In 2003, the National Commission on Writing released "The Neglected "R,"" its report on the state of writing instruction in the nation's schools. The report identified an apparent paradox: writing, which the Commission defines as an essential skill for the many that has helped transform the world, is nevertheless increasingly shortchanged…

This article analyzes CEE's and NCTE's current positions related to political action and highlights the increasing need for public intellectual and political activism as an integral part of organizational policy. Using Lakoff's (2005) concept of cognitive/linguistic framing in political discourse along with Kuchapski's (2002) characterizations of…

This article reports the findings of a study examining the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) members' perceptions of what is required to become and to remain a highly-qualified teacher of the English language arts. An online survey was conducted to ten NCTE members: five teachers, and five university-based teacher educators. Findings…

Schooling, which is shared to the extent that Americans share no other cultural or institutional experience, is perhaps the single greatest influence on how people understand the world around them and their places in it. English instruction, required as it is throughout formal schooling, constitutes perhaps the most powerful vehicle for shaping…

Teachers are likely to create authentic learning environments for their students only if such contexts exist for them. However, it is more important than ever to look closely at professional development spaces that have been sustained over time in order to bolster teachers' agency, giving them the courage to teach against the grain. In this…

Analyzes the on-line teacher network, Write for Your Life (WFYL), that sought to facilitate transformative experiences for its K-12/university participants that would result in changed practices across the network, and in increased learning for the students of those practitioners. Analyzes the dialogic "web" the teachers spun across five years.…

Explores--through a close analysis of one innovative class project--the questions of text, power, and technology implied in a shift to a broader definition of text in the English classroom. Poses the intersection of technology and media literacy as a crucial site for new understandings of the texts at stake in twenty-first century literacies and…

Considers new roles for English educators working toward advocacy, toward truly new knowledge, toward collaborative readings of culture and context, and away from hierarchies. Notes that educators must recognize that it will take everyone to create the educational systems that lead to truly democratic literacies. (SC)

Notes that the National Council of Teachers of English's "Guidelines for the Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts" (1996) encourages institutions of higher education to prepare teachers who are knowledgeable about "contemporary children's and young adult literature, and other appropriate literature written specifically for the age and…

Describes a summer institute designed to connect those self-identified "word wizards" and "number crunchers"--those teachers who might name themselves as either more comfortable with written literacy or with numeracy. Concludes that teachers need professional development that provides the opportunity to team with others (different disciplines,…

Finds the metaphor of reading the classroom as "text" is (1) easy in that all it takes is an orientation that asks what the classroom has to teach; and (2) difficult in that what it has to teach is complex, multi-layered, and often conflictive. Provides a heuristic to guide teachers in viewing and understanding the classroom as text. (NH)

Argues a need for in-depth consideration of principles and practices to prepare teachers for classrooms they will face in the future. Notes problems created by the disparity between increasing student diversity and their overwhelmingly white, female English/language arts teachers. Provides an overview of the issues involved and practical ideas for…

Argues that more is needed than a generic, Euro-centric, or culture specific set of teaching strategies to address the issue of equity in schools. Offers a critical perspective on the working principles articulated in the report of a special commission on how best to prepare English teachers to work effectively with increasingly diverse students.…

Uses action research methods to describe one classroom in order to urge English educators to invite their students to participate in literacy and social action. Suggests ways that Mikhail Bakhtin's literary theory can help English teachers and English educators discover and better understand the link of word and deed. (NH)

Reflects on the process of standards writing conducted by the National of Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association, from both an insider and an outsider perspective. Reflects on the larger forces at play and the deeper issues which derailed the standards effort and which "produced standards that no one has much good…