Inland Area Writing Project

The Inland Area Writing Project is a university-based, teacher-centered, professional development organization. Hosted by the University of California, Riverside, the IAWP is affiliated with both the California Writing Project and the National Writing Project. We have a history of proven success since the late 1970s and are dedicated to improving writing and learning in the schools of the Inland Area.

To best serve teachers of writing at all levels, from the primary grades up through the first two years of higher education, the IAWP offers opportunities for high-quality, research-based, professional development and support for educators while always keeping in mind the Writing Project axiom "Teachers Teaching Teachers."

The IAWP was founded in the late 1970s as one of the first sites of the California Writing Project, the new statewide network that followed the model created by Jim Gray's Bay Area Writing Project. Until 1992, the IAWP office was administered through the UCR Extension. In that year, it moved to its new home in the UCR English Department. In 2009 the IAWP became a part of the University Writing Program. John Briggs, Professor of English, has been the Director since 1992.

From a relatively small operation in 1992, the IAWP has won over $2,000,000 in federal and state grants in the last sixteen years. It has grown to include a large number of teacher-leaders. What we do today is the result of the contributions of volunteers: their experience, ideas, experiments, and energy.