This piece explores historic trends in the standardization of English education. Beginning with the advent of NCTE in 1912 and continuing through the subsequent century, the article traces how "English Journal" has documented educators' approaches and attitudes concerning standardization.

A surprising conversation with her young daughter inspired author Brandie Bohney to incorporate mentor texts to help students make sense of convention rules. Since struggling and reluctant readers tend to also be struggling and reluctant writers, the author designed activities that would concentrate on the conventions students most needed to…

An inservice training session triggered a crisis of confidence for the author, a veteran teacher, but it also inspired the author to rethink their approach to teaching reading and writing. While the author attended a conference, the state presenter explained that the new curriculum represents "shifts" in philosophy about teaching…

The UK's "Prime Minister's Questions"--a television program that shows parliamentary proceedings and banter between House of Commons members--can be a free, real-world resource for rhetorical analysis opportunities. In this article, the author presents the inherent value of these sessions in the classroom as a means of creatively…

The English Language Arts (ELA) standards are compositionally flawed and further distorted by a high-stakes environment that discourages balanced, meaningful pedagogy; to subvert this reality, teachers must practice subterfuge by foregrounding Personal Standards as the primary drivers of instruction. This author discusses how ELA instructors must…

This article raises the reality of English as a naturally variant and fluid language inseparable from culture. The author addresses the tensions teachers face in the classroom when they make decisions about how African American students should use their language.

In this article, the authors begin this inquiry by describing their research with a class of middle school writers who played "Quandary," a free online educational game designed to teach argumentation, as part of a unit on writing arguments for environmental action. Regarding the subject area of English language arts (ELA), research has…

As proponents of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) publish lists of "Exemplar Texts" that are said to represent the degree of textual complexity appropriate for the different grade levels, and that are overwhelmingly canonical, those who value young adult literature and recognize a place for it in the high school literature…

Learning occurs when students engage in discursive processes that include actively considering the comments and perspectives of others, allowing for interpretation and explanation of the topics being discussed (Gillies). Teachers should "resist the urge to turn close reading into an independent activity. The point of close reading is to…

This article explores how choral reading can be used as a drama tool in a classroom setting to engage students with nonfiction rhetoric while adhering to the Common Core State Standards.

The author explores the tension between the social and cognitive definition of "argument" in the Common Core's theoretical rationale and the structural approach to argument reflected in the exemplars of student writing, evaluating the implications of these inconsistencies for the high school English classroom.

In this era of hyper-accountability, teachers are under ever-increasing pressure to demonstrate their worth--often using evidence that is far removed from what seems to be in the best interests of the students. Terms such as "value-added," "evidence-based," and "data-driven" dominate discussions about teaching…

Amy Magnafichi Lucas is a graduate teaching assistant in the English Studies program at Illinois State university. Prior to her graduate work, she spent ten years in the secondary English classroom. In this article, she points out that most teachers are their own worst enemies. Most of the time this occurs during times of educational change…

Examining largely unknown revisions of the New Criticisms reading pedagogy, the author argues that these revisions should serve as a model of how the Common Core ELA Standards might be revised to reconnect readers to the process of reading.

According to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the concomitant academic discourse, to ensure that students are literate in the 21st century, all teachers must grapple with the ideas inherent in the words and phrases cited above. In this article, the writer describes how the Common Core State Standards in the English classroom can improve…