Current Events Archives: Articles Posted over Past 12 Months
DRAFT K-12 COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT, March 10, 2010
WASHINGTON—The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) today released the first official public draft of the K-12 standards as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a process being led by governors and chief state school officers in 51 states, territories, and the District of Columbia. These draft standards, developed together with teachers, school administrators and experts, seek to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce.
The NGA Center and CCSSO have received feedback from national organizations representing, but not limited to teachers, postsecondary education (including community colleges), civil rights groups, English language learners, and students with disabilities The NGA Center and CCSSO encourage those interested in the standards to provide further feedback by Friday, April 2, 2010, at www.corestandards.org.
Building a Better Teacher, The New York Times Magazine, March 2, 2010
Researchers are studying and defining the finer qualities used by the best teachers so those qualities can be intentionally taught to all teachers.
VDOE Schedules Extra Day for SOL Writing Tests
Decision Gives School Divisions Time to Make Up Instruction Lost to Snow
School divisions may delay administration of the essay portion of Standards of Learning (SOL) writing tests until March 17 to allow for the make up of instruction interrupted by winter storms in January and February, Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright announced today. State writing assessments also may be administered during the first week of March as originally scheduled.
Highlighting E-Readers, February 23, 2010
Even before Apple announced the iPad, higher-education technologists predicted that e-book readers were on the brink of becoming a common accessory among college students; last fall, two-thirds of campus CIOs said they believed e-readers would become an “important platform for instructional resources” within five years, according to the Campus Computing Project.
NEA's Read Across America
Grab Your Hat and Read with the Cat! Celebrate NEA's Read Across America Day
March 2 is fast approaching and NEA members across the country are mobilizing millions of students, parents, VIP readers and leaders to join the nation's largest reading celebration, are you ready? Here are ten tips to make your event Seussational.
Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Reasearch, edited by Leila Christenbury, Randy Bomer, and Peter Smagorinksky wins the 2009 NRC Edward B. Fry Book Award
Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Reasearch, edited by Leila Christenbury, Randy Bomer, and Peter Smagorinksky has won the 2009 NRC Edward B. Fry Book Award. The award was established to recognize books written or edited by members of NRC that advance knowledge about literacy, display inquiry into literacy, and show responsible intellectual risk taking.
The chair of the Award Committee has written that, "In a year with many outstanding nominations, your book was selected by the Fry Book Award Committee as the one most deserving of the award."
This year the Fry Award presentation will be held on Friday, December 4th, at the annual NRC Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Randy Bomer will accept the award this year.
VDOE to hold public hearings on proposed English SOLs
The Virginia Board of Education will hold five public hearings to solicit comments on the proposed revised English Standards of Learning.
Two public hearings will be held on November 30, 2009, at 7 p.m. at:
Fort Chiswell High School
#1 Pioneer Trail
Max Meadows, VA 24360
Linkhorne Middle School
2525 Linkhorne Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24503
Three public hearings will be held on December 1, 2009, at 7 p.m. at:
James River High School
3700 James River Road
Midlothian, VA 23113
Princess Anne High School
4400 Virginia Beach Boulevard
Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Robinson Secondary School
5035 Sideburn Road
Fairfax, VA 22032
Registration of speakers for these five public hearings will begin at 6:30 p.m. Speakers will have three minutes to speak and should bring copies of their comments for the Board.
Comments on the proposed revised English Standards of Learning may be faxed to the VDOE at (804) 786-5466 or sent via mail or e-mail until November 23, 2009, to Tracy Fair Robertson, English coordinator, at englishsol@doe.virginia.gov.
National Council of Teachers of English Announces 2009 Affiliate Excellence Award
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has awarded the 2009 NCTE Affiliate Excellence Award to the Virginia Association of Teachers of English; this is its 3rd year as an award winner. Chris Woods is the Virginia Association of Teachers of English’s current president. Virginia Association of Teachers of English is one of 8 recipients of this award.
National Council of Teachers of English Announces 2009 Affiliate Leadership Development Award
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has awarded the 2009 NCTE Affiliate Leadership Development Award, supported by Pearson Education, to Sarah L. Tanner-Anderson from Amelia, Virginia.
This award nurtures the development of new leaders within state/regional/provincial affiliates and NCTE. The award is given to early career teachers (1-5 years experience) who have never attended an NCTE Annual Convention and who have demonstrated a capacity for professional leadership as well as a willingness to join and participate in the affiliate during the upcoming academic year.
