

We’ll meet at Franklins Cafe- 650 North Vermont!

Writers and teachers of writing welcome!

03/18/2026

Is your brain thinking ahead to summer? We're looking forward to it! There's still time to submit an application to join us for the Invitational Summer Institute.

The application deadline is March 27th.

Click here for more information: https://tinyurl.com/ISI2026CSUN

03/13/2026

Attention Teachers! Take some time for yourself this summer and join the Invitational Summer Institute of the CSUN Writing Project. We are looking for a diverse group of 12 teacher participants from K-college in all content areas interested in writing and teaching writing. As a Fellow, you will gain confidence in your writing, connect with a community of dedicated writing teachers, and have a transformative experience both personally and professionally.

Apply now and be a part of this amazing opportunity. 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟕𝐭𝐡

Click here for more information and application directions: https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/csun-writing-project/opportunities/invitational-summer-institute

Dates of the ISI
Group Interview: Saturday, April 11, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (virtual)
Orientation: Saturday, May 30, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (in-person)
Institute - June 22 - July 10, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Monday - Friday; no session on Friday, July 3rd)
Follow-up Meeting: Saturday, September 12, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (in-person)

02/26/2026

One week to go!!!!

⏳ We’re ONE WEEK away from CWP’s Pre-Convention Day at California Association of Teachers of English (CATE)2026 — and it’s not too late to register!

Join us on Thursday, March 5 at the LAX Hilton Hotel for a full day of inspiration and practical strategies for teaching writing across all grade levels.

We’ll begin with a morning keynote from Nicole Mirra, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education and Faculty Director of the Teacher Education Program at University of California, Los Angeles, on cultivating civic thriving through literacy.

Participants can choose from a wide range of morning and afternoon workshops spanning:
✨ Early writing
✨ Creative approaches with magical realism and poetry
✨ Ethical AI
✨ Civic agency
✨ Information literacy

We’ll close with an interactive supersession led by UCLA Writing Project Fellows Daniel Buccieri & Kate Rowley, exploring autoethnography, historical mentor texts, and world-building on the page.

Register today to connect, create, and imagine new possibilities for teaching writing.

👉 Register and learn more: www.cateweb.org

02/26/2026

Check it out! The CSUN Book Arts Festival is on March 7, 2026, at the CSUN USU East Conference Center—a one-day gathering celebrating books as art objects, social practices, and engines of connection. This is not a conference. It’s a festival!

Expect hands-on workshops, live print demos, collaborative readings, performances, publishing experiments, participatory projects, and conversations that move—bringing together writers, artists, publishers, students, and community
organizers from across Los Angeles.

Hope to see you there!

02/08/2026

Our first hike and write of 2026 was beautiful! A glorious day with great people and convos. shared three quotes and we all wrote for ten minutes halfway through.

Feeling inspired and supported! Our next hike and write will be in April.

Our next event is an offsite for organized with more deets TBD!

Thanks all for joining!

02/04/2026

Our first hike and write of 2026! Bring your journal and enjoy a hike with your writing project pals. Friends and plus ones welcome.

9am at Aliso Canyon Park

RSVP on Eventbrite
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hike-write-on-feb-8-2026-tickets-1980416369673?aff=oddtdtcreator

12/16/2025

We had our last Sips & Syntax of 2025 at . Their grilled cheese and tots are delicious!

We didn’t plan on bringing books but had them in our bags. is reading The Emperor of Gladness by and is reading The Book of Alchemy by !

What are you currently reading?

Hope you have a lovely and restful winter holiday! Happy everything!

12/02/2025

We’re having our final Sips and Syntax holiday edition at !

🗓️December 12 from 4:30pm
📍

All teachers who love writing, teach writing and want to gather in teacher community are welcome to attend. Definitely solo friendly!

We’ll be organizing more teacher socials for the Spring, and hope to see you then if you’re not able to make it!

Almost to the holidays!!

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Location

Northridge

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Telephone

+18186772534

Website

http://www.csun.edu/writingproject/

Address

18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA
91330