November 2010

Are You a Member of NCTE's Connected Community?
Yes, you are! All NCTE members can post questions for discussion, access resources, talk about literacy education advocacy, and connect with colleagues with similar interests in the new
Connected Community.

Did You Know
that NCTE has a position statement supporting professional development for teachers?

Mark Your Calendar!
2011 Literacy Education Advocacy Day
April 28

Don't Miss NCTE's Annual Convention, November 18-21
On the program are sessions and workshops with a focus on advocacy and on intellectual freedom, some of which are sponsored by the NCTE/SLATE Steering Committee and the NCTE Standing Committee Against Censorship.

NCTE's Voice Is Being Heard
in Legislative Circles

NCTE and its members are working to get NCTE policy into schools. We're speaking out against censorship and for intellectual freedom, talking to legislators and their staffs, and forming long-term alliances with policymaking and education groups nationwide. See these examples of recent advocacy efforts:

NCTE and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) held a briefing on instructional leadership on October 6 on Capitol Hill. The briefing centered on the importance of literacy, especially writing, for improving student learning, and drew legislative staff members, representatives from content-area associations and education policy groups, steering committee members from the National Adolescent Literacy Coalition, and others interested in instructional leadership. Speakers included NCTE Past President Anne Ruggles Gere, author of the NCTE-NASSP book Taking Initiative on Writing: A Guide for Instructional Leaders.

NCTE worked with five other organizations to develop Principles for Learning that include an emphasis on literacy across content areas. The Principles were released in October.

NCTE members Kathleen Blake Yancey and Anne Ruggles Gere took part in the National Adolescent Literacy Coalition meeting on October 7, presenting on formative assessment and instructional leadership. Also on the program was a Council of Chief State School Officers staff member, who talked about using Department of Education monies to develop assessments attuned to the Common Core State Standards, and an education staffer with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, who described parts of the LEARN Act that support adolescent literacy instruction, including ongoing, job-embedded professional development for principals and teachers.

What Can You Do?

Join the discussion of NCTE resolutions during the Annual Convention in Orlando (at the Open Hearing on Resolutions and Annual Business Meeting, both on Friday, Nov. 19). Learn how NCTE's position statements and guidelines are developed.

Speak out about NCTE's positions and how these positions look in practice: You might speak to the media; to legislators at the national, state, and local levels; to the public at local meetings and social events; or to your friends, neighbors, and colleagues.  Read these tips for speaking out.

Take part in NCTE's Literacy Education Advocacy Day or Month.  See how others have participated.

Use NCTE's Legislative Platform as a guide for your literacy education advocacy efforts; note the emphasis on professional development for teachers and the importance of including reading and writing in literacy education.

NCTE Responds to Challenges to Books
in Classrooms and Libraries
Teachers and librarians often look to NCTE for resources and advice when faced with a challenge to classroom or library texts. During the past few months NCTE responded to challenges to Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and to the banning of young adult author Ellen Hopkins from the Teen Lit Festival in Humble, Texas. The National Coalition Against Censorship, the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the PEN American Center, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators joined NCTE in these responses.  Read more.

Educator and Author David Protess Wins
Intellectual Freedom Award
David Protess, director of the Medill Innocence Project and professor of journalism at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, is being recognized for his investigative reporting. He and his students at the Medill Innocence Project have uncovered evidence that freed five innocent prisoners from Death Row, one of whom had come within two days of execution. Honorable mention awards for 2010 are being given to Nebraska Senator Ken Haar and Karyn Storts-Brinks, a librarian at Fulton High School, Tennessee. 

Affiliates of NCTE also recognize individuals or groups close to home for their support of intellectual freedom. The following Affiliate Intellectual Freedom Award winners will be honored during the NCTE Annual Convention this month. 

Kym Sheehan, Charlotte County Schools, Port Charlotte, Florida
Jazmond Goss, student at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Kenneth Winter, North Central Michigan College, Petoskey
Ruby Clayton, Key Learning Community-School 616, Indianapolis
Karen Ballash, Lakewood High School, Lakewood, Ohio
Silas House, award-winning novelist, Lily, Kentucky
David Protess, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Read more about the awards and the honorees and how to submit nominations for the 2011 awards.