NCTE INBOX

June 14, 2005
...news


News links are provided for informational purposes, do not imply endorsement by NCTE, and were live when this issue was published.
*A City Teaches Homeless, and Fights a Trend (The New York Times, June 8) (free registration required)* By all rights, schools like Pappas Elementary, where all 598 students come from homeless families, should be near extinction. After all, a 2002 federal law prohibited separate schools for homeless children. But the Pappas schools' very separateness makes Phoenix's homeless children highly visible, attracting a flood of community donations, enough to maintain a food pantry where students' families can get groceries, a toy room for birthday presents, and a clothing room where every child can choose three new outfits a month. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/education/08homeless.html
*Colleges Hesitate to Embrace SAT Writing Test (Education Week, June 8) (free registration required)* Three months after the debut of the SAT writing test, some colleges are expressing concerns about its validity, and many have decided not to require the scores, at least for the time being. NCTE member Les Perelman is quoted. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/ 2005/06/08/39sat.h24.html	Partially underwritten by: (advertisement)
*Do You Speak Computer? (The Chicago Tribune, June 13) (free registration required)* A growing number of Spanish speaking people are interested in joining the digital realm, hoping to stay in touch with overseas relatives, get ahead at work, and keep up with what their kids are learning. That's testing the ingenuity of computer instructors trying to teach a subject whose technical terms can be hard to grasp even without a language barrier. http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0506130147jun13,1,7235180.story *Students Voice WASL Opposition (The Seattle Times, June 9)* In one of the videos created by Rainier Beach High School freshmen to raise concerns about the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), students hold up signs to a camera. The message: That using the test as a graduation requirement is a bad idea. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002322081_waslads09m.html *States Report Reading First Yielding Gains (Education Week, June 8) (free registration required)* Little solid evidence is available to gauge whether the federal government's multibillion-dollar Reading First initiative is having an effect on student achievement, but many states are reporting anecdotally that they are seeing benefits for their schools. Among those benefits are extensive professional development in practices deemed to be research-based, extra instructional resources, and ongoing support services, according to an Education Week analysis of state performance reports. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/06/08/39read.h24.html *City Reading Scores Edge Up to Record High (Chicago Sun-Times, June 9)* Chicago elementary school reading scores inched upward to record highs this year on the city's oldest measuring stick of progress -- but only after a scoring "error" was corrected in the vaunted Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-iowatest09.html *Final Chance on TAKS for Some (The Dallas Morning News, June 9) (free registration required)* After two tries, about 40,000 Texas fifth graders still haven't passed the math and reading sections of the TAKS test. That means a summer full of stress and, for many, another year of fifth grade. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/ stories/060905dnmetfifth.12b967b5b.html *Educators Tackle Achievement Gap (Rocky Mountain News, June 9)* Poor students and minorities are about a third less likely than their wealthier or white peers to earn proficient scores on state reading and math exams, according to a report presented Wednesday to the state Board of Education. Board members agreed tentatively to take new steps toward solving that problem by identifying 50 to 60 Colorado schools where the gap between haves and have-nots or whites and minorities is consistently greater than the state average. http://insidedenver.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_3841649,00.html *Education Department Issues Proposed IDEA Regulations (Education Week, June 10) (free registration required)* The U.S. Department of Education released proposed regulations for the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The revised law, passed late last year, requires that special education teachers be "highly qualified" in every subject they teach, which has been a concern for some teachers who instruct students in more than one subject. The department is seeking feedback on several issues, including on the structure of the regulations themselves. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/06/10/41idea_web.h24.html Read the proposed regulations at http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html
...views


Literacy Coaching Effective literacy coaches support teachers in becoming more thoughtful and knowledgeable about their instruction and serve as an important resource in improving student achievement. Find out more about Literacy Coaching at NCTE's Teacher Resource Collection on the topic. See http://www.ncte.org/collections/literacycoach
...ideas


Free access to journal articles mentioned in this INBOX is provided for 21 days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only. Initials in annotations indicate academic level of the resource (E=Elementary, M=Middle, S=Secondary, C=College, G=General).
Exploring Digital Literacy NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing points out that "Just as the nature of and expectation for literacy has changed in the past century and a half, so has the nature of writing. Much of that change has been due to technological developments, from pen and paper, to typewriter, to word processor, to networked computer, to design software capable of composing words, images, and sounds." This collection of resources explores some of the ways that digital literacy can be tapped in the English language arts and composition classroom. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/ideas/120999.htm
...announcements


Kathleen Blake Yancey Is New NCTE Vice President In NCTE's 2005 elections, NCTE College Section member Kathleen Blake Yancey of Clemson University was elected vice president. Yancey is a former chair of the NCTE College Section and the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). See the results of the NCTE, NCTE Section, CEE, SLATE, and TYCA elections at http://www.ncte.org/about/gov/elec/news Looking for Funding to Attend the 2005 NCTE Annual Convention? To learn about federal, state, and foundation resources that specifically support teacher training, visit http://www.ncte.org/about/grants/topic/107748.htm For more information about the 2005 Annual Convention, visit http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/annual/ Leaders and Luminaries Luncheon Join us for lunch at the Literacies for All Summer Institute, "Teaching for Change: Creating Democratic, Inclusive, Holistic Classrooms," in San Diego on July 14-17, 2005! Friday's luncheon will give you a chance to hear language stories from people who have contributed so much to the Whole Language movement. Tickets may be ordered on the registration form. For more information, visit http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu Portrait of a Volunteer -- Bobbi Ciriza Houtchens Bobbi Ciriza Houtchens teaches at Arroyo Valley High School in San Bernardino, California. She is currently a member of the NCTE Secondary Steering Committee and she chronicles some of her other activities in the following interview. To read Bobbi's story, see http://www.ncte.org/about/over/vol/recog/119844.htm
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