National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). "NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching
of Writing" (by by the Writing Study Group of the NCTE Executive Committee),
November 2004. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/write/118876.htm (see also "Research-Based Policy Statements on Writing": http://www.ncte.org/edpolicy/writing/research/122398.htm).

Arnowitz, Stanley. “Writing is Not a Skill.” Peer Review (Fall 2003): http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4115/is_200310/ai_n9271622/print. Accessed June 27, 2006. (or http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/arnowitz.htm)

University of Hartford's Department of Rhetoric, Language, and Culture offers some very useful resources on "the reading process," "the writing process," "analyzing assignments," "research strategies," and "teaching strategies" at http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/rlc/sitemap.html.

Other Model Basic Writing Programs--

Cal State-LA offer adjunct model that we find very exciting. Learn more about their "English 100" at http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/write_cn/e100.htm

Other Professional Issues--

CCCC Position Statement on Scholarship in Composition: Guidelines for Faculty, Deans, and Department Chair (1987): http://www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/123785.htm

CCCC Position Statement on Writing Centers. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/write/107584.htm

"The Teaching-Research Connection." A summary statement developed by the Research and Teaching Issue Management Team of the NCTE Executive Committee
Approved by the NCTE Executive Committee, November 2005. http://www.ncte.org/groups/cee/positions/122897.htm

"Understanding the Relationship Between Research and Teaching" (2005)http://www.ncte.org/groups/cee/positions/122897.htm

"Guidelines for the Academic Preparation of Two-Year College English Faculty." (TYCA Guideline) http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/profcon?s=&sd=DESC&p=2

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Position Statements by Category. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category

Problems with Standardized Testing--

Posner, Dave. "What's Wrong with Teaching to the Test?" Phi Delta Kappan: The Professional Journal for Education. 85.10 (June 2004): 749-751.   http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0406pos.htm

Schuster, Edgar H. "National and State Writing Tests: The Writing Process Betrayed" Phi Delta Kappan: The Professional Journal for Education. 85.5 (January 2004): 375-378.  http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0401sch.htm

Nathan, Linda. "The Human Face of the High-Stakes Testing Story" Phi Delta Kappan: The Professional Journal for Education. 83.8 (April 2002): 599-600.  http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0204nat.htm

Jones, Ken. "A Balanced School Accountability Model: An Alternative to High Stakes Testing." Phi Delta Kappan: The Professional Journal for Education. 85.8 (April 2004): 584-590.   http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0404jon.htm

Ken Jones responds to a question like this: If not "standardized testing," then what? He suggests we look to the business sector for guidance. As he explains:

An accountability framework called the "balanced scorecard" is currently employed in the business world and provides a useful perspective for schools.1 This framework consists of four areas that must be evaluated to give a comprehensive view of the health of an organization. The premise is that both outcomes and operations must be measured if the feedback system is to be used to improve the organization, not just monitor it. In the business context, the four components of the framework are: 1) financial, 2) internal business, 3) customer, and 4) innovation and learning.

Applying this four-part approach to education, we can use the following aspects of school performance as the components of a balanced school accountability model: 1) student learning; 2) opportunity to learn; 3) responsiveness to students, parents, and community; and 4) organizational capacity for improvement. Each of these aspects must be attended to and fostered by an evaluation system that has a sufficiently high resolution to take into account the full complexity and scope of modern-day schools.

I think it is useful to ask ourselves what implications his "balanced school model" might offer us at the college level.