NCTE INBOX

June 28, 2005
Please Note: The next issue of INBOX will be mailed on Wednesday, July 6, 2005.
...news


News links are provided for informational purposes, do not imply endorsement by NCTE, and were live when this issue was published.
*How the Web Changes Your Reading Habits (The Christian Science Monitor, June 23)* Computers and the Internet are changing the way people read. Thus far, search engines and hyperlinks, those underlined words or phrases that when clicked take you to a new Web page, have turned the online literary voyage into a kind of U-pick island-hop. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0623/p13s02-stin.html
*Survey: Public Schools Are Not Making Grade (Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 23)* A new national poll commissioned by the Educational Testing Service shows that most American parents have waning faith in public high schools' ability to challenge their children and that only nine percent of Americans believe high school students are being academically challenged by their course work. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/ 2005/June/23/local/stories/04local.htm Read the results of Ready for the Real World? Americans Speak on High School Reform at http://www.ets.org/aboutets/americaspeaks/survey2005.html	Partially underwritten by: (advertisement)
John Lovas, Former CCCC and TYCA Chair, Dies at 65 (NCTE Web site, June 28) John Lovas, chair of CCCC in 2002 and of TYCA in 1998, died June 21, 2005, at his home in Palo Alto, California. John began his teaching career at Foothill College in 1965 after serving in the Army. In 1977 he joined the faculty of De Anza College in Cupertino, California, as a professor of English and taught composition, literature, and linguistics there for 28 years. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/news/121104.htm J.N. Hook, 1953-1960 NCTE Executive Secretary, Died on June 26 Late Breaking News: NCTE has just learned of the death of J. N. Hook, the Council's Executive Secretary from 1953 to 1960. Hook, who was professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, moved NCTE from its office in Chicago to Champaign in April of 1954, a few months after he was hired as Executive Secretary. Read more about Hook's contributions to NCTE in next week's INBOX. *State Tests Can Influence High School Learning, Report Finds (Education Week, June 22) (free registration required)* High school exams that are based on state standards are changing what and how students learn, whether or not they have high stakes attached to them, a report on two school districts by the Center on Education Policy suggests. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/06/22/41high-s1.h24.html Read the report How Have High School Exit Exams Changed Our Schools: Some Perspectives from Virginia and Maryland at http://www.ctredpol.org/highschoolexit/change/CEP_HS_EE_9June2005.pdf *Tests Might Not Add Up for Colleges (Montgomery Advertiser, June 25)* Some college professors are vexed by what they say are high school graduates who increasingly are unprepared for the college classroom, and they contend standardized tests such as the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE) are to blame. http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5ONMATHTOP26.htm *Parent Files Complaint about 70 "Sexually Explicit" Books in School Libraries (Northwest Arkansas Times, June 23)* The Fayetteville School District has a procedure to file formal complaints against school library books they find inappropriate and parent Laurie Taylor intends to make full use of it. Taylor says she found the books she deemed inappropriate during a "personal 'audit' of the library system." http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat&section=News&storyid=29416 *State Revives Writing Exam (Chicago Tribune, June 23) (free registration required)* Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation to reinstate the annual writing test, which was wiped out last year because of state budget constraints. Ending the tests brought national criticism to Illinois, with testing experts saying writing is an essential skill and no other state had gone as far as to eliminate an entire writing exam. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/ chi-0506230226jun23,1,7357307.story *What They Don't Know (Education Week, June 22) (free registration required)* After spending four years sifting through hundreds of studies on teacher education, a national panel of experts from the American Educational Research Association has concluded that there's little empirical evidence to show that many of the most common practices in the field produce effective teachers. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/06/22/41aera.h24.html *Teacher Pay May Hinge On Test Scores (The Miami Herald, June 27) (free registration required)* Florida state education leaders want to dramatically expand pay policies that tie part of teachers' salaries to their performance in the classroom, instead of just their education and years of experience. The policy could affect all 19,000 teachers in Miami-Dade County and all 17,000 in Broward County. Districts that refuse to go along could lose millions of dollars in lottery money. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/11993156.htm
...views


Making Meaning through New Literacies NCTE has always recognized the value of new literacies, and encourages preservice, inservice, and staff development programs that focus on a broadened concept of literacy. See the NCTE Resolution on Composing with Nonprint Media at http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/comp/114919.htm and the Teaching Resource Collection "Reading and Writing on the Web" at http://www.ncte.org/collections/weblit In addition, the NCTE Executive Committee recently passed the following motions on Multi-Modal Literacy and Technology. See http://www.ncte.org/library/files/About_NCTE/Governance/Multi-modal.pdf
...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).
Looking for the Stories behind Historical Documents Historical events and holidays like Independence Day frequently seem like absolute truth to students; yet behind such events are many possible truths, myths, and stories, allowing us to discover who we were as people and who we are today. Try these resources to encourage students to discover the stories behind historical documents. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/ideas/121105.htm
...announcements


The Online Convention Session Program is Now Available! "My Convention Schedule" allows you to browse through the hundreds of sessions and events at the 2005 NCTE Annual Convention. You can e-mail sessions to your colleagues or even plan your own personal convention schedule. Visit http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/annual/program For more information on the 2005 NCTE Annual Convention, visit http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/annual Register Today for NCTE's Summer Workshops on Teaching Writing Discover strategies and techniques for effective writing instruction in a series of two-day workshops from NCTE. You'll learn what quality writing programs look like at the secondary level, how to create a supportive context for writing, methods for assessing quality writing in a time of testing, and much more. For more information, visit http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/workshops/writing/ Keynote Speaker -- Janet S. Wong Janet S. Wong, children's author, will be the keynote speaker at the Opening Session of the Literacies for All Summer Institute, "Teaching for Change: Creating Democratic, Inclusive, Holistic Classrooms," in San Diego on July 14-17, 2005. For details, visit http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu Obtain Funding for Your Research The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) is pleased to announce the second year of The CCCC Research Initiative: Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy -- What We Know, What We Need to Know. This effort is focused on supporting new meta-analytical research or new strategic research by providing to selected projects funding of up to $5,000. This year's proposal deadline is July 15, 2005. For application information, see http://www.ncte.org/groups/cccc/highlights/116260.htm Portrait of a Volunteer -- Jacquelyn Harris Jacquelyn Harris is K–12 Communication Arts Instruction Curriculum Coordinator for the Normandy School District in St. Louis, Missouri. She is currently a consultant to the NCTE Advisory Committee of People of Color. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/vol/recog/119851.htm
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