July 19, 2005

National Anticensorship Group Joins Fight over FHS Library Books  (Northwest Arkansas Times, July 17)

A letter signed by NCAC, NCTE, PEN, ABFFE, and AAP has asked Fayetteville Superintendent Bobby New to resist the efforts of parent Laurie Taylor and others to remove over 70 books they say "have absolute vile and gratuitous sexual premises." New says he wants to discuss Taylor’s most recent request -- that the district conduct an "audit" into the content of its library books -- with district librarians before commenting.

http://nwanews.com/
story.php?paper=nwat&section=News&storyid=30199

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School Shreds Magazine, Citing Profanity in Poem  (The Seattle Times, July 19)
Parental complaints about a profane word in the title of a poem in Shorewood High's annual literary magazine prompted school and district officials to seize, shred, and reprint the issue with a blank space where the poem once was. They also reassigned the magazine's faculty adviser, an English teacher with the district for 35 years.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002387498_magazine18m.html

9-Year-Olds Record Highest Scores Ever on Long-Term NAEP  (Education Week, July 14) (free registration required)
The nation's 9-year-olds have made considerable gains in reading and mathematics over the past five years, turning in the highest scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term trend tests in those subjects since they were first given more than three decades ago. 
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/07/14/43naep_web.h24.html

Read 2004 Long-Term Trend Assessment Results at
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ltt/results2004/

A Voice against Testing  (The Times, July 17)

Test critic Alfie Kohn told principals and superintendents at Princeton University that unless standards are "vague and designed to be used as guidelines so there is flexibility" they do little more than create a checklist of what teachers should teach. William Librera, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education, took issue with Kohn's thinking, saying that standards need to be clear: "If you make them unclear and undefined, you have a wide variety of what is considered quality and that does not help."

http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/
base/news-1/112158764921740.xml&coll=5

45 States Target Graduation Rates  (The Washington Post, July 18) (free registration required)

The governors of 45 states have agreed to develop common measures for establishing high school graduation rates, a step they said will help achieve their larger goal of making high school rigorous enough to help prepare students for an increasingly competitive global economy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2005/07/17/AR2005071701067.html

Read Graduation Counts: A Report of the NGA Task Force on State High School Graduation Data at
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0507GRAD.PDF

High Schools Look to Web for AP Offerings  (The Boston Globe, July 18) (free registration required)

In an effort to keep up with wealthy communities, some Massachusetts high schools that can't afford to hire teachers to offer AP subjects in the classroom will begin offering the classes online. Research shows that success on AP exams is a strong predictor of success in college, and AP classes on a high school transcript can help students get into top colleges, but some worry that the lack of face-to-face interaction common in wealthy suburbs will detract from student engagement in the subject.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/
articles/2005/07/18/high_schools_look_to_web_for_ap_offerings/

ODU to Add 43 Positions to Improve Core Courses  (The Virginian Pilot, July 11)

Old Dominion University, Virginia, is adding five full-time faculty members to keep freshman-composition classes, often considered a crucial gateway to success in college, at fewer than 20 students each. Administrators in the English department said this change will ensure that students get closer attention and a better first-year experience -- and might even have better odds of graduating. CCCC Chair Doug Hesse and NCTE member Joyce Neff are quoted.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=88972&ran=1815

Learning by At-Risk Students Tops List of Proposed Research Priorities (Education Week, July 13) (free registration required)
Research aimed at improving academic achievement for minority students, those with limited English skills, and other students with disadvantages tops a list of proposed research priorities published by the Department of Education's primary research branch. 
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/07/13/42priority.h24.html

Where Teachers Rule  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17) (free registration required)
Milwaukee's Community High School is one of a rapidly growing number of so-called "teacher-led" schools that operate without administrators -- teachers make decisions about the curriculum, the budget, and student discipline. They perform peer evaluations of each other. Often, they come to decisions through discussion and debate, taking a vote if a consensus is not reached. But even staunch supporters of the model concede that it is not for everyone: It requires extra time; will not work if the teachers don't familiarize themselves with the policies, procedures, and politics of the district; and can be difficult to adapt to larger schools.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul05/341727.asp

http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship

You're Not Allowed to Read That Text!
Censorship is in the news this week -- from the accusation of "absolute vile and gratuitous sexual premises" in the books targeted in the Fayetteville, Arkansas, high school library to a profane word in the title of a poem in a Seattle, Washington, high school literary magazine. In situations like these, the true issue is the power of language and the control over who is allowed to use it. The following resources provide teaching ideas and resources for discussing such issues in the classroom.
http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/ideas/121233.htm

Discover New Ways to Reach Adolescent Readers
Changing our ideas of what counts as texts used in schools can go a long way in discovering how to reach adolescent readers. To support your school's work in Adolescent Literacy, visit the NCTE Teacher Resource Collection at
http://www.ncte.org/collections/adolescentliteracy

For consultants available on this topic, visit
http://www.ncte.org/collections/adolescentliteracy/resources/121209.htm

Register Now for the 2005 CEL Annual Convention
The Conference on English Leadership's 2005 Annual Convention features the theme, "Leading and Reading: What Teacher-Leaders Can Do." At the CEL Convention you'll find many exciting guest speakers, fulfilling roundtable discussions, and information-packed sessions that can help with leading and reading. Plan to join hundreds of colleagues in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 20-22, 2005. For more information, including CEL registration rates, visit

http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/annual/119395.htm

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