DOCUMENT RESUME ED 059 185 TE 002 541 Nemetz, George F ... · DOCUMENT RESUME. TE 002 541. Nemetz,...

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ED 059 185 AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION PUB DATE NOTE AVAILABLE FROM DOCUMENT RESUME TE 002 541 Nemetz, George F., Comp. English Teacher Specialists for California Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. 72 30p. Order Section, Fiscal Office, California State Department of Education, 721 Capitol Mall--Room 551, Sacramento, California 95814 (free) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Administrator Role; Elementary School Teachers; *English Instruction; Group Discussion; *Inservice Teacher Education; Program Evaluation; Secondary School Teachers; *Specialists; *State Programs; *Teacher Improvement; Training Techniques IDENTIFIERS *California ABSTRACT This document is the Foreword, Preface, list of the English Textbook and Framework Implementation Committee, and Introduction of a larger document concerned with the English Teacher Specialist Program of the California State Department of Education. The Introduction provides background information, including a brief history of departmental activities in the realm of English education in recent years. The rationale that led to the development of the English Teacher Specialist Program is discussed, and specific program activities that have been carried out are described. Suggestions are made regarding ways in which the English Teacher Specialists might more effectively be used. (DB) ;r7e,'

Transcript of DOCUMENT RESUME ED 059 185 TE 002 541 Nemetz, George F ... · DOCUMENT RESUME. TE 002 541. Nemetz,...

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ED 059 185

AUTHORTITLE

INSTITUTIONPUB DATENOTEAVAILABLE FROM

DOCUMENT RESUME

TE 002 541

Nemetz, George F., Comp.English Teacher Specialists for California Schools:Kindergarten through Grade Twelve.California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.72

30p.Order Section, Fiscal Office, California StateDepartment of Education, 721 Capitol Mall--Room 551,Sacramento, California 95814 (free)

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29DESCRIPTORS Administrator Role; Elementary School Teachers;

*English Instruction; Group Discussion; *InserviceTeacher Education; Program Evaluation; SecondarySchool Teachers; *Specialists; *State Programs;*Teacher Improvement; Training Techniques

IDENTIFIERS *California

ABSTRACTThis document is the Foreword, Preface, list of the

English Textbook and Framework Implementation Committee, andIntroduction of a larger document concerned with the English TeacherSpecialist Program of the California State Department of Education.The Introduction provides background information, including a briefhistory of departmental activities in the realm of English educationin recent years. The rationale that led to the development of theEnglish Teacher Specialist Program is discussed, and specific programactivities that have been carried out are described. Suggestions aremade regarding ways in which the English Teacher Specialists mightmore effectively be used. (DB)

;r7e,'

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Is-Fetcher

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS NEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED fROM THE

PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS

STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE Of EDUCATION

POSITION OR POLICY.

iaFor CaliFornia SchoolsKindergarten Through Grade Twelve

Compiled by

GEORGE F. NEMETZConsultant in EnglishCalifornia State Department of Education

Photographs by

KENNETH S. LANEUniversity of California, Berkeley

and

JOHN R, WALTERSOffice of the San Diego CountySuperintendent of Schools "PERNISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED

BY Geo, F. NamEr1 Ago 13,

kitimi&g.TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATION OPERATING

UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE U.S. OFFICE OF

EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE

THE ERIC SYSTEM REOUIRfS PERMISSION OF

THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.'

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This publication, which was funded under provisions of Title Vof the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was edited andprepared for photo-offset production by the Bureau of Publi-cations, California State Department of Education, and waspublished by the Department, 721 Capitol Mall, Sacramento,California 95814.

Printed by the Office of State Printing

1972

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Although change is constant in education, its tempo has increasedduring the past decade as a result of new developments, both in andout of the field of education. Technology has brought about anexplosion of knowledge in all content areas. Disillusionment withoverly traditional or regimented school systems is growing, and ademand for educational accountability is being felt. Social values areshifting. It has become more apparent than ever before that teachersmust gain a better understanding of the educational needs ofeconomically deprived children. A new appreciation is evident foreducational objectives in the affective domain. The state textbookadoption program and the new curriculum frameworks periodicallypublished by the state combine to keep school curricula in a state ofchange.

Because of these many elements of change, we have, as neverbefore, a greater need to upgrade the competencies of our educators,especially those responsible for that broad core of the curriculum,the language arts. However, since there are so many teachers of thelanguage arts in California, the task of helping them to updatethemselves professionally is a difficult challenge. The traditionalroutes to inservice education are not entirely adequate to this taskbecause of the overwhelming number of teachers involved. Newapproaches need to be tried. One of these, a teacher-to-teacherapproach to inservice education af exemplified in the experimentknown as the English Teacher Specialist Program, is