The authors share classroom vignettes strategies and resources for “going public” with literacy assessment through teacher collaboration with colleagues with families and with the community.

Teachers want assessment tools and strategies that inform instruction engage students in the process and invite families and community members to enter into the conversation about student learning and progress. When teachers work collaboratively with one another they align beliefs and practices to generate new ideas that reflect the questions they are asking about literacy and learning. When students families and the community are invited to be active engaged participants in these discussions all stakeholders have an opportunity to create a shared vision for literacy learning and to construct assessment tools and strategies that help everyone answer the important questions: “How as teachers are we engaging with one another over our literacy assessment beliefs and practices?” and “How can we better bring families and communities into these conversations?” 

In this volume of the Principles in Practice Literacy Assessment strand of books veteran educators Kathryn Mitchell Pierce and Rosario Ordoñez-Jasis share classroom vignettes strategies and resources for “going public” with literacy assessment through teacher collaboration with colleagues with families and with the community. Drawing from the IRA–NCTE Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing Revised Edition and their own extensive experience the authors have compiled a set of collaborative assessment principles as well as a model for teacher professional development around assessment to guide teachers from assessment theory to practical implementation in the classroom. 

Teachers are at the heart of assessment conversations because they have up-close and personal experiences with how assessments impact their students. These experiences provide an invaluable perspective that is essential to all decision making about assessing student learning. But teachers don’t—or shouldn’t—stand alone. Their critical expertise is strengthened by the experiences and expertise of others invested in the success of our students—colleagues families communities and students themselves.

In Growing Writers veteran teacher educator Anne Elrod Whitney explores how the principles defined in NCTE’s Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing position statement can support high school writers and teachers of writing through knowledge and a conscious search for meaning in our writing activities. 

When principles guide our teaching we can better understand our teaching purposes make decisions about approaches and content vet ideas supplied by others and grow as teachers of writing. As part of the Writing in Today’s Classrooms strand of the Principles in Practice imprint the book includes snapshots from high school teachers working in a variety of settings who illustrate how their own principled classroom practices have helped both them and their students to grow whether they are writing for advocacy learning the importance of revision experimenting with new audiences or embracing the vulnerability and the power of writing. 

The principles come alive through the author’s analysis and friendly discussion and the contributing teachers’ everyday practices. Whitney’s compassionate support and encouragement of active ongoing learning is supplemented by further-reading lists and an annotated bibliography of both print and digital texts to accompany us on our journeys to ever-greater effectiveness as writers and teachers of writing.

Even from the earliest grades children have the rights to read and write—not just in dominant American English but also in their own languages and dialects.

Young children make meaning and make sense from the earliest years. They read facial expressions engage in interactions and read symbols across a variety of named languages. Historically narrow definitions of reading and writing however often prevent children of color and immigrants from having access to texts that reflect their diverse cultures and backgrounds. Classroom materials also often don't reflect the growing majority of multilingual children of color compromising their right to access texts that reflect their cultural values language practices and historical legacies.

Promoting equitable inclusive and plural understandings of literacy Mariana Souto-Manning and eight New York City public school teachers explore how elementary teachers can welcome into their classrooms the voices values language practices stories and experiences of their students who have been minoritized by dominant curricula cultivating reading and writing experiences that showcase children's varied skills and rich practices.

Readers are invited to enter classrooms where teachers have engaged with the principles detailed in two NCTE position statements--NCTE Beliefs about the Students' Right to Write and The Students' Right to Read--in the pursuit of justice. Collectively their experiences show that when teachers view the communities their students come from as assets to and in school children not only thrive academically but they also gain confidence in themselves as learners and develop a critical consciousness. Together stepping into their power they seek to right historical and contemporary wrongs as they commit to changing the world.

About Principles in Practice

Books in the Principles in Practice imprint offer teachers concrete illustrations of effective classroom practices based in NCTE research briefs and policy statements.

