The summer institute brings participants together as a community of writers as well as teachers. Like professional writers, institute fellows write everyday on topics they know about and choose. They work on drafts, present their pieces for discussion in small response groups, and, at the close of the institute, submit a piece of writing for publication in their site's summer institute anthology. Summer institute writing groups offer the fellows help in various ways. It can be both supportive and celebratory.
Groups focus on matters of art and craft as well as on detail editing when works near publication.
Reading research is an important component of the summer institute. For several weeks, free of school-year demands, teachers have the time and opportunity to select and read research. In that time they often discover new experiences as well as provide rationales that challenge or validate their teaching practice. The in-service programs and the institute are dependent on each other, and central to the work of the project. Continuity Programs for Institute Participants Unlike other programs for teacher that end when summer sessions come to a close, when Appalachian Writing Project summer institute is over, the professional development continues.