If education were a playbook and teachers just had to memorize the plays, we might not have controversy on what should be taught and how. But, education isn’t a playbook and opinions abound. These Hot Topics pages are forums both for airing opinions and for gathering comments on topics that keep English Language Arts teachers up at night.
If you’d like to suggest a hot topic for these pages, please write public_info@ncte.org.
Assessment
“Suppose we thought outside the testing box and that, instead of giving students tests” we used other methods of assessment? Are some of the new trends in assessment, such as the move to non-cognitive trait measuring, issues that NCTE should address?
Writing
Are we in the midst of a writing revolution? Are more people composing than ever before—writing with more sophisticated tools for more nuanced purposes? Or are we mired in a crisis marked by a decline in both the style and substance of writing?
Writing Between the Lines
How is literacy learning different in the 21st Century and what changes should we make in literacy instruction to keep up with the times?