Each book discusses the research on a specific topic links the research to an NCTE brief or policy statement and then demonstrates how those principles come alive in practice: by showcasing actual classroom practices that demonstrate the policies in action; by talking about research in practical teacher-friendly language; and by offering teachers possibilities for rethinking their own practices in light of the ideas presented in the books.

How can teachers keep students engaged amid constraints like book bans and misguided public debates? By infusing joy into the ELA curriculum through units lessons and activities that make students feel seen and heard and that lead to authentic and empowering intellectual inquiry. A joyful literacies pedagogy is about creating spaces of “deep fun” and belonging in which to engage students in deep intellectual work. This approach centers on: 

• Intentionally designing ELA spaces that encourage students’ connections to their own lived experiences; 
• Using students’ literacies as a starting point for discussions and learning about the processes of reading writing designing and composing; 
• Framing curricular choices around students’ affinities and identities through both structured and unstructured play; 
• Encouraging project- and inquiry-based learning that positions students as problem-explorers and empowers them to consider the joy they can bring to others by becoming agents of positive change. 

The book features units and activities on topics including multimodal literacies classic and contemporary literature gaming and popular culture and these ideas can be used in conjunction with teachers' current curricula or adapted to fit their individual goals. Also included throughout the book are QR codes that link to assignment descriptions videos or websites the authors have used and other texts that they have found helpful in their teaching. 

By fostering spaces of belonging where students' identities are celebrated and their voices are amplified you’ll turn ELA learning into an inspiring and life-changing experience. Empower your students to reflect explore and drive meaningful change in their lives and communities with this invaluable resource.

Based in the Inquiry Learning Plan (ILP) a flexible tool that allows students to engineer their own goals and create an authentic final assessment this practical approach provides a clear customizable experience for teachers looking to shift ownership of learning to the student whether wholly or in part.

The transition from rote lessons traditional pedagogy and standardized tests begins with the belief that students need to learn how to learn—and learn to love learning. Great idea—but how do teachers actually implement a curriculum that gives students room to do this? Letting Go: How to Give Your Students Control over Their Learning in the English Classroom explores an inquiry approach in which students differentiate their own learning with the space to choose texts develop questions and practice skills that are unique to their individual needs.

The authors—two classroom teachers and a school librarian—discuss strategies to scaffold the inquiry process while addressing the common pitfalls students encounter. Student examples of activities reflections and final products provide concrete models of how to use the strategies separately and how they relate. The authors break down the inquiry process and provide support for gradual release of responsibility and power to students. In doing so they show that letting go is rewarding for both teachers and students because students realize what they are capable of and learn what they love. Student work showcases the impact these inquiry strategies have on students’ understanding of themselves their skill development and their content acquisition. A companion website features complete ILPs for a more holistic view of the process as well as reproducible materials.

This practical book brings together coauthors Troy Hicks and Jill Runstrom with the voices of ten additional middle level educators (Grades 4–9) to explore applications of NCTE’s Beliefs for Integrating Technology into the English Language Arts Classroom position statement in middle grades classrooms. 

Including chapters and vignettes that explore lessons and technologies for close and critical reading for literary analysis writing to argue and inform and considerations for remote and hybrid learning the book follows a year in the life of Runstrom’s ninth-grade English classroom. With specific lesson ideas and examples of student work the book brings the entire Beliefs statement to life while also foregrounding the primary goal that we should consider “literacies before technologies” creating rich opportunities for reading and writing enhanced with digital tools. An annotated bibliography is also included.

Making Middle School is the story of eighth-grade English teacher Steve Fulton and science teacher Tiffany Green’s explorations of the intersections between critical literacy and science through maker spaces alongside their students. 

Steve and Tiffany with thinking partner Cindy Urbanski use the idea of make to center student learning in their classrooms as well as to democratize learning back-loading English and science standards while front-loading the current focus on STEAM. 

