Conference on English Leadership (CEL)

CEL welcomes all those concerned with language arts leadership.  CEL members include English/language arts leaders at all levels: classroom teachers, department heads, language arts coordinators, supervisors, consultants, resource teachers, principals, directors of instruction, college and university English educators, affiliate leaders and other exercising formal or informal leadership in their schools, districts, or states.

Convention Highlights

The Thirty-Seventh Annual Conference on English Leadership (CEL) Convention was held at the Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The convention began with the CEL Luncheon held on Sunday, November 20th with a keynote presentation by Scott Russell Sanders, distinguished professor of English at Indiana University and author of more than eighteen books.  ELQ Editor Bonita Wilcox presented 2005 CEL ELQ Best Article Award to Anne DiPardo and Associate Chair Henry Kiernan announced June Langford Berkley as the recipient of the 2005 Exemplary Leadership Award.

Immediately following the luncheon, an invigorating workshop by Bob Probst and Kylene Beers officially opened the convention.  The day formally ended with the traditional Sunday social sponsored by Perfection Learning Company.  Monday and Tuesday were filled with prominent speakers and workshop presenters that included Jeffrey Wilhelm, Jim Burke, Jim Strickland, Harvey Daniel, and Fern Shumer Chapman.  Patrick Monahan, Program Chair and Elizabeth Truesdale, Hospitality Chair are to be commended for their leadership and hard work in making the Pittsburgh Convention.

The Saturday CEL Round Table was well attended.  Hosted by Bedford St. Martin, the conversations were rich with leadership issues such as high stakes testing, mentoring, and portfolio assessment.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee (EC) met twice during the Pittsburgh Convention.  Declining attendance and membership were a major concern.  However, members were encouraged by the record attendance at the Pittsburgh Convention and anticipate a large turnout in Nashville.

After having revisited the need for a face-to-face spring meeting, it was decided the EC needed a longer block of time for a meeting than can be achieved during the NCTE Convention.  Because the 2005 spring meeting connected with the NCTE Advocacy Day in DC did not work for members, the EC held its spring meeting in Chicago, March 18-19, 2006.  The collective opinion of the group was that this uninterrupted time dedicated to the business of CEL was more productive than past meetings that had to be squeezed into convention or other business. The 2007 spring EC meeting is also planned for Chicago.

The CEL reimbursement policy was revised so that the language is more reflective of practice and so that the CEL reimbursement policy is more in keeping with current commercial travel policies.  CEL Commissions will be reinstituted at the Nashville Convention.

Judith Moore Kelly, Chair