ALAN Foundation Research Grants

Members of ALAN may apply to the ALAN Foundation for funding (up to $1,500) for research in young adult literature. Proposals are reviewed by the five most recent presidents of ALAN. Awards are made annually in the fall and are announced at the ALAN breakfast during the NCTE convention in November. The application deadline each year is September 15th .

Kylene Beers—2011 CEL Exemplary Leader Award Recipient

Kylene Beers is the Senior Reading Advisor to Secondary Schools for the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University. Through her books, workshops, summer institute presentations, consultations, and numerous publications, she has influenced an incredible number of teachers of reading. She has helped teachers of other disciplines understand that they must help students learn to read if they are to succeed in their subject. Dr. Beers’s book When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6–12 is the capstone of contributions she has made through her writing. She has been the senior author or contributing author for numerous national textbooks for public schools, including Elements of Literature, Grades 6–12 . She was coeditor of Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice/A Handbook for Teachers, Principals, and Policy Makers , a book that serves as the guide for teacher learning communities. Beers was two-term chair of the National Adolescent Literacy Coalition, a coalition of over 60 national organizations working together to solve issues of adolescent literacy. She has served NCTE in varied capacities, including as editor of Voices from the Middle for seven years and as President of NCTE 2008-2009. Dr. Beers has served the Council, the profession, and students of all ages with energy, commitment, and distinction throughout her career.

NCTE’s Pathways Professional Development Program

If yours is one of the many schools working to implement effective schoolwide literacy practices, look to NCTE for affordable professional development that advances student achievement in every subject by focusing on teachers’ instructional practices and questions. NCTE’s Pathways Professional Development Program is a powerful resource to support teachers and learning communities committed to continuous improvement in response to students’ learning. Provide your teachers with access to engaging key resources from the most commonly requested school improvement topics and support for incorporating new learning into their practice with classroom models, strategies, and sample lessons.

With three options available you can choose the Pathway that best meets your needs: Adolescent Literacy, Instructional Leadership , or 21st Century Literacies . Get a sneak peek with our online tour at http://www.ncte.org/pathways/tour , or email pathways@ncte.org to request a private tour.

Call for Nominations: James Moffett Award

NCTE’s Conference on English Education offers this grant to support teacher projects inspired by the scholarship of James Moffett. Each proposed project must display an explicit connection to the work of James Moffett and should both enhance the applicant’s teaching by serving as a source of professional development and be of interest and value to other educators. All K–12 classroom educators who teach at least three hours or three classes per day are eligible to apply for the grant. Proposals on which two or more K–12 classroom educators have collaborated are also welcome.

Applications for the Moffett Award must include:

• A cover page with the applicant's name, work and home telephone numbers and addresses, email address, a brief profile of the applicant's current school and students, and a brief teaching history (when and where the applicant has taught).
• A proposal (not more than 5 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font) that includes an introduction and rationale for the work (What is the problem or question to be studied? How might such a project influence the project teacher's practice and potentially the practice of other teachers? Why is such a project important?); a description of the explicit connection to the work of James Moffett; initial objectives for the project (realizing these might shift during the project); a clear, focused project description that includes a timeline (What will be done? When? How? By whom?); a method of evaluating the project (What indicators might reviewers note that suggest the work was valuable to the applicant and to other teachers?); and a narrative budget (How will the money be spent?).
• A letter of support from someone familiar with the applicant's teaching and perceived ability to implement and assess the proposed project.

Moffett Award winners receive a certificate designating the individual as the 2012 recipient of the CEE Moffett Award and a monetary award (up to $1,000) to be used toward implementation of the proposed project.

Submit proposals to CEE Moffett Award, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1010 or cee@ncte.org , Attn: CEE Administrative Liaison. Proposals must be postmarked by May 1, 2012 . Proposals will be judged on such criteria as the strength of the connection to James Moffett’s scholarship and the perceived value and feasibility of the project.

Call for Candidates for CEL 2012 Election

In the 2012 election, CEL members will choose an Associate Chair and two Members-at-Large. The Nominating Committee is now ready to accept nominees for next year’s election. To be eligible for Associate Chair , a nominee must have been or currently be serving as an elected or appointed member of the CEL Executive Committee. The Associate Chair has many duties, such as presiding at business meetings in the absence of the Chair and coordinating the CEL State Liaison Network and the Exemplary Leadership award. The term of the Associate Chair is six years (two as Associate Chair, two as Chair, and two as Past Chair). To be eligible for Member-at-Large , a nominee generally will have attended two or more CEL conventions and volunteered in some capacity, such as working on the Hospitality Committee or presenting/presiding at a concurrent session. A Member-at-Large represents the general membership on the Executive Committee and assists in planning functions of the Executive Committee. The term of the Member-at-Large is three years. Two candidates for Associate Chair and four candidates for Member-at-Large will be on the 2012 ballot. Those who wish to nominate a qualified CEL member should check with the individual and affirm her/his willingness to serve prior to submitting a nomination letter. Nominations should include as much pertinent information as possible about the nominee as a leader and her/his involvement in CEL as well as contact information (home mailing address, email address, and phone number). Nominations may be mailed by November 1 to Ken Spurlock, CEL Nominations Chair, 2705 Tanglewood Court, Villa Hills, KY 41017, emailed to ken46s@fuse.net by November 1, or hand-delivered to Spurlock at the 2011 Convention in Chicago.