Educational Leadership's Themes for 2004–2005
September 2004
Teaching for Meaning
How can such instructional practices as authentic learning, project-based learning, and constructivist learning foster deep understanding in students? How can educators apply these strategies across the content areas? How can educators resolve the seeming contradiction between teaching for meaning and the demands of standardized testing?
Deadline: April 1, 2004
October 2004
Writing!
This issue will examine strategies for developing writing skills at all grade levels and in all content areas, explore how to assess writing effectively, and investigate how technology enhances writing instruction for all students.
Deadline: May 3, 2004
November 2004
Closing Achievement Gaps
This issue will examine the complex issues that cause and perpetuate longstanding achievement gaps related to ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender. How do researchers define and measure achievement gaps? How are districts, schools, and teachers successfully closing gaps through such approaches as rigorous curriculum, disaggregated data analysis, and extra help for struggling students?
Deadline: June 1, 2004
December 2004/January 2005
Educating Language Learners
This issue will explore two types of language learners: those learning the dominant language of the country in which they live, and those learning the dominant language of another country. What are the best ways to learn another language? How can teachers integrate students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds into the classroom?
Deadline: July 1, 2004
February 2005
How Schools Improve
What are the crucial ingredients needed to improve a school? How can schools achieve their goals with fewer resources? How do schools overcome obstacles to improvement, analyze data effectively, recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, and measure adequate yearly progress? This issue will include stories of how schools have gone from being good to great.
Deadline: September 1, 2004
March 2005
Learning from Urban Schools
Urban schools face challenges such as, low funding, poor facilities, large numbers of English language learners, and high student poverty rates. Yet the urgent need for improvement in urban schools has inspired promising innovations. This issue will examine how urban schools are attracting and retaining high-quality teachers and administrators, creating safe environments for learning, and raising standards for students.
Deadline: October 1, 2004
April 2005
The Adolescent Learner
This issue will examine how schools can tap into the adolescent's potential. What are the classroom ramifications of current research on the emotional, social, cognitive, and moral aspects of this stage of development? How can schools foster student autonomy and self-regulated learning? How can educators restructure and reinvent middle schools and high schools to meet adolescents' needs?
Deadline: November 1, 2004
May 2005
Supporting New Teachers and Principals
This issue will address how schools can provide innovative instructional, emotional, and managerial support to new teachers and principals, from the young and green to seasoned career-changers. What kinds of teacher induction programs have proven effective? How are schools successfully addressing professional development in the content areas? How can schools provide novices with adequate time for growth?
Deadline: December 1, 2004
ASCD Wants You!
On the new Member Get Involved Center Web site, members can let ASCD know that they are interested in getting involved in the ASCD community. For example, through its polling panels, ASCD periodically seeks advice from segments of its membership on such topics as future themes for Educational Leadership issues and to what degree educators rely on the Internet for professional development.
Since the Center's creation, the Association has invited several participating members to help ASCD plan its annual conference, join ASCD's Professional Development Advisory Panel (PDAP), and help the Association work with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) to improve the preparation of educators and school leaders. In addition, ASCD has contacted members who have expressed an interest in serving in a governance capacity to provide them with more information about ASCD's elected offices.
Current active ASCD members are invited to visit the Member Get Involved Center to share their interests with the Association and learn how they can more actively participate in the ASCD community. Visitwww.ascd.org/direct/letusknow.htmlfor more information.
