NCTE Lays Groundwork for Policy Office
The Council Chronicle, March 2005

The decision by NCTE's Executive Committee to start the James R. Squire Office of Policy Research in the English Language Arts has come to fruition with Anne Ruggles Gere working quarter-time to increase NCTE's visibility and effectiveness in the world of educational policy.

Gere is establishing the groundwork for a full-time office of policy research for NCTE by:

• conducting research on matters deemed critical to the Council's mission and strategic objectives;
  
• staying abreast of studies and trends central to policy decisions in the field of English language arts;
  
• consulting with the NCTE Executive Committee, Council groups, and NCTE staff to connect efforts; and
  
• helping to develop grant proposals that will help fund a full-time office.

Among her projects, Gere has worked collaboratively with NetDay to develop several questions for their student technology survey. NCTE received access to the data from this survey, and a report will be issued to inform those within and beyond the Council. NetDay is a nonprofit national education technology group. 

In addition, Gere is working to extend the policy focus of the membership by developing a series of policy briefs that will be available via the NCTE Web site. These briefs will appear in the "Educational Policy Issues" area of the site and will complement the reports of subcommittees of the Executive Committee. 

Gere is professor of English and professor of education and chair of the Joint Ph.D. Program in English and Education at the University of Michigan. She is a former NCTE president and has served as chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. She also has served on the Conference on English Education Executive Committee, on the Secondary Section Steering Committee, and as chair of the Board of Trustees of the NCTE Research Foundation. She is a recipient of the Richard A. Meade Award for Excellence in English Education and has taught English at the junior high, high school, and college levels.