Cut Through the Policy Jargon! Help Shape This Year's NCTE Virtual Conference

What does it mean to pursue high expectations in English education? The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is seeking input from teachers like you to help shape the content for this year's Virtual Conference, scheduled for Spring 2010. According to the information page for the 2010 NCTE Virtual Conference webpage:

Maintaining "high expectations" is now a constant in every education reform proposal. But what does this mean for literacy educators? It must be more than having "hard classes" and strict rules. The purpose of this virtual conference is to explore what pursuing high expectations means in practice.

• How can we best promote and participate in whole school reform efforts to improve literacy learning systematically?
  
• How do we work with data/indicators of student learning as a member of a school team/learning community?
• How can we capitalize on technological innovations to enjoy practical professional development that provides support when and where we need it?
  

This innovative online conference cuts through the policy jargon to provide solid insights into how literacy teaching practices can change in every classroom to transform student learning.

We would like to know from you, our knowledgeable network of members, nonmembers, past convention attendees, web seminar participants, basically EVERYONE, what you feel are the most valuable topics for this conference to address and what speakers/presenters you would like to hear from in this exciting virtual conference environment.

Starting today you can go to the NCTE Ning and nominate topics and speakers. Once nominations have been collected in Phase 1, we will narrow the list down to the finalist list and then open voting again for Phase 3. Then, we will craft the conference around the topics and speakers chosen by you!

Phase 1 (February 12-16)
Topic and speaker nominations collected on the NCTE Ning. Noiminations will end at midnight on February 16.

Phase 2 (February 16-17)
NCTE staff reviews the top topics and speakers to ensure they fit within the theme and budget for the conference. Then staff will create a finalist list for both topics and speakers to be voted on in Phase 3.

Phase 3 (February 18-21)
Topic and speaker finalist voting. Voting will end at midnight on February 21.

Phase 4 (February 22-26)
NCTE will contact each speaker to invite them to participate and a final announcement of topics and speakers will be made by February 26.


Rules

1. The Idea: Submit suggestions for the 2010 NCTE Spring Virtual Conference topics and speakers via the NCTE Ning: http://ncte2008.ning.com/forum/topics/shape-the-2010-ncte-spring.
2. Eligibility: This nomination and voting process is open to members of the educational community at large. CONSUMER DISCLOSURE: NO MEMBERSHIP, PURCHASE, OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE.
3. Content Limitations: Entries that are lewd, obscene, pornographic, disparaging, or otherwise contain objectionable material will be deleted at NCTE’s sole discretion.
4. Nomination Restrictions: There are to be no Self-nominations. Nomination of commercial content or topics that focus on a single product or service (A corporate representative might be appropriate provided the topic is not the corporation or product that he or she represents).
5. Selection of the "winners": From the top suggested topics and speakers (determined by overall number of votes for each), NCTE staff will narrow the list down to the top 12 topics and speakers (who are available, appropriate, and fit within budget considerations). The overall "winner" will be determined by a final period of public voting.