English Language Arts Professional Associations

NATIONAL

• International Reading Association IRA seeks to promote high levels of literacy for all by improving the quality of reading instruction and research.
• National Council of Teachers of English: NCTE, composed of educators in English studies, literacy, and language arts, supports research, publications, and professional development. Extensive resources on the web.
• Conference on English Leadership: An NCTE affiliate, CEL is a collaborative dynamic, discussion-based forum for English langugaea arts leaders to explore current and emerging issues. The conference is held annually directly after the NCTE conference and always in the same city. CEL publishes English Leadership Quarterly, which is included in the membership.
• American Library Association   Key action areas are diversity, continuous learning and education, equity of access, intellectual freedom, and literacy.
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development:    An international, nonprofit, nonpartisan education association committed to the success of all learners. Founded in 1943, it provides professional development in curriculum and supervision; initiates and supports activities to provide educational equity for all students; and serves as a world-class leader in education information services.
• National Association for the Education of Young Children:  Promotes excellence in early childhood education.
• National Reading Conference (NRC):  A professional organization for individuals who share an interest in research and the dissemination of information about literacy and literacy instruction
• National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME): NAME is an organization devoted to research, policy, and practice surrounding multicultural education. Inlcuded in membership is the quarterly journal Multicultural Perspectives, access to a listserv clearinghouse, and reduced entry fees for national conferences.

State

• Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts  A nonprofit organization of English and Language Arts professionals.
• Wisconsin State Reading Association:   Reading professionals promoting excellence in reading.
• Wisconsin Library Association.   Includes legislative information, membership, events, and organizational forms.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

• Cooperative Children's Book Center   CCBC is a children's and young adult literature library located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a unique and vital gathering place for all who are interested in youth literature.
• Fox Valley Writing Project: A National Writing Project affiliate, this program brings teachers together to share strategies to teach writing and improve their personal writing skills.
• WiLEARNS: WiLEARNS is designed to support the people nurturing and teaching children and adults to be accomplished readers. Parents, childcare providers, teachers and tutors will find research based information that explains that learning to read starts with a child's developing a sense of language as they listen, speak, are read to, read, and write.

  WiLEARNS provides practical information, a list of resources, and links to other websites supporting educators and parents as they work with learners of all ages engaged in the process of reading. Audio demonstrations are included in the decoding print and reading assessment sections.

SECONDARY READING

Articles and Reports

• Before It's Too Late
  ASCD found that weak reading comprehension is the reason most struggling readers have problems in middle and high school. Teachers need to create a supportive environment, encourage students to engage actively with texts, and develop peer-tutoring systems.

• Fostering High Levels of Reading and Learning in Secondary Students
  Secondary teachers can improve instruction by teaching for understanding.

• Improving the Reading Skills of Adolescents
  This writer identifies problems with reading comprehension among remedial readers at the secondary level as stemming from poor motivation, lack of experience, and egocentricity.

• Johnny Still Can't Read?
  Peggy Farber explores why high school students aren't developing the reading skills they need and what researchers suggest to address this continuing problem.

• Reaching Older Readers
  Three articles explore ways to reach high school readers.

• Reversing Reading Failure In Young Adults
  The article describes the Boys Town Reading Curriculum, as well as research and experiences from the program developed at the Boys Town Reading Center.

• Struggling Adolescent Readers
  This site links articles and reports focusing on ways to help struggling readers.

• Supporting Student Achievement in Literacy Project: Literature Review
  A teacher-focused conceptual and practical review examines the literature on effective practices for developing literacy skills with students in grades 6-9. The literature review found that the overall goal behind effective middle school literacy programs is to develop active, engaged, independent readers.

• What Secondary Teachers Can Do To Teach Reading
  This article looks at a three-step strategy for helping students delve more deeply into texts.

READING STRATEGIES

Teachers' Corner
Links to reading strategies for secondary content teachers include instructional areas such as comprehension and vocabulary.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English & Communication U.S. Department of Education Clearinghouse is dedicated to providing educational materials and services related to English language arts with links to news, lesson plans, and web resources. BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Exemplary Reading Instruction Practices - Secondary Fables, Myths, and Folkstories Reader-Response Reading Comprehension Instructional Strategies - Secondary Level Trade Books in Secondary Classroom Vocabulary Instruction in Secondary Schools LAB at Brown University
The research at LAB looks at adolescent literacy as a school-wide undertaking, research-based literacy strategies that benefit adolescents, current developments in adolescent literacy and links to Internet resources for adolescent literacy in the content area. National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA)
CELA's mission is to improve the research on teaching and learning of English language arts.

• Research that identifies the features of exemplary middle and high school instruction
  
  
• Booklet for teachers

CONTACT:Emilie Amundson, Telephone: (608) 266-3551, FAX: (608) 266-1965.

Last updated on 2/25/2008 1:42:36 PM