A teacher education professor and former secondary school instructor discusses using punk pedagogy and content in the English classroom to promote experimentation, interdisciplinarity, participation in community, and process-focused work.

In this article, the author discusses how teachers can develop empathy in students through reading and writing about literature, which contributes to their development as citizens in a global community. By choosing texts that trigger empathic reactions, English teachers can help students better understand others' experiences with oppression and…

Michigan students continue to fall behind their peers in other states in learning. According to 2013 national assessment data, an appalling 69 percent of Michigan fourth-graders cannot read on grade level -- an indicator of future academic success. Neither Michigan's students nor the state's economic future can afford to wait to turnaround our…

Widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the United States has resulted in an unprecedented set of national secondary school writing standards that shift responsibility for writing instruction across content areas. As secondary school teachers grapple with these new demands, this article proposes that WAC can serve as a key…

There is an alternative to conventional teacher mentorship. The authors describe and analyze a promising model of mentorship where multiple mentees and mentors, each with varying levels of experience, engage collaboratively in the study of teaching practice. They have found that well-designed contexts in which beginning and experienced teachers…

Michigan is in the process of transitioning to new English language arts and mathematics standards that will better prepare students to be successful in college and their careers. Time, effort, and resources must be dedicated to effective implementation in order to realize the promise of these new common core state standards. This state card…

The authors describe how three elementary teachers working in very different parts of the United States teach about Mexico. These teachers' practices allow them to enhance the traditional social studies curriculum, help children learn about themselves and other people, and increase children's capacities for global citizenship. (Contains 1 figure.)

Edith Graybill, English instructor at the Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, Michigan, speaks about her school's English language arts curriculum, the influence of the school on the role of English language arts, the theories of teaching and learning used at the Academy, and other related topics. She believes that most of the students appreciate…

Outlines the overall framework of the Michigan English Arts Framework project. Describes the mechanisms and strategies that are being used to build the project with participation at all levels. Discusses the tradition of curriculum separation, the role of whole language, and integration and standards. (SR)

Describes what teachers at four demonstration sites throughout Michigan do in their classrooms as they appropriate and incorporate the Michigan English Language Arts Framework standards into their daily classroom instruction. (SR)

Offers an overall perspective on how standards demonstration sites--places teachers come together to study standards and to grow in their teaching--have functioned in Michigan to help State Department of Education personnel, school district personnel, and university personnel collaborate to make the Michigan English Language Arts Framework…

The authors--a second grade classroom teacher and a university professor of education--decided to collaborate. Melanie wanted to find out if she could help her students increase their reading and writing comprehension by presenting a sequence of events in an activity (for example, the steps in building a house) and then have the students write the…

Examined how a statewide reform initiative, when considered a professional development opportunity, impacted teachers' capabilities to become change agents and how district contexts shaped the development of these capabilities. Interview and artifact data indicated that teachers experienced changes in personal literacy practices and views of…

The Michigan English Language Arts Framework (MELAF) offers an illustrative case of top-down and bottom-up confluences in curriculum policymaking. In several distinct ways, state policy met local initiatives to create dynamic partnerships to spread change. State systematic reformers looked to the grass roots for ideas and percolating initiatives.…

Major objectives of the Cooperative Project in Native American Development during the 1976-77 school year were: development of 8 Michigan Woodland Indian Social Studies-Language Arts curriculum packages relevant to the needs of American Indian students (K-8) in 3 Michigan school districts; and development of a series of monthly cultural enrichment…