Upcoming Themes
October 2010: Leadership
As announced in the February 2009 issue, Leadership will always be our October theme. October’s a good month to consider leadership. Some years, we’re getting ready to elect a new President. Every year, school leaders have gotten the opening of the year under their belts and are already considering what to do (and not to do) the following school year. And disillusionment hasn’t set in yet for teachers. More important, we think an annual leadership theme is only fitting for a journal that serves as the voice of and for English/language arts leaders in K–13 settings. Definitions of leadership—good leadership—are always changing. In her keynote speech at the CEL 2008 convention, Louann Reid, CEL’s 2008 Exemplary Leadership Award winner, suggested that effective 21st-century leadership is defined by collaboration, multitasking, and technological savvy—a change from leadership a generation ago, marked by hierarchy, intrinsic motivation, and a lack of diversity. English department head and CEL member David Padilla says, “There’s a difference between change that a department and/or person resists, versus change a department and/or person can’t do.” We think knowing the difference marks a good leader. For this leadership-inspired issue, we hope to hear from you about what it means to lead in the 21st century. Has your department experienced some growing pains? Changes in leadership? How do you set examples and raise expectations as a leader in your building? How do you prepare for a successful school year? How do you mentor beginning teachers? How do you meet the challenges of leadership in the 21st century? Let us hear from you! Deadline: June 15, 2010.
February 2011: Dear President:
President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are calling for changes to NCLB, but public education advocates worry these changes won’t diminish the overreliance on standardized testing to measure student achievement and teaching effectiveness. We’re ready to see real changes to federal education policy—changes that call for authentic, alternative assessments; enriched reading curriculum; reduced class sizes; and meaningful professional teacher development. What about you? What changes would you like to see? For our February 2011 issue, we want to hear from you. Send in a 100–150-word response to this question: How do we measure student achievement and effective English teaching beyond test scores? To begin to affect change in public school education policy, we need to be able to answer this question. We’ll not only publish your answers in ELQ, we’ll compile them in a letter to the President and Arne Duncan. Let’s get our voices heard! Deadline: October 15, 2010.