Contemporary research in critical multicultural education and cultural studies has demonstrated how race, class, gender, and sexual orientation affect students' educational experiences, their academic success, and the formation of their identities inside and outside of school. These studies show that youth identity--especially race, class, gender,…

An increased emphasis on writing standards has recently led many U.S. states to incorporate text-based writing assessments into their test-based accountability system. This creates political and pedagogical tensions that teachers must navigate in their classroom use of writing rubrics. While prior research has focused on rubric design and/or the…

This article addresses the importance of foregrounding social justice in teaching and assessing dispositions for preservice teachers in secondary English language arts. We provide a historical overview of dispositions and their politicization, and we address NCATE's removal of social justice and its impending return. We conclude with possibilities…

We offer this article to support ELA and other subject-area teachers as they think about why disciplinary literacy teaching is important and how to enact it in robust ways. We argue that it is critical for the improvement of students' academic literacy development and overall learning that all teachers and literacy researchers attend to the…

This article describes a writing partnership that involved university preservice teachers and ninth grade students enrolled in an integrated social studies/language arts class. While the high school students found the experience exciting and satisfying, the preservice teachers expressed anxieties and concerns as they endeavored to foster academic…

When someone uses the term "standards," one tends to assume the topic under discussion is K-12 education, but standards for teacher preparation have their own parallel history. In English teacher education, that history has two strands: the NCTE Guidelines for the Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts, which predate the "standards…

Suzanne Miller examines the meaning of shifting notions of literacy for English education, drawing on her work in a long-term digital video composing project and in an ELA teacher education class to look at teachers' engagements with this newly accessible multimodal literacy practice. She argues that English teachers need support for new kinds of…

The authors believe that teachers who have deep knowledge about different arts disciplines can and should work together to create curriculum that fosters inquiry about life itself rather than the mastery of fragmented knowledge and skills. Fine arts teachers know something different from what ELA teachers know. So curriculum that is thoughtfully…

This article explores one element of collaborative practice: the integration of English language learner-focused instruction and discussion in a secondary English methods course. Drawing on the authors' expertise, they examine revisions made to a secondary English methods course to better address the academic and individual needs of diverse…

Reviews the events leading to the publication of the journal "English Education" in 1963 and the history of the journal from what it was once to what it has become today. (TB)

Unpacks some of the problematic features of "objectives" as they are used within public school districts. Weaves together what has been learned from working directly with teachers with the historical origins of the professional practice of writing curriculum objectives. Discusses a language arts committee that was unable to produce a finished list…

Relates how the Standing Committee on Teacher Preparation and Certification of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) came together and worked together to develop guidelines on English and language arts teacher education which will stand from 1996-2006. Discusses getting from drafts to a published document. (PA)

Discusses a framework of learning outcomes on language development (produced by the State Education Department in New York) consisting of a list of language outcomes with brief definitions and a continuum of performance with detailed criteria at several points on that continuum. Describes the continuum, particular language outcomes included, and…

Examines how two teachers work through a system of collaboration and cooperation, detailing the real-life snags and complications in breaking from the tradition of individualistic approaches to learning. (TB)

Discusses a recent national survey of English language arts educators regarding middle school English. Learns that many respondents to the survey lacked knowledge about middle schools as sites for literacy learning. Notes that few English educators felt they had the necessary resources available to them for developing courses and field experiences…