Within the field of writing teacher education, scholars and practitioners agree that effective writing instructors (at both the P--12 and postsecondary levels) are not simply cognizant of composition pedagogies, rhetorical theories, and their students' unique learning needs. Effective writing instructors also regularly…

In this article, a group of inservice providers and beginning researchers describe their experiences in learning to conduct evaluation research on a long-term school-university partnership program. We offer the practical lessons we learned in how to undertake such a study, and we share the immediate and powerful effects that the process of…

The notion that "teachers of writing must also write" has been pervasive since the 1970s. But "what" should they write? In the National Writing Project (NWP), a professional network focused on the improvement of writing instruction and featuring summer institutes in which teachers engage in writing of their own as well as demonstrations of…

This past summer fifteen teachers from the Detroit public schools and the metro Detroit area participated in Wayne State University's first Invitational Summer Institute as part of the Wayne State Writing Project. As the director of a brand new National Writing Project site, the author was apprehensive about what she could expect from herself, the…

This article describes the results of an inquiry/multigenre project undertaken by students in a literacy foundations course. The project's initial pedagogical goal was to provide pre- and in-service teachers with multiple and engaging opportunities to read and write in areas of their interests. That goal expanded to encompass the critical literacy…

Evolution of the "old page", or written hardcopy texts, to the "new" (Kress, 2003), or electronic page, means that today's learners have experience with reading a variety of texts. Image, music, and electronic inscription (font, style, flash, and so on) are features of multimodal texts that many learners prefer to read and create. With the screen…

The coeditors of the special Summit issue of English Education provide the context for the "crucial moment" that prompted the Conference on English Education (CEE) to take up the task of rethinking issues related to the preparation and continuing professional development of English language arts teachers and teacher educators. The process of…

In this article, the authors first describe their research, then discuss the ethical and professional dilemmas they face as teacher educators as a consequence of NCLB. Here, they offer some possible approaches to coping with these dilemmas in the context of university undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs. Their study examined the…

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…

Explores three questions concerning the effect of a language arts graduate course on 11 inservice teachers: (1) how teaching practices changed as a result of the course; (2) how teachers' ideas of teaching changed; and (3) what factors facilitated professional growth. (NH)

Describes a grand jury investigation into a school's purchase of allegedly objectionable and obscene materials and the inservice course on "Writing Rationales for Teaching Potentially Controversial Literature" resulting from the investigation. (DD)

Describes the benefits of the Bay Area Writing Project and the excitement it has generated in a "down" period for the English teaching profession. (DD)

Proposes that English educators provide increased inservice training, doctoral programs for nontrditional students, training in secondary reading instruction, increased research on language acquisition and development, and special training for school administrators. (DD)

Describes the objectives and teaching approach to be used in a college or inservice course in psycholinguistics and reading. (DD)