The importance of high-quality teachers in every classroom is a recognized priority in American education. The teaching of writing, in particular, has been identified as a high-profile concern in our schools and colleges. The National Writing Project was founded in 1974, and the University of Maine (UMaine) became a site of the National Writing Project in 1997. Since that time, both organizations have come to be identified not just with quality writing instruction, but also with developing professional development leaders for writing and literacy generally in their own schools and at the state and national level.

Each year, two key insights of the National Writing Project are enacted in the annual institute of the Maine Writing Project — a six-credit course sequence at UMaine. First, effective professional development programs provide frequent and ongoing opportunities for teachers to write as well as to examine literacy theory and teaching practice together. Second, 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. This teacher-led approach to professional development has been shown to be effective at achieving long-term, systemic improvement. Accordingly, there is value to participants, administrators, and communities at every level in a certificate that recognizes those who have completed the full, twelve-credit complement of courses within the writing project program at the University of Maine.... [-]