2022 CEL Annual Convention Program

Conference on English Leadership

CEL Executive Committee

Christopher Bronke, Downers Grove North High School, IL, Chair (2020–2022)

Emily Meixner, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, Associate Chair (2020–2022)

Janice Schwarze, Downers Grove North High School, IL, Past Chair (2020–2022)

Ann Marie Quinlan, Lincoln, NE, Secretary (2018–2022)

Natalie Croney, Warren East High School, Bowling Green, KY, Member-at-Large (2020–2023)

Zackory Kirk, Decatur, GA, Member-at-Large (2019–2022)

Shari Krapels, Glen Rock School District, Glen Rock, NJ, Member-at-Large (2020–2023)

Shervette Miller-Payton, K–12 English language arts curriculum coordinator, GA, Member-at-Large (2021–2024)

Susan Ritter, Cranford Public Schools, NJ, Member-at-Large (2019–2022)

Cathline Tanis, Piscataway High School, NJ, Member-at-Large (2021–2024)

Ex Officio Members

Henry Cody Miller, SUNY Brockport, Editor, English Leadership Quarterly

Elsie Lindy Olan, University of Central Florida, Nominations Chair

2022 Contents

4 Convention Program Chair Welcome 5 CEL Chair Welcome 6–7 Program-at-a-Glance 8 Topic Strands 9 2022 CEL Award Recipients 10 Sunday Opening Session & Keynote Speaker 11

A Sessions: Sunday, 3:30–4:30 p.m. 12

B Sessions: Sunday, 4:40–5:40 p.m. 13 Monday Breakfast, Opening Session, & Keynote Speaker 14

C Sessions: Monday, 9:30–10:30 a.m. 15

D Sessions: Monday, 10:45–11:45 a.m. 16 Monday Luncheon & Keynote Speaker 17

E Sessions: Monday, 2:00–3:00 p.m. 18

Problems of Practice Sessions: Monday, 3:10–3:50 p.m. 19

F Sessions: Monday, 4:00–5:00 p.m. 20 Tuesday Breakfast, Opening Session, & Keynote Speaker 21

G Sessions: Tuesday, 9:30–10:30 a.m. 21

H Sessions: Tuesday, 10:40–11:40 a.m. 21

Problems of Practice Roundtables: 11:50 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 22 2023 CEL Annual Convention Call for Proposals 23 Map

Professional and Continuing Education Credit Available

CEL has partnered with the University of San Diego to provide professional and continuing education credit to CEL members who attend the 2022 CEL Convention. Attendees can earn 1.0 graduate-level extension credits in se mester hours. Learn more and apply at http://bit.ly/2022-CEL-Cont-Ed-Credits

CONVENTION PROGRAM CHAIR WELCOME

Nicholas A. Emmanuele

Planning our Convention in community with the Conference on English Leader ship Executive Committee, our NCTE colleagues, and each presenter has been a joy. I think back to when I was a child and followed my grandfather around Cheek towaga Town Park outside of Buffalo, NY. My grandfather (“Dziadz,” in Polish) was on the committee for our Polish American Heritage Festival and would go to the park each morning to check in with vendors, the food providers, and maintenance staff to make sure everyone was taken care of. We would grab some placek and sit with his friends on the committee who would camp in their trailer near the stage. I learned from Dziadz that events meant community, in so many ways. While he planned for an event featuring our Polish American heritage, he also worked with people so they knew they were seen and appreciated. He wanted others to feel the same way when they arrived that evening to eat pierogi and dance the polka.

It is my hope that you each feel welcomed to our space here in Anaheim to explore, learn, and grow together. I was first introduced to CEL in 2016 when I happened to sit next to our current Associate Chair Emily Meixner at the ALAN Breakfast to hear S.E. Hinton’s address. Emily invited me to CEL, and here I am, six years later. Matt Morone and Heather Rocco separately asked me to co-present with them in 2018, and their gracious invitations have gotten me hooked on conference presentations ever since. More importantly, they supported me as a fledgling department chair and let me know I had experiences that were worth sharing. As a mentee in our Emerging Leader Fellowship program built my capacity as well. Those of you who have joined us at a CEL Convention before have similar stories; for those who are here for your first time, I hope each of you here will find new professional and personal connections that will carry you into your futures. I have found my professional home here at CEL, and I hope many of you do—or will—as well. I know smaller gatherings can feel cliquish, but we have built our CEL22 event to be invigorating, welcoming, and inclusive.

Our theme this year, “Leading Literacy Coalitions: From Classrooms to Community,” represents, to me, the power of this organization: community. Communities cannot stay stagnant, and we cannot ask others to assimilate into existing structures; we must always grow, adapt, shift, and become something new. How do we honor and mobilize communities for the betterment of students? In what ways can we build collaborative teams? What are strategies to effectively facilitate joyful gatherings? What happens when communities are divided? The offerings throughout our Convention work to help us explore these questions and challenges. As you listen to our featured speakers and learn from one another in concurrent sessions, problem-of-practice discussions, our social hours, or facilitated dinners, I hope we continually transform CEL into an organization that works for you so that we can lead literacy efforts among each of our teams and communities.

Thank you (Dziękuję!) for journeying here and for choosing to be with us. Community is an active process, and I am so excited to see what we construct together.

Mr. Nicholas A. Emmanuele (he/him/his)

2022 Conference on English Leadership Annual Convention Program Chair

English Teacher and Department Chair, McDowell Intermediate High School, Erie, PA

(Now more than ever) The ways in which we process, discuss, approach, and plan for our classrooms have been, perhaps—and if we are lucky enough and work hard enough at it—forever altered; however, that is all the more reason why the ways in which we process, discuss, approach, and plan for our literacy communi ties are more important than ever. To that end, I am grateful that this year’s theme is what it is: “Leading Literacy Coalitions: From Classrooms to Communities.”

At our core, CEL strives to provide a community, a coalition to us and for us all—not because we have to but because we are obligated to. To envoke my least favorite phrase of the last few years, “now more than ever” . . . .

(Now more than ever) We are called to authentically and critically define or redefine what this work truly means. We are called to ask ourselves:

(Now more than ever) How will—not “do,” but WILL—I redefine/reshape the ways I lead literacy, or for that matter, what literacy even means? How do I define literacy in 2022 and beyond, after/during a global pandemic?

How will I reconsider or rethink what it means to be part of a coalition and why that matters (now more than ever)?

