Surveys National Council of Teachers of English Centers of Excellence to learn how good English curricula develop. Discusses the Center of Excellence's origins and development, curriculum approval process, implementation, evaluation and assessment, funding, and obstacles. Concludes that the Centers of Excellence offer a highly professional,…

Argues that, as educators embrace new technology, it is important to look at the tradeoffs. Proposes and discusses five "common denominators" that cut across media and communications technologies, past and future. Offers generalizations about common elements in all language that permit analysis and critique of the new media and help students…

Presents three fictional scenarios each based on very different kinds of facts: the very clear data of test scores, the ambiguous data of behaviors, and the concrete but infinitely interpretable data of portfolios. Notes that the data represented by the portfolio is much more appropriate to assessing language competencies than is data represented…

Considers the benefits for kindergarten through college teachers of a two-week interdisciplinary institute called the "Truckee River Community Project." Outlines the objectives and methods of this project, which focused on an intensive study of the Truckee River of the High Sierras in Nevada. Argues for the value of the personal…

Offers the author's perspective on English education in the 1970s using articles published in "English Journal" while he was editor from 1973 to 1980. (SR)

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) must take steps to ensure that proposals for reform in literacy education are based on the best research, theory, and practice of teaching as well as on the perceived needs of the public and press. NCTE members can take steps to advise legislators and school board members of some of the…

Argues that the English language arts can play a major role in arriving at practical coherence in school curricula because of the unique nature of the discipline and the unique integrative role of language in human experience. Discusses literature in interdisciplinary English and the contributions of English to interdisciplinary curriculum. (SR)

The president of the National Council of Teachers of English recommends steps for a fundamental change in literacy education including teacher training programs, smaller classes, cross curriculum programs, long-range planning for improving English instruction, and de-emphasis of standardized test scores in favor of other measures of literacy. (MJL)

Argues that English teachers must rediscover and subsequently utilize an interdisciplinary approach to reform the schools. Explores two implications for interdisciplinary study growing from a holistic, process-centered approach to English studies. Suggests that English should become the leader in an interdisciplinary future. (HB)

Offers opposing views on the value of mass testing in English. (JL)

Describes a course for preservice English teachers on descriptive grammar. Discusses definitions and aims and what to do about traditional grammar; transformational-generative grammar; language acquisition; and applied grammar. Presents teaching strategies. (RS)

Considers the revolutionary effects of including more interdisciplinary content in English and the idea of teaching English indirectly through a focus on meaning that would result in an "agenda of learning" across the disciplines. (JK)

Discusses "invisible thinking" (responsive critical analysis inseparable from content) and "hypertext" (multilayered multimedia, computer-accessed compilation of data and visual images). Argues that a curriculum focusing on these concepts is more effective in teaching the basics of initial skill mastery and the "higher…

Presenting a consistent, integrated approach to the English/language arts, this book describes integrated, research-based principles for the teaching and learning of language, accompanied by numerous examples drawn from either the author's own experiences in the schools or from the professional literature. New and expanded features in this fourth…