Ninety-eight Percent of Virginia Schools Meet SOL Standards
All Schools Fully Accredited in 117 School Divisions
Ninety-eight percent of Virginia’s public schools are fully accredited and meeting state standards for achievement in English, mathematics, history and science based on 2008-2009 assessment results, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) announced today. This is the highest percentage of schools reaching full accreditation since the commonwealth began accrediting schools based on student achievement ten years ago.
VATE Web site wins honorable mention for 2009
The VATE Web site, edited by Linda MacCleave, has won another award with NCTE for 2009. The VATE site won the affliate web site award in 2007 and honorable mention in 2006. VATE was ineligible to compete in 2008 because of its win in 2007. The winner for 2009 was Michigan Council of Teachers of English, http://mienglishteacher.ning.com, edited by Robert Rozema. VATE congratulates Michigan on its outstanding web site and is honored to receive honrable mention.
Virginia Students Again Meet or Exceed All NCLB Objectives, Aug 13, 2009
7 of 10 Schools also Meet Higher Benchmarks for Achievement in Reading & Mathematics
Virginia and 71 percent of the commonwealth’s public schools met or exceeded all No Child Left Behind (NCLB) objectives based on statewide testing during the 2008-2009 school year as student achievement increased in reading, mathematics and other subjects.
First Freedom Student Essay Competition 2009 / 2010: Deadlines November 23 or November 28, 2009
The First Freedom Center announces the 17th annual First Freedom Student Competition. This national essay contest offers 9th - 12th grade students an opportunity to compete for a $3,000, $1,500 and $750 award, as they examine the First Amendment and history and implementation of religious freedom in American democracy and the world today. Online registration by participating students is required on or before Monday, November 23, 2009. The postmark deadline for mailing in the essay and its accompanying entry materials is Saturday, November 28. For the topic, guidelines, classroom poster, student flyer, registration and supporting educational materials, visit www.firstfreedom.org; and then click on the red First Freedom Student Competition button (center column)
Adria Merritt named Greensville County's Teacher of the Year
VATE's president-elect, Adria Merritt has been named Greensville County's Teacher of the Year. Each of the schools in the Greensville system had one of their own named Teacher of the Year and it was from those four that a final selection was made. Adria will now continue on at the next level of competition.
Writing in the 21st Century: A report from the National Council of Teachers of English
By NCTE Past President, Kathleen Blake Yancey, Florida State University, Tallahassee
A Call to Support 21st Century Writing
Today, in the 21st century, people write as never before—in print and online. We thus face three challenges that are also opportunities: developing new models of writing; designing a new curriculum supporting those models; and creating models for teaching that curriculum.
Historically, we humans have experienced an impulse to write; we have found the materials to write; we have endured the labor of composition; we have understood that writing offers new possibility and a unique agency. Historically, we composers pursued this impulse to write in spite of—in spite of cultures that devalued writing; in spite of prohibitions against it when we were female or a person of color; in spite of the fact that we—if we were 6 or 7 or 8 or even 9—were told we should read but that we weren’t ready to compose. In spite of.
It’s time for us to join the future and support all forms of 21st century literacies, inside school and outside school. For in this time and in this place we want our kids—in our classrooms, yes, and in our families, on our streets and in our neighborhoods, across this wide country and, indeed, around the world—to “grow up in a society that values knowledge and hard work and public spirit over owning stuff and looking cool.” (Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion)
Take Part in the National Day on Writing October 20, 2009
Writing is a daily practice for millions of Americans. But few notice how integral writing has become to daily life in the 21st century.
To draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in and help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft, NCTE is working to establish October 20, 2009, as the National Day on Writing.
For more information, visit http://www.ncte.org/action/dayonwriting
Making Reading a Part of Summer Fun, Washington Post, June 18, 2009
Program Pushes Students to Pick Up a Book Over the Break
Every fall, it seems, Watkins Mill High School's English teachers confront the same realization when a new school year begins: Kids just don't like summer reading.
Last August, for example, at least one-third of students returning for the 2008-09 school year had not read the preceding summer's books, which included "The Catcher in the Rye," "The Scarlet Letter," "The Stranger" and "A Farewell to Arms," English resource teacher Wendy Farmer said. Reading a book sometimes can seem like an exercise with a different language for students accustomed to the teenage dialect of text-messaging and chatting online.
"It's always an uphill battle," Farmer said. "When they have to actually read a book, well, kids are impatient, and wrestling with [written] text takes time."
So as the 1,800 Watkins Mills students head into another summer, the Gaithersburg school is taking a novel approach: More than 100 teachers and staff each chose a book to read this summer. Students then picked one of those books. When classes resume, they will discuss the book with classmates, in groups led by the staff member who made the original selection.