And more so, (now more than ever) how will I work with and to create communities? How will I consider what an educational community is—for me, for my classroom, for my team, for my depart ment, for my school, for my district, for my state, and for us, as a nation?

(Now more than ever) Leadership knows no titles; literacy leadership knows no titles . . . they only know the passion, the compassion, the empathy, the tears, the hugs, the laughter, the breakdowns, and the raise-ups.

So as we finally gather again in person these next few days, together in all the ways we both knew and never knew we needed, ask yourself, what did I miss most these last two years?

And then go find it!

Because I can promise you the Conference on English Leadership and Nicholas Emmanuele, our incredibly deliberate and wonderfully purposeful program chair, have developed for us all the time, space, content, and love to leave here being better leaders, thinking more critically about literacy, and having developed (now more than ever) coalitions and communities none of us could have imagined. For that, we are both grateful and lucky.

Conference on English Leadership Chair 2020–2022

Downers Grove North High School, Illinois

Christopher Bronke

Christopher Bronke

PROGRAM-AT-A-GLANCE

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20

1:45–2:20 p.m. Opening Session

California Ballroom A

2:20–3:20 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Sheldon Eakins California Ballroom A

3:30–4:30 p.m.

A.01 From a Room to a Zoom: Leading Literacy at the State and National Levels

A.02 How (and Why) We Created ELA Curriculum for Our District

A.03 I Wanted to Engage My Students with the Writing Process . . . So I Became a Living Poet

A.04 Light in the “Never-Ending Shade”: A Project-Based Exploration of Amanda Gorman’s Theme with Three Different Student Populations

A.05 Leading through Hard Times: A Pedagogy of Connection

4:40–5:40 p.m.

B.01 Empowering Leadership Teams

B.02 Foster Curiosity, Fuel Collaboration: Teach Students and Faculty to Ask Better Questions with the QFT

B.03 I’ll Bloom Right Here, Thank You: Elevating Student Voices for a “Woke” and Urban-Ready Community

B.04 Inquiry in the Classroom

B.05 The Value of Virtual Professional Development Communities: How One State Works to Empower and Elevate Educators with Comprehensive Learning Opportunities

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4 Catalina 3

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4 Catalina 3

5:40–6:45 p.m. Social Hour (included) California Ballroom A 7:00 p.m. Facilitated Dinners (at local establishments, on your own)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

7:30–8:20 a.m. Breakfast and Opening Remarks California Ballroom A

8:20–9:20 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Isaac Huang California Ballroom A 9:30–10:30 a.m.

C.01 Growing Writers, Not Grading Writing

C.02 Leading New Literacy Initiatives in New Roles

C.03 Leading the School Where All Students Succeed!

C.04 Meeting Better: Purposes and Protocols to Maximize Productivity

C.05 Supporting Novice and Early Career Teachers through K–12 and College Partnerships

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4 Catalina 3

10:45–11:45 a.m.

D.01 A 30-Day Writing Habit: Developing a Community of Teacher-Writers

D.02 Activate Your Community of Practice through Intentional, Actionable, and Empowering Feedback

D.03 Beyond Book Lists: Texts and Tools to Build Community

D.04 Growing New Leaders in Your School and District: Methods for Empowering Teachers and Expanding Their Leadership Avenues

D.05 Partnering to Help All Kids Learn: Transformational Literacy Leadership

D.06 Transformative Protocols to Address the Influence of Hate Groups in School Communities

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4 Catalina 3 Catalina 2

12:00–12:45 p.m. Lunch (included) California Ballroom A

12:45–1:45 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Lee Ann Jung California Ballroom A

2:00–3:00 p.m.

PROGRAM-AT-A-GLANCE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 CONTINUED

E.01 Building a Collaborative Community of Literacy Leaders through the Launch of a Regionally Facilitated English/Language Arts Cohort

E.02 CÀ PHÊ SỮA ĐÁ & BÁNH MÌ | The History of Colonialism, Imperialism, and Militarism in Vietnam from the Vietnamese American Perspective

E.03 Collaborative Literacy Communities with EL and Special Education Students

E.04 Learning Together as Educators: Supporting Teacher Learning through Mathematizing Children’s Literature

E.05 Preparing in an Era of Pushback: Guiding Planning for the Teaching of Diverse Books

E.06 Leading Antibias and Antiracist Community-Building in English/ELA Departments

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4 Catalina 3 Catalina 2

3:10–3:50 p.m.

PP.01 How can I plan, prepare, and publish with CEL’s English Leadership Quarterly?

PP.02 What can literacy leaders do to support novice teachers?

PP.04 How could better collaboration between high school teachers and first-year college writing instructors impact student writing?

PP.05 How do we engage with and discuss the “science of reading” while honoring teachers’ current practices?

PP.06 What are ways in which we can build community between parents and schools?

4:00–5:00 p.m.

F.01 Building a Literacy Ecosystem: Our Collective Responsibility

F.05 Building a Professional Learning Community for Social Justice using Young Adult and Children’s Literature

F.02 Challenging the Poverty Narrative through Children’s Literature

F.03 Growing and Sustaining Literacy Leaders

F.04 Inclusive Innovation: Community Led Solutions to Challenges in Adolescent Writing in Two School Districts

6:00 p.m. Social Hour (at a local establishment, on your own)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 4 Catalina 3 Catalina 2

Catalina 7 Catalina 3 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4

8:00–8:30 a.m. Coffee/Breakfast and Opening California Ballroom A 8:30–9:20 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Sarah Rafael García California Ballroom A 9:30–10:30 a.m.

G.01 Co-Constructing Meaning of Literacy Projects in Order to “Honor, Develop, and Enact” Literacy Practices within the Communities of Students and Teachers

G.02 Grading as a Process, Not a Product: Reflecting on How Assessment Practices Need to Mirror Composition Studies’ Knowledge of Writing as a Process

G.03 Literacy for Liberation: A Community’s Counter Story

G.04 Resuscitating Professional Learning: Opportunities in and out of PLC Spaces

Catalina 7 Catalina 6 Catalina 5 Catalina 4

10:40–11:40 a.m.

