That’s News To Me. . .
by Kent Williamson, NCTE Executive Director
July 2006 Council-Grams
 From time to time, I have a chance to talk about what is “new from NCTE." Most of us are keenly aware of changes to a corner of the Council with which we’ve become familiar, but not so clear about what’s afoot across NCTE. I’d like to provide you with a guide to some recent changes that may be of interest to you, and highlight some initiatives that will be accessible soon.
Taken together, these resources mark NCTE’s progress towards becoming a vibrant community. Teachers need community: a sense that someone else shares our challenge, cares about student learning (not just test scores), and is willing to share what they know. At a time when there are far too many negative messages about schools and teaching, the remarkable successes you can find in our community are uplifting. That’s why we need to keep innovating, making more channels to share the news about literacy teaching and learning available to all.
Resources
ReadWriteThink.org: With nearly one million unique visitors a month, this may be the most popular Web site for literacy educators. It contains peer-reviewed lessons aligned with standards, student materials, and reviewed Web resources from other organizations. It is a K–12 English/reading site developed in partnership with the International Reading Association, is supported by a grant from the Verizon Foundation, and is linked to the broader MarcoPolo consortium Web site (including math, science, humanities, arts, geography, and economics education resources). To augment these resources, NCTE offers free teaching resource collections on its home page, featuring popular articles and teacher insights on matters like reaching secondary English Language Learners or summer reading projects.
Do you ever wish you could find policy research or rationales for valued professional practices in one place? The Squire Office for Policy Research has pulled together key studies about writing, assessment, teacher quality, and a host of other topics on these Web pages. The NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform developed by the Squire office and NCTE Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing developed by the NCTE Executive Committee’s Writing Study Group are particularly powerful documents found here. Check out all NCTE position statements and guidelines, grouped by topic, level, or date of release
Coming Soon—A redesigned NCTE Web site, slated for introduction in fall 2007, will provide numerous opportunities for members to add their questions, opinions, and ideas evoked by many of our policy resource or information collection pages. You will also be encouraged to upload policies, syllabi, and model curriculum or assessment approaches that you have found effective.
Advocacy and Policy
Federal policy may be playing a more powerful role in classrooms at all academic levels than ever before. In recognition of this, NCTE adopted its first ever legislative platform in 2006. Advocacy for literacy educators is everyone’s business, and several calls to action have been issued this year through the NCTE Action Center. Further, through its newly-established Washington, DC-area and Berkeley, California, offices, NCTE staff members help keep members up-to-date on education news and events through periodic blog reports. Many members have come to rely upon the weekly NCTE INBOX news service for regular updates. And, unfortunately, too many have had to rely upon the NCTE Anti-Censorship Center for timely assistance when facing challenges to selected literature or teaching materials.
Coming Soon—Watch for and participate in grassroots campaigns this fall to ensure that the experiences of literacy educators inform Congress as it considers the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. Also, watch for new blogs featuring the voices of leaders of NCTE Conferences and Associations—CCCC, CEE, CEL, TYCA, and WLU—and its Sections.
Professional Development and Events
Professional Development is the heart and soul of NCTE, and it is imperative that those in our community find the resources and support they need to explore important questions about teaching and learning practices. NCTE Annual Convention attendance continues to rise, and more and more registrants consult the searchable, online convention program to plan their meeting experience. Increasingly, school leaders turn to the NCTE Consulting Network for assistance with teacher learning initiatives. Others rely on embedded professional development growth opportunities, like those found through the online NCTE CoLEARN, or the NCTE Reading Initiative. Still others are content to rely upon the professional journals, topical resource kits, and books that have supported generations of NCTE members. New on the horizon is the national Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse, co-sponsored by NCTE and IRA and directed by Nancy Shanklin of University of Colorado at Denver. The Clearinghouse will make accessible internationally resources like this collection on literacy coaching and the standards for middle and high school level literacy coaches, and will investigate a range of research questions about the efficacy of literacy coaching.
Coming Soon—NCTE is developing a new, hybrid form of professional development support called Pathways to Learning. The first Pathway, Engaging Adolescent Literacy Learners, should be available this fall, and will include teacher portfolio tools, guest speakers, an online learning community with help from experienced community leaders, carefully selected articles and book chapters, and face to face meeting opportunities. Each Pathway will be organized to answer the most challenging questions that literacy teachers face when working to improve student learning. Future pathways will focus on helping English Language Learners to succeed and on helping early-career teachers adapt and accomplish their goals.
Governance and Leadership
At the hub of many of the changes driving the Council to better serve its members is a process called strategic governance. Through it, elected Council leaders are continuously striving to better understand the issues members care about most, and to establish medium to long-range goals for NCTE that result in real change. To register your opinions about what issues NCTE should tackle in 2007, please complete the survey found at this link:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB225CQX3VVGH
You may click on the focal issues below to link to positions established and motions passed by the NCTE Executive Committee in each area undertaken since 2004:
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