Making—following one’s own desire to create—is based on principles of connected learning where students work in community to challenge themselves to be creative and to wonder about their world. Making represents a pathway directed by the learner and allowed to unfold organically without a scripted route or destination. By looking up close at the real work of teachers and students Fulton and Urbanski illustrate the rich and real applications of a make-based approach in today’s middle school classrooms.

Celebrate the profound impact of Victor Villanueva’s scholarship teaching and mentorship in the field of rhetoric and composition with this remarkable collection. Engaging both emerging and established scholars this book explores the legacy of Villanueva’s contributions.  

Victor Villanueva is Regents Professor Emeritus a former director of comp director of a university-wide writing program director of an American Studies program English department chair (twice!) former editor of the Studies in Writing and Rhetoric monograph series of the Conference on College Composition and Communication former head of that organization its Exemplar and Rhetorician of the Year. 

From the politics of language literacy and education to Latinx rhetoric colonialism and racism each chapter dives deeply into relevant themes upon which Villanueva has left his mark and into the significance of Villanueva’s work from the perspectives of each contributor. Grouped into three sections—Memoria of Rhetoric Memoria of Mentoring and Memoria of Relations—the essays in this book invite the reader to sit alongside one of the field’s pioneers and to experience the power of his influence on the discipline. CCCC Studies in Writing & Rhetoric (SWR) Series  

The nature and tools of writing have changed. Today’s students compose and read chunks of webtexts and short text messages while they are on the move. If compositionists wish to be pedagogically relevant they need to think more carefully about how their students read and compose texts and where they do so.

More and more young people are choosing to write a variety of texts in a variety of locations because technologies make it possible. As a result educational scholars are developing new understandings of how to incorporate such technologies into the classroom. To that end this book provides practical resources and assignments for writing instructors who are interested in a pedagogy that makes use of mobile technologies. Editor Claire Lutkewitte and her contributors explore both writing for and about mobile technologies and writing with mobile technologies. 

Coming at a time when instructors are pressured to be professionally innovative but are rarely provided ideal circumstances in which to do so this book offers: 

• A starting point for instructors who haven’t yet used mobile technologies in the classroom
• Fresh ideas to those who have and proof that they are not alone
• And a call of reassurance that we can do more with less

In Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep some of today’s most celebrated writers for children share essays that describe a critical part of the informational writing process that is often left out of classroom instruction. 

To craft engaging nonfiction professional writers choose topics that fascinate them and explore concepts and themes that reflect their passions personalities beliefs and experiences in the world. By scrutinizing the information they collect to make their own personal meaning they create distinctive books that delight as well as inform. 

In addition to essays from mentor authors the book includes a wide range of tips tools teaching strategies and activity ideas from editor Melissa Stewart to help students (1) choose a topic (2) focus that topic by identifying a core idea theme or concept and (3) analyze their research to find a personal connection. By adding a piece of themselves to their drafts students will learn to craft rich unique prose. 

Featuring essays by Sarah Albee Chris Barton Donna Janell Bowman Mary Kay Carson Nancy Castaldo Jason Chin Lesa Cline-Ransome Seth Fishman Candace Fleming Kelly Milner Halls Deborah Heiligman Susan Hood Gail Jarrow Lita Judge Jess Keating Barbara Kerley Heather Lang Cynthia Levinson Michelle Markel Carla Killough McClafferty Heather Montgomery Patricia Newman Elizabeth Partridge Baptiste Paul Miranda Paul Teresa Robeson Mara Rockliff Barb Rosenstock Laura Purdie Salas Anita Sanchez April Pulley Sayre Steve Sheinkin Ray Anthony Shepard Anita Silvey Traci Sorell Tanya Lee Stone Jennifer Swanson Stephen R. Swinburne Don Tate Laurie Ann Thompson Pamela Turner Patricia Valdez Sandra Neil Wallace Laurie Wallmark Jennifer Ward Carole Boston Weatherford Lee Wind Paula Yoo and Karen Romano Young.