2019 A YEAR OF GROWTH
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or the past eleven decades, the National Council of Teachers of English has prided itself on its commitment to being the professional home for English language arts, literacy, and writing teachers nationwide. NCTE can confidently say that in 2019 it has kept that commitment, going above and beyond to grow the Council and its members by providing educational resources, professional development opportunities, books and journals, and, most important, advocacy initiatives to improve and protect both teachers and students within the English language arts classroom. The following pages are a reflection of all the exciting things NCTE has accomplished in 2019.
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Our community is at its best when it leads with wholeheartedness—an understanding that along with our vulnerabilities and messiness, we bring significant expertise and mission-driven commitment.
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CTE is the professional home of English and literacy educators spanning PreK–university and beyond. Our 2019 year has been one of impact and growth. The Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age was updated this year and helps set the agenda as our community prepares learners to “participate effectively and critically in a networked world.” Always working with the expertise of our members, NCTE has grown its services, supports, and outreach this year. Just as literacy grows ever more responsive to our networked world, so does NCTE. In the coming pages, you will see an overview of what we have accomplished, increasing the connections to our members as well as a number of partners to further our reach. We took a stance with several new position statements, experienced growth within our publications, partnered with the Library of Congress and other literacy organizations, and offered several professional development opportunities to help build leaders and grow relationships among the English language arts community. In doing so, we are extremely proud of the continuous growth and service of students and teachers within our field. –Emily Kirkpatrick, NCTE Executive Director and Franki Sibberson, 2019 NCTE President
Statement on the Opportunity to Learn
Shifting from Professional Development to Professional Learning: Centering Teacher Empowerment
Statement on Academic Freedom
Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age
Statement on Independent Reading
The Act of Reading: Instructional Foundations and Policy Guidelines
TAKING A STANCE Position statements represent the values and practices the Council considers important in the teaching and learning of English language arts. This year, six position statements were reviewed and approved by the NCTE Executive Committee.
12 BRAND
NEW BOOKS!
NCTE provides various learning opportunities to our membership throughout the year.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING More than 800 NCTE members tuned in for a month-long discussion of one of our very own publications, Workshopping the Canon by Mary Styslinger.
For the full month of April, NCTE members celebrated 30 different poets by compiling poetry resources for their classrooms.
#AARI19 had an amazing turnout, with 152,936 participants nationwide, making literacy a significant part of Black History Month. Photographed are students at Auburndale Elementary in Louisville, Kentucky who enjoyed a variety of books read to them by community representatives.
Mariel Gardner, Stephen Beck, and Wynette Young.
LITTLE WOMEN: WHAT ENDURES? In September, members had the opportunity to participate in an online webinar featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Margo Jefferson and John Matteson along with Jan Turnquist, Executive Director of Orchard House. NCTE member Julia Torres led a thought-provoking discussion on the novel Little Women, which will be adapted as a film this December.
Margo Jefferson John Matteson
Jan Turnquist
Julia Torres
Professional learning didn't happen only
in digital spaces. We joined forces with Penguin Random House in New York City to engage NCTE members in an important conversation about racial literacy. Authors Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi (pictured above) of Tell Me Who You Are joined and led the conversation.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT L
L ed by NCTE Past President Leila Christenbury and Ken Lindblom, this was the second year of the Summer Institute supporting middle-to-senior career English teachers. The 2019 Institute attracted a 25% increase in participation. In addition to the wisdom and expertise shared by teachers in attendance, guest speakers included Kim Parker, David Bowles, Alex Corbitt, and Patricia Dunn.
THEME: How do I take my writing and reading instruction to the next level?
#TYCA19 Cheryl Hogue Smith (TYCA Chair) and Emily Kirkpatrick (NCTE Executive Director).
TYCA held its very first Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With 327 attendees from all over the nation, and 50 sessions, attendees were thrilled to be a part of this moment in NCTE history. The keynote speaker was Kiese Laymon, the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal in Nonfiction Recipient.
We had record attendance at the Leadership
& Advocacy Summit this year, hosting more than 60 participants from 26 different states, where attendees built their leadership skills and met with national leaders who are invested in literacy education. Guest speakers included Grace Eunyhe Lee, Victoria Orepitan, Peggy O’Brien, and Laura Wides-Muùoz.
affiliate leadership meeting Participants at this year's Affiliate Leadership Meeting joined from 31 states. The speakers ranged from national membership experts to national book donation organizations and of course, affiliate leaders who shared their successful statewide policy agendas. New YA author Matt Mendez spoke at the dinner and reminded us of the vital role teachers play in supporting students’ potential. The weekend also included a national membership expert as well as inspiring talks from NCTE Vice President Alfredo Celedón Luján and Past President Carol Jago.
Aurelia Dávila de Silva and Matt Mendez.
A new Squire Office opened at the University of Notre Dame with Ernest Morrell, Coyle Professor in Literacy Education and director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education, as the lead.
RESEARCH, GRANTS & PARTNERSHIPS We joined forces with many organizations this year because in order to go far, we cannot go alone. The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Resources Grant has enabled us to expand the number of ways we can help members bring primary sources, literature, poetry, and more into their classrooms.
We partnered with First Book to provide high-quality books to NCTE member schools in five states—Alabama was one of them. Hayes K–8 Elementary school was the recipient of $1,500 worth of brand-new books in the month of October.
NCTE COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS We were also fortunate enough to acquire a new group of Community Ambassadors this year. From all grade levels and different states throughout the country, the 2019–2020 Community Ambassadors include (L to R) Lee Rutherford, Jeremy Hyler, Lindsay Schneider, Lisa Castillo, Shawn Towner, Michelle Rankins, Christina Nosek, and Jessica Hunter.
NATIONAL DAY
In October, we celebrated the 11th National
We launched a brand-new WhyIWrite website.
Featured on the website was a newly designed toolkit for teachers to use within their classrooms to celebrate.
ON WRITINGÂŽ
Day on Writing in a variety of ways.
We also launched a new social generator to encourage nonliteracy professionals to make a case for why they write.
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NCTE'S 109TH ANNUAL CONVENTION More than 8,000 teachers and educators from across the nation joined together in Baltimore, Maryland, for the Annual Convention. This year we had groundbreaking attendance, over 800 sessions and more than 300 authors. Featured speakers included author and actor George Takei, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Tara Westover, Tommy Orange, and many more. For the full Convention experience, be sure to check out the recap at https://bit.ly/35nKtAM.
Teachers are the pillars of our democracy. –George Takei
SONGS OF OURSELVES
call for proposals now open! Submit by January 15! To learn more, please visit convention.ncte.org.
2020 NCTE ANNUAL CONVENTION NOVEMBER 19–22 DENVER, COLORADO