H.01 Centering Leadership in Literacy by Understanding Diversity: Building Trust, Culture, and Reflective Practice

H.03 Enhancing Student Literacy Learning: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach

H.04 Learning Together: Conversations on Academic Writing Tutoring in a Community High School

Catalina 7 Catalina 5 Catalina 4

11:50 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Problems of Practice Roundtables California Ballroom A

TOPIC STRANDS

COACHING TEACHERS

A.04 Light in the “Never-Ending Shade”: A Project-Based Exploration of Amanda Gorman’s Theme with Three Different Student Populations

B.05 The Value of Virtual Professional Development Communities: How One State Works to Empower and Elevate Educators with Comprehensive Learning Opportunities

C.05 Supporting Novice and Early Career Teachers through K–12 and College Partnerships

D.02 Activate Your Community of Practice through Intentional, Actionable, and Empowering Feedback

D.03 Beyond Book Lists: Texts and Tools to Build Community

E.04 Learning Together as Educators: Supporting Teacher Learning through Mathematizing Children’s Literature

F.05 Building a Professional Learning Community for Social Justice using Young Adult and Children’s Literature

G.02 Grading as a Process Not a Product: Reflecting on How Assessment Practices Need to Mirror Composition Studies’ Knowledge of Writing as a Process

H.03 Enhancing Student Literacy Learning: A CrossDisciplinary Approach

CONNECTING COMMUNITIES

A.05 Leading through Hard Times: A Pedagogy of Connection

B.03 I’ll Bloom Right Here, Thank You: Elevating Student Voices for a “Woke” and Urban-Ready Community

C.03 Leading the School Where All Students Succeed!

D.06 Transformative Protocols to Address the Influence of Hate Groups in School Communities

E.02 CÀ PHÊ SỮA ĐÁ & BÁNH MÌ | The History of Colonialism, Imperialism, and Militarism in Vietnam from the Vietnamese American Perspective

F.02 Challenging the Poverty Narrative through Children’s Literature

G.03 Literacy for Liberation: A Community’s Counter Story

H.04 Learning Together: Conversations on Academic Writing Tutoring in a Community High School

CREATING POSSIBILITIES

A.03 I Wanted to Engage My Students with the Writing Process . . . So I Became a Living Poet

B.04 Inquiry in the Classroom

C.01 Growing Writers, Not Grading Writing

D.01 A 30-Day Writing Habit: Developing a Community of Teacher-Writers

E.03 Collaborative Literacy Communities with EL and Special Education Students

F.04 Inclusive Innovation: Community Led Solutions to Challenges in Adolescent Writing in Two School Districts

MOBILIZING TEAMS

A.01 From a Room to a Zoom: Leading Literacy at the State and National Levels

A.02 How (and Why) We Created ELA Curriculum for Our District

B.01 Empowering Leadership Teams

C.04 Meeting Better: Purposes and Protocols to Maximize Productivity

D.05 Partnering to Help All Kids Learn: Transformational Literacy Leadership

E.01 Building a Collaborative Community of Literacy Leaders through the Launch of a Regionally Facilitated English/ Language Arts Cohort

E.06 Leading Antibias and Antiracist Community-Building in English/ELA Departments

F.01 Building a Literacy Ecosystem: Our Collective Responsibility

G.04 Resuscitating Professional Learning: Opportunities in and out of PLC Spaces

PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE

PP.01 How can I plan, prepare, and publish with CEL’s English Leadership Quarterly?

PP.02 What can literacy leaders do to support novice teachers?

PP.04 How could better collaboration between high school teachers and first-year college writing instructors impact student writing?

PP.05 How do we engage with and discuss the “science of reading” while honoring teachers’ current practices?

PP.06 What are ways in which we can build community between parents and schools?

SUPPORTING LEADERS

B.02 Foster Curiosity, Fuel Collaboration: Teach Students and Faculty to Ask Better Questions with the QFT

C.02 Leading New Literacy Initiatives in New Roles

D.04 Growing New Leaders in Your School and District: Methods for Empowering Teachers and Expanding Their Leadership Avenues

E.05 Preparing in an Era of Pushback: Guiding Planning for the Teaching of Diverse Books

F.03 Growing and Sustaining Literacy Leaders

G.01 Co-Constructing Meaning of Literacy Projects in Order to “Honor, Develop, and Enact” Literacy Practices within the Communities of Students and Teachers

H.01 Centering Leadership in Literacy by Understanding Diversity: Building Trust, Culture, and Reflective Practice

All sessions fall under one of these topic strands. Starting on page 11, you will find complete session descriptions, room numbers, presenter names, and strand information.

2022 CEL AWARD RECIPIENTS

Awards will be presented at the Opening Session, Sunday, Nov. 20, 1:45–2:20 p.m. PT. California Ballroom A

CEL Kent Williamson Exemplary Leader Award

This award is given annually to an NCTE member who is an outstanding English language arts educator and leader. It recog nizes those who have had an ongoing impact on the profession through work that has focused on exceptional teaching and/ or leadership practices; contributions to the profession through involvement at the local, regional, and national levels; and/or presentations, workshops, and publications that have had an im pact upon school leaders. The award is named in honor of Kent D. Williamson (1957–2015), who served as NCTE’s Executive Director from 2000 to 2015.

Cathy Fleischer recently retired from Eastern Michigan University after 32 years as an English education professor. A former high school teacher, Cathy continues to support teachers through workshops and collaborations about the teaching of writ ing and teacher action research at local, state, and national levels. Author and editor of numerous books and articles, her most recent work surrounds Everyday Advocacy, helping teachers learn strategic ways to change the public narra tive on literacy education. Cathy has served as co-editor of the journal English Education; co-director of the Eastern Michigan Writing Project; and co-founder of YpsiWrites, a community writing center. She is also developmental editor for NCTE’s Principles in Practice imprint.

CEL Innovative Leadership Award

This award recognizes an early- or mid-career leader and NCTE member who has shown innovative leadership at the local, regional, and/or national level or for innovative approaches to teaching and/or professional development through new and progressive methods and delivery models.

Jenelle Williams is a Literacy Consultant at Oakland Schools, an intermediate school district supporting 28 districts in Oakland County, Michigan. She joined the organiza tion in 2017 following 18 years of experi ence in public schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She has served as a classroom teacher, International Baccalaureate Mid dle Years Programme Coordinator, IB Educator and Examiner, and instructional coach. She holds an Education Specialist in Leadership and a Master’s degree in Reading and Language Arts. Jenelle works with teachers, building leaders, and central office administrators throughout Michigan as cochair of the statewide Disciplinary Literacy Task Force.

CEL Teacher-Leader of Excellence Award

This award recognizes a classroom educator who leads the way of literacy instruction by sharing their work with others at local and/or national levels.

Amy Salamone is a proud public school teacher of high school English for over 30 years and a committed member of the Capital District Writing Project in Albany, New York. Amy believes in the power of reading and writing to change the world and knows that teachers live in the pos sibilities and help dreams come true.

2022 CEL English Leadership Quarterly Best Article Award

“Adventures in Gamification and Personalized Learning: A Case Study in Game-Based Course Design” (February 2021) by Robert D. Ford, North Branford Public Schools, CT

Robert Ford, the 6–12 ELA Department Leader for North Branford Public Schools in Connecticut, has taught high school English for 17 years. He has published articles in The English Journal, English Leadership Quarterly, and The Explicator, and also presented at numerous confer ences on subjects ranging from educational technology to ELA design and instruction. He serves on the executive boards of the Connecticut Council of Teachers of English as well as the New England Association of Teachers of English, affiliates of NCTE. His research interests include game-based course design and its potential to reshape our understanding of assessment and achievement.

Honorable Mention: “Writing-Rich Workshops as Pathways for Transformative Teacher Learning” (August 2021) by Christine M. Dawson, Siena College, Loudonville, NY, and Nicole Sieben, SUNY Old Westbury, NY

awards

1:45–2:20 p.m. California Ballroom A

OPENING SESSION

2:20–3:20 p.m. California Ballroom A

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

The Legend of Zelda: How to Defeat the Evil Ganon and Harness Your Triforce of Power

FEATURED SPEAKER: SHELDON L. EAKINS

Introduction by: Nicholas Emmanuele

Leading change in any capacity can be difficult. The opposi tion may reveal its evil head when seeking buy-in from teach ers and administration. As literacy leaders, we have the op portunity to help students engage in content that allows them to see themselves within the curriculum. In this session, I’ll discuss the value of utilizing Power, Wisdom, and Courage to lead coalitions from classrooms to communities.

Sheldon L. Eakins, PhD, is the founder of the Leading Equity Center and host of the Leading Equity Podcast. With more than eleven years in education, he has served as a teacher, a principal, and a director of special education. Sheldon has a passion for helping educators accomplish equitable practices in their schools. He has earned a BS degree in social science education, an MS degree in educational leadership, and a PhD in K–12 education. You can find him on Instagram at @sheldoneakins and on Twitter at @sheldoneakins.

p.m.

Mobilizing Teams

A.01 From a Room to a Zoom: Leading Literacy at the State and National Levels

Room: Catalina 7

An English language arts director from a state education agency discusses the ways that an in-person, state consor tium influences a virtual, national collaborative of state literacy leaders. Participants will be asked to reflect on how to apply these insights to their own realms of influence.

Presenter: Jason Stephenson, Oklahoma State Department of Education

Mobilizing Teams

A.02 How (and Why) We Created ELA Curriculum for Our District

Room: Catalina 6

This session explores how the ELA team at The School District of Philadelphia created communities of teach ers and coaches to develop a curriculum that elevates diverse voices, addresses hard histories, and is driven by a text-centered approach that prioritizes rigor and knowledge-building.

Presenters: Christine Chang, The School District of Philadelphia Alison McMonagle, The School District of Philadelphia

Creating Possibilities

A.03 I Wanted to Engage My Students with the Writing Process . . . So I Became a Living Poet Room: Catalina 5

Poetry, especially spoken word poetry, is the bridge to empowered, motivated writers. Through engaging workshop exercises, participants will trek the “road not taken” to poetry and leave with renewed, refreshed understandings about writing instruction. Co-presenters will devise solutions to common learning community barriers and discuss their research implications for K–12 and university settings.

Presenters: Elsie Lindy Olan, University of Central Florida Julie Pantano, Saint Johns County Schools: Ocean Palms Elementary School

Coaching Teachers

A.04 Light in the “Never-Ending Shade”: A ProjectBased Exploration of Amanda Gorman’s Theme with Three Different Student Populations Room: Catalina 4

Three classes in different geographical and varied student populations used the theme of Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb” as a foundation for this project-based learning experience. Deborah will share experiences, tech nological issues and challenges, some of the final student projects, and reflections that resulted from this virtual collaboration.

Presenter: Deborah Velto, River Branch Academics

Connecting Communities

A.05 Leading through Hard Times: A Pedagogy of Connection Room: Catalina 3

How do we create a community of hope with our teach ers during trying times? Now more than ever, schools and leaders are realizing the importance of building connec tions within and between departments, fostering critical hope that comes from building and leading for equity, jus tice, and dignity. This workshop will explore how investing in a pedagogy of connection has the capacity to build staff morale, re-center humanity in our craft, and see us through turbulent times.

Presenter: Cathline Tanis, North Plainfield School District

Mobilizing Teams

B.01 Empowering Leadership Teams

Room: Catalina 7

This interactive session will focus on strategies for em powering adult leadership teams: developing individual efficacy of team members, exploring leadership styles, helping teams maximize their strengths and understand others’ challenges, and establishing supportive and pro ductive meeting practices and protocols. Participants also will discuss the importance of a strengths-based approach to leading.

Presenter: Janice Schwarze, Downers Grove North High School

Supporting Leaders

B.02 Foster Curiosity, Fuel Collaboration: Teach Students and Faculty to Ask Better Questions with the QFT

Room: Catalina 6

How can we facilitate better classroom and school conversa tions where all students and faculty participate, collaborate, and approach challenges with curiosity? Experience the Ques tion Formulation Technique, a simple, powerful protocol that teaches students and adults to ask and pursue their own questions. Leave ready to use the strategy in academic and administrative settings.

Presenters: Katy Connolly, The Right Question Institute Dana Huff, Worcester Academy Rika Drea, Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences

Connecting Communities

B.03 I’ll Bloom Right Here, Thank You: Elevating Student Voices for a “Woke” and Urban-Ready Community

Room: Catalina 5

In this session, we explore the journey of one high-need urban elementary school working to elevate, celebrate, and leverage the lives of its students to promote learning. Stu dents, teachers, coaches, and district leaders collaborate to implement a change idea that invites all learners to bloom in the shared academic space as part of a Read Woke unit of study.

Presenters: Sandra Hogue, Jefferson County Public Schools

Angela Hosch, Jefferson County Public Schools Lydia Tharp, Jefferson County Public Schools

Creating Possibilities

B.04 Inquiry in the Classroom Room: Catalina 4

Inquiry encourages students to explore their lives and worlds, engage in ongoing research, and become active agents for change. This presentation will explore approaches to inquiry in ELA classrooms by discussing multiple models of inquiry and sharing student work and resources.

Presenters: Jessica Gallo, University of Nevada, Reno Bailey Herrmann, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

Coaching Teachers

B.05 The Value of Virtual Professional Development Communities: How One State Works to Empower and Elevate Educators with Comprehensive Learning Opportunities Room: Catalina 3

In this session, three state literacy specialists will share lessons learned while creating and facilitating statewide learning during a pandemic. Find out how to create a network of learners within your own school, district, or state. Attendees will leave with tools and resources to feel empowered to facilitate their own ongoing comprehensive professional development.

Presenters: Sarah Bondy, Arizona Department of Education Lauren Spenceley, Arizona Department of Education Maggie Velazquez, Arizona Department of Education

MONDAY

NOVEMBER 21

7:30–8:20 a.m. California Ballroom A

BREAKFAST AND OPENING REMARKS

8:20–9:20 a.m. California Ballroom A

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Invisible to Visible: Developing Leadership Affinity Groups

FEATURED SPEAKER: ISAAC HUANG

Introduction by: Norman Sales

Similar to other historically marginalized groups, Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) have faced stereotypes and false assumptions that have impeded the development of truly embracing inclusive schools that promote cul turally responsive practices. Learn about the unique challenges of the API community that led to the formal development of CAAPLE, the first statewide API organization for educational leaders in the K–12 field.

Isaac Huang is a firm believer in growth mindsets and building a culture of active learners. He is focused on equity and diversity and currently serves on the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s Inaugural Equity Task Force. Furthermore, he is an advocate for the power of mentorship. A graduate of the CALSA Mentoring Program Cohort 12, Isaac dedicates his free time to serving others through his work on the CALSA Mentor ing Committee and is working with fellow Asian administrators in the formal development of CAAPLE (California Association of Asian & Pacific Leaders in Education).

He started his career teaching toddlers and preschool-aged children before becoming an elementary school teacher and then a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) focused on curriculum and second language acquisi tion. Isaac has also spent time teaching learners at Rose City Continua tion High School in Pasadena and postsecondary candidates in the MAT Program at the University of Southern California as an adjunct professor. He has served as assistant principal at both the elementary and middle school levels. He is currently the principal and lead learner at Madrona Elementary, which supports the moderate and severe special education needs of children in the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

Creating Possibilities

C.01 Growing Writers Not Grading Writing

Room: Catalina 7

Well-made rubrics create a community of writers, foster equitable learning goals, and center students as the drivers of their own literacy. In our interactive, practical session, we will discuss common pitfalls of rubric creation. We will explore activities that reframe the use of rubrics, and how the use of rubrics for feedback, not grading, invites stu dents into the writing community.

Presenters: Caytlin Ward, NLMUSD Amy K. Conley, Cal Poly Humboldt

Supporting Leaders

C.02 Leading New Literacy Initiatives in New Roles

Room: Catalina 6

This session focuses on how people with new literacy roles can flourish in their new positions, as we are both new lit eracy coaches at a school district with a brand new literacy initiative. We will discuss the challenges we have faced so far after five months in our new roles and what we wish we knew before we started in order to make our transition from classroom teacher to literacy leader smoother.

Presenters: Taren Hendricks, Goshen County School District Kelsey Walker, Goshen County School District

Connecting Communities

C.03 Leading the School Where All Students Succeed!

Room: Catalina 5

How do we build the capacity of our leaders to create sustainable literacy practices that value and honor the com munities served and empower student agency? Cultural Proficiency is a worldview that reflects commitment to serving students in unprecedented ways and requires trans formational leadership to move a staff. YOU can be that leader! We will provide the tools to get you started.

Presenter: Melissa Murray, Madera County Superintendent of Schools

a.m.

Mobilizing Teams

C.04 Meeting Better: Purposes and Protocols

to Maximize Productivity

Room: Catalina 4

This interactive session will ask participants to reflect upon their experiences leading and attending meetings, work collaboratively with colleagues to problem-solve common issues with meetings, explore how Universal Design for Learning can help remove barriers, and invite participants to use/engage in a protocol of their choosing (which could be used in a meeting tomorrow).

Presenters: Christopher Bronke, Downers Grove North High School Erin Ludwick, Downers Grove North High School

Coaching Teachers

C.05 Supporting Novice and Early Career Teachers

through K–12 and College Partnerships

Room: Catalina 3

In this session, we will explore the ways in which K–12 and college partnerships can provide support, mentor ing, and leadership opportunities for new and early career teachers. We will look specifically at three models of reciprocal professional development, highlighting their possibilities as well as strategizing to solve logistical and institutional challenges.

Presenters: Emily Meixner, The College of New Jersey Rachel Scupp-Jorge, Thomas R. Grover Middle School

a.m.

Creating Possibilities

D.01 A 30-Day Writing Habit: Developing a Community of Teacher-Writers Room: Catalina 7

A 30-Day Writing Habit is a district-wide initiative that encourages educators to join a virtual writing community and welcome the new year by launching a writing habit. This interactive session will share strategies for developing a district-wide writing initiative and will invite participants to engage in and discuss several of the writing and reflection prompts from 2022.

Presenter: Jill Davidson, Anglophone West School District

Coaching Teachers

D.02 Activate Your Community of Practice through Intentional, Actionable, and Empowering Feedback Room: Catalina 6

Accept the challenge of fostering a culture of feedback in your community. In this “feedback clinic,” you will learn, observe, and rehearse. Through a series of scenarios, you will discover methods and routines for feedback that grow Tier 1 instruction. Walk away with a plan for providing meaningful feedback, tools that support best practices, and confidence to grow the agency of others.

Presenters: Alissa Crabtree, Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts

Pattie Parker, Above Ground Media

Coaching Teachers

D.03 Beyond Book Lists: Texts and Tools to Build Community Room: Catalina 5

Using a framework of C.A.R.E., participants will reflect on texts, tools, and resources such as Bookelicious and Bring Me a Book and leave with an abundance of ideas—beyond book lists—that can complement reading and writing workshops and units of study, or foster stand-alone lessons that strengthen caring, responsive, and inclusive whole school communities.

Presenter: JoEllen McCarthy, The Educator Collaborative

Supporting Leaders

D.04 Growing New Leaders in Your School and District: Methods for Empowering Teachers and Expanding Their Leadership Avenues Room: Catalina 4

An often underutilized source of leadership in schools resides in classroom teachers. Classroom teachers hold a wealth of instructional knowledge and know-how in meeting the strengths and needs of all students, and they already have relationships developed with other teachers on staff. Join us to learn specific methods to support teachers in becoming valuable school and district leaders.

Presenters: Christina Nosek, Lucille Nixon School Amie Reed, O’Fallon District 90

Mobilizing Teams

D.05 Partnering to Help All Kids Learn: Transformational Literacy Leadership Room: Catalina 3

In this session, participants will engage in discussions about systems-level transformational leadership for literacy with literacy leaders at NWEA who are supporting the organization’s evolution into a teaching and learning organization. Participants will leave with practical ways to be transformational literacy leaders in their schools or districts.

Presenters: John Luke Bell, NWEA Miah Daughtery, NWEA Amy Schmidt, NWEA Sharon Stroman, NWEA

Connecting Communities

D.06 Transformative Protocols to Address the Influence of Hate Groups in School Communities Room: Catalina 2

This session will lead participants through scenarios arising in the increasingly divisive climate our students navigate today. Using protocols developed by the Western States Center’s Confronting White Nationalism in Schools Project, participants will gain insights and practical tools for addressing the racism, conspiracy, and hatred that is infiltrating our nation’s communities and classrooms.

Presenter: Jan Stallones, Western States Center, University of Northern Colorado

MONDAY

NOVEMBER 21

12:00–12:45 p.m. California Ballroom A

LUNCH 12:45–1:45 p.m. California Ballroom A

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Your Students, My Students, Our Students: Rethinking Equitable and Inclusive Classrooms

FEATURED SPEAKER: LEE ANN JUNG

Introduction by: Mary Luckritz

In this session, Lee Ann challenges the traditional views of general and special education and the result ing identities of educators. Participants actively explore and analyze concepts of school culture and climate for inclusive learning. Lee Ann presents universal design for learning and a tiered approach to supports as solutions to bring greater equity in outcomes for students.

Lee Ann Jung, Ph.D., is the CEO of  Lead Inclusion , a clinical professor at San Diego State University, and a consultant to schools worldwide. She provides support to schools in the areas of universal design for learning, inclusion, intervention, and mastery-based assessment and grading. Before beginning a career in higher educa tion, she worked in special education in the roles of teach er and administrator. She is a former full professor and director of international partnerships in the University of Kentucky College of Education. Lee Ann has authored 6 books and more than 45 journal articles and book chapters and has served as associate editor for  Young Excep tional Children  (YEC), section editor for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Education, and guest editor and editorial board member of  Topics in Early Childhood Special Educa tion  and the  Journal of Early Intervention . Lee Ann is past chair of the Classroom Assessment special interest group for the American Educational Research Association. You can find her online at LeadInclusion.org  and on Twitter at  @leeannjung.

MONDAY, NOV. 21 | 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Mobilizing Teams

E.01 Building a Collaborative Community of Literacy Leaders through the Launch of a Regionally Facilitated English/Language Arts Cohort

Room: Catalina 7

This session spotlights the efforts of a Kentucky education al cooperative in the process of launching a regional cohort of English/language arts leaders to create a sustainable sys tem of job embedded collaborative work based on research findings to ensure literacy growth for school districts and communities in Eastern Kentucky based upon partnerships between school districts and the cooperative.

Presenter: Rachel Holbrook, KEDC

Connecting Communities

E.02 CÀ PHÊ SỮA ĐÁ & BÁNH MÌ | The History of Colonialism, Imperialism, and Militarism in Vietnam from the Vietnamese American Perspective Room: Catalina 6

Vietnamese American history is usually taught in the context of the Vietnam War from the American perspective. Together, we will examine the Vietnam War, its roots, and its lasting legacy from the lens of Vietnamese Americans. Participants will explore colonialism, militarism, and imperialism in Viet nam from a new lens.

Presenters: Thuy Vo Dang, UCLA Virginia Nguyen, IUSD

Creating Possibilities

E.03 Collaborative Literacy Communities with EL and Special Education Students

Room: Catalina 5

To build a literacy community, our English Department collaborates with our Special Education Department to offer a co-taught Fine Arts Workshop, which teaches social and literacy skills through theatre. Additionally, our EL students historically score low on the speaking portion of the ACCESS test. Working with our EL Department, we offer an EL course to teach literacy skills through theatre.

Presenters: Mary Luckritz, Rolling Meadows High School Steph Svarz, Rolling Meadows High School

Coaching Teachers

E.04 Learning Together as Educators: Supporting Teacher Learning through Mathematizing Children’s Literature Room: Catalina 4

Children’s literature provides vibrant opportunities for stu dent and educator learning. In this session we will explore how mathematizing, or approaching read-alouds with a mathematical lens, allows literacy educators to collabora tively deepen cross-curricular knowledge while studying complex aspects of teaching such as asking open-ended questions and engaging in productive struggle through discussion.

Presenters: Allison Hintz, University of Washington, Bothell Antony Smith, University of Washington, Bothell

Supporting Leaders

E.05 Preparing in an Era of Pushback: Guiding Planning for the Teaching of Diverse Books Room: Catalina 3

In this dynamic and hands-on session, participants will experience a real planning session designed for department chairs and campus leaders that will guide them through various frameworks for addressing recent laws and chal lenges while still ensuring instructional best practice and diverse texts in the classroom. Take away immediately ap plicable strategies and structures for supporting teachers.

Presenter: Sarah Honore, Houston Independent School District

Mobilizing Teams

E.06 Leading Antibias and Antiracist CommunityBuilding in English/ELA Departments Room: Catalina 2

Teaching 21st-century English/ELA marks student learn ing with as many opportunities as landmines. With teach ers navigating new content and pedagogy, how do teacher leaders effectively build community organic to teacher autonomy while also structured to practice equity and inclu sion, fostering consistent classroom experience and lessening blindspots? Come and explore this guiding question.

Presenter: Donte Tates, Westover School

PP.01 How can I plan, prepare, and publish with CEL’s English Leadership Quarterly?

Room: Catalina 7

Interested in writing for English Leadership Quarterly, the official journal of the Conference on English Leadership? Have some ideas you’d like to develop into a publishable piece for CEL members? Curious about the process from writing to publishing? Then please consider attending this session facilitated by ELQ Editor Cody Miller. The session will address what ELQ articles intend to accomplish and how to develop and nurture ideas for potential articles.

Presenter: Henry Cody Miller, SUNY Brockport

PP.05 How do we engage with and discuss the “science of reading” while honoring teachers’ current practices?

Room: Catalina 3

With pre-prints and policies being debated fiercely in the social media square and chat spaces of webinars, literacy leaders need to be prepared to provide productive, psy chologically safe spaces for practitioner learning. How do we design learning conversations which initiate, model, reciprocate, and sustain leading literacy practices while honoring teachers’ funds of knowledge?

Presenter: John Luke Bell, NWEA

PP.02 What can literacy leaders do to support novice teachers?

Room: Catalina 6

This Problem of Practice conversation is intended to zoom in on the specific mentoring and professional development needs of novice teachers.

Presenters: Emily Meixner, The College of New Jersey Rachel Scupp-Jorge, Thomas R. Grover Middle School

PP.04 How could better collaboration between high school teachers and first-year college writing instructors impact student writing?

Room: Catalina 4

The demands of high school writing can differ from those that students encounter in their first year at college or uni versity. Why is this the case? This session will connect high school educators, first-year postsecondary writing educa tors, and writing center staff in conversation around the most important skills high school teachers can help writers develop to support postsecondary success.

Presenter: Liz Lietz, Macomb Intermediate School District

PP.06 What are ways in which we can build community between parents and schools?

Room: Catalina 2

In this session, we will talk about parental involvement and how we can connect with parents. Let’s meet them where they are so we can move their students where they need to be!

Presenter: Terrell Lane, Bibb County School District

p.m.

Mobilizing Teams

F.01 Building a Literacy Ecosystem: Our Collective Responsibility Room: Catalina 7

Literacy development may happen in classrooms, but it occurs within a broader environment that includes more than teachers and students within a literacy ecosystem that is our collective responsibility. Join us to examine the forces and structures that shape these ecosystems and to evaluate the extent to which they are evident in our own communities with an eye toward school improvement.

Presenter: Alycia Owen, Educational Consultant

Coaching Teachers

F.05 Building a Professional Learning Community for Social Justice using Young Adult and Children’s Literature Room: Catalina 3

This presentation will offer an overview of as well as insights from a year-long professional development institute that paired the teaching of young adult and children’s literature with the Social Justice Standards authored by the organization Learning for Justice. Presenters will model some activities from the institute and provide ideas for audience members to enact similar PD opportunities.

Presenters: Henry Cody Miller, SUNY Brockport Natalie Sue Svrcek, SUNY Brockport

Connecting Communities

F.02 Challenging the Poverty Narrative through Children’s Literature Room: Catalina 6

In children’s literature, poverty and homelessness are often depicted as an individual problem, rather than as a result of systemic inequities. Join me as we walk through research in an effort to support equitable practices using children’s literature. Let’s explore two critical frameworks that can support text selection and classroom dialogue around social justice issues.

Presenter: Kim Peters, COPESD

Supporting Leaders

F.03 Growing and Sustaining Literacy Leaders Room: Catalina 5

Education is a world of competing demands. There is a need for a program that identifies classroom teachers with a passion for literacy and grows them into potential leaders. After interactive discussion, participants will have the resources to grow the literacy leaders in their buildings and districts.

Presenter: Amy Marshall, Anglophone School District South

Creating Possibilities

F.04 Inclusive Innovation: Community-Led Solutions to Challenges in Adolescent Writing in Two School Districts

Room: Catalina 4

Two districts will share how they worked with students, parents, and community members to address equity challenges in adolescent writing. Learn how they used the Inclusive Innovation model to design resources to amplify student voice, including student curriculum advisory with credit recovery, social studies digital village square, interactive writing wall, and confidence-building writing groups.

Presenter: Kristian Lenderman, Digital Promise

TUESDAY

8:00–8:30 a.m. California Ballroom A COFFEE/BREAKFAST AND OPENING

8:30–9:20 a.m. California Ballroom A

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

I Am First-Generation Everything . . .

FEATURED SPEAKER: SARAH RAFAEL GARCÍA

Introduction by: Cathline Tanis

As a child of immigrants and a first-generation graduate, Sarah knows first-hand what it means to fail and tri umph in life. Defying familial and societal expectations as a Chicana and multimedia artist, Sarah addresses what it means to be a child Spanish speaker, teen trauma survivor, and untraditional MFA graduate in the American School System—and now an arts leader who aspires to build equity and visibility for her BIPOC community.

A child of immigrants and a first-generation graduate, Sarah Rafael García has more than thirteen years of experience as an arts leader in Orange County and a literary arts advocate nationally. She’s the founder of Barrio Writers, LibroMobile, and Crear Studio—all art programs initiated as a response to build cultural relevance and equity for BIPOC folks in her community. As of 2020, her community projects collectively established the LibroMobile Arts Cooperative (LMAC).

In 2010, Congressman Lou Correa honored García with the Women Making a Difference award, and in 2011, she was awarded for Outstanding Contri butions to Education by the OC Department of Education. She obtained an MFA in creative writing with a cognate in media studies in 2015. In 2016, García was awarded for SanTana’s Fairy Tales multimedia exhibition, which was supported in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation. The bilingual, short story collection was recently added as a required ethnic studies read in the Santa Ana Unified School District. In 2018, she was honored as an Emerging Artist at the 19th Annual OC Arts Awards. In 2019, she was recognized as an inaugural ASU Desert Nights, Rising Stars Fellow, and a recipient of the UH Katherine G. McGovern College of the Arts—Project Row Houses Fellowship. Currently, she splits her time stacking books and curating BIPOC art exhibitions, while developing an archival ethnofiction project for the life of Modesta Avila as a 2020 USLDH Mellon-Funded Grantee, and 2021 ARCUS Fellow. She gives credit to her parents’ GED education and the migrant labor that brought her grandparents to the US as the source of her perseverance and the foundation of her accomplishments.

Supporting Leaders

G.01 Co-Constructing Meaning of Literacy Projects in Order to “Honor, Develop, and Enact” Literacy Practices within the Communities of Students and Teachers

Room: Catalina 7

In this presentation, Emerging Leaders from the Fellowship Program conceptualize and co-construct meaning of literacy projects to develop, honor, and enact literacy practices within their communities of students and teacher leaders. Participants will brainstorm and discuss a plan for action to develop their projects to establish collaborations with community and school partners.

Presenters: Kristine M. Lize, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Elsie Lindy Olan, University of Central Florida Allison Quijano, University of Central Florida Amelia Wolfe Wright, University of Central Florida

Coaching Teachers

G.02 Grading as a Process Not a Product: Reflecting on How Assessment Practices Need to Mirror Composition Studies Knowledge of Writing as a Process

Room: Catalina 6

This presentation is a collaborative discussion and analysis of how well our pedagogical intentions align with our grading practices. The focus will be to underscore how to place value on student learning rather than on final products.

Presenter: Jamie Hinojosa, St. Edward’s University

Connecting Communities

G.03 Literacy for Liberation: A Community’s Counter Story Room: Catalina 5

What happens when a community comes together to amplify its story? Take a journey with a community that is working to come together as a collective. Listen to the role of teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, students, and parents as they describe the work in different spheres of influence to promote equity through storytelling. Follow student leaders as they move this work forward.

Presenters: Mayra Carrera, East Leyden High School Sawsan Jaber, East Leyden High School/Education Unfiltered Consulting

Dominic Manola, East Leyden High School Taneesha Thomas, District 84

Mobilizing Teams

G.04 Resuscitating Professional Learning: Opportunities in and out of PLC Spaces Room: Catalina 4

This session seeks to renew the optimism and joyful possibility of PLCs and the communities they can support. Building on the findings from original scholarship, this workshop invites leaders to collaboratively re-imagine their own learning communities and bring new structures and approaches into their buildings.

Presenter: Helen Anderson-Clark, Philadelphia Writing Project

Supporting Leaders

H.01 Centering Leadership in Literacy by Understanding Diversity: Building Trust, Culture, and Reflective Practice Room: Catalina 7

Why is culturally responsive teaching more than just about the books you have in your classroom library? Does the curriculum you teach reflect a range of lived experiences or does it uphold the status quo? This presentation invites educators to ask themselves, “How do I effectively respond when building administration, parents, and colleagues challenge the books I want to teach that are more repre sentative of our global community and shared humanity?”

Presenters: Michelle PetersonDavis, New York State English Council

Vivett Dukes, Stony Brook University

Christopher Mazura, New York State English Council

Coaching Teachers

H.03 Enhancing Student Literacy Learning: A CrossDisciplinary Approach Room: Catalina 5

Students need to possess and be able to apply literacy skills in every day life, society, and the workplace. Unfortunately, many secondary educators didn’t have formal schooling/training to teach struggling readers or writers. This session highlights how one secondary school uses recursive literacy-focused lesson study cycles to build collective teacher efficacy in meeting student needs.

Presenters: Tracy Hitchcock, Harlingen CISD Daryl Michel, Be A Change, LLC

Connecting Communities

H.04 Learning Together: Conversations on Academic Writing Tutoring in a Community High School Room: Catalina 4

Join us for an interactive presentation with colleagues interested in discussing how school-based literacy leaders can engage with com munity partners and youth to develop academic writing support in high school. Using a transformative justice approach to writing and literacy, we invite participants to engage with us around a series of student-centered questions.

Presenters: Elizabeth Hoggatt, Norman High School

Julianna Kershen, Norman High School

2023 CEL Annual Convention: Call for Proposals

November 19–21, 2023

Literacy Communities as Sites of Reckoning and Repair

We live in an era of seemingly ever-growing polarization: cultural, political, and social. Yet this divisiveness is often intentionally overstated. Despite all the sound and the fury that pundits and strategists have created around the so-called education culture wars, the narrative just does not hold. We know that most families are quite satisfied with both their schools and the curriculum their children encounter there (NPR/Ipsos, 2022). We also know that most Americans find themselves in bipartisan agreement on a host of political issues, from reproductive rights to clean energy, campaign finance, and gun laws (Carr Center, Harvard University, 2020; Gallup, 2018; Ipsos, 2018; Pew, 2022; Program for Public Consultation, University of Maryland, 2020; Quinnipiac University, 2018).

At the same time, as our young people grow into adults, we know well the echo chambers that await; reductionist, intellectually lazy, and at their worst, downright hateful, these alternate realities—and their impact on our collective ability to read, write, speak, listen, and think clearly—loom large in the consciousness of literacy leaders. Yet as leaders, we are well-positioned to play a vital role in envisioning and enacting alternatives to the narrative of deepening divides. With and within the literacy communities we lead, we can promote and facilitate social healing that restores people, communities, and nations. We can work alongside one another and within our communities to confront the immense complexities of this era, to grapple with what divides us, what values underpin our shared or disparate beliefs, and how to understand one another and disagree democratically and civilly, in ways that honor a shared humanity. We can cultivate con ditions for true fellowship in our literacy communities, and empower our organizations, colleagues, staff, and learners to play active roles in determining the course of our local, national, and global fates. We can create the conditions for transformational literacy work that writes a new national narrative—one that threatens those who stand to profit from manufactured division.

In seeking true fellowship, women’s reproductive rights activist Frances Kissling rejects the notion of common ground, insisting that this pursuit is ultimately fruitless—what we must find instead is mutual understanding. This work cannot happen without conflict, and Car la Shalaby is clear: “We want healthy community conflict that is well-supported, well-scaffolded, and is worked through in democratic, community-building kinds of ways.” The Conference on English Leadership’s 2023 Annual Convention calls for us to do the difficult work of defining the means toward the change we seek in our social reality, of coming together to offer our many and varied approaches to literacy leadership as a powerful tool in the work of social healing. We invite proposals that consider the following:

• How are your organizations, schools, departments, or classrooms conceiving of the difficult work of holding space for both reckoning with what we are and repairing our communities to what we know they can be?

• What does the work of reckoning with conflicting values and moving toward repair look like in literacy communities that have been long divided philosophically, politically, or otherwise? How can this work extend to relationships with families and the larger community?

• How can we re-culture our literacy communities at the local, regional, or national level toward prioritizing mutual under standing over common ground? What norms, practices, and ways of being can help cultivate a new, restorative vision?

• More locally, how are your organizations, schools, departments, or classrooms working to unlearn and reject media narra tives that shape an overblown sense of division?

• How can we look outside of our immediate communities to broaden our understanding of what it looks like to under stand complex contexts, draw on interdisciplinary knowledge and skills, and create generative solutions to the problems we face?

• How can schools, departments, and teacher leaders re-envision literacy curriculum and instruction toward supporting engaged, responsible citizens who understand that there are no solutions, there is no liberation, that can grow from our individual efforts alone?

See the CEL website for more information and a link to the proposal form at ncte.org/groups/cel/convention. The deadline for submit ting proposals is 11:59 p.m. ET, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2023 CEL Annual Convention November 19–21, 2023!

call for proposals

Katie Cubano 2023 CEL Convention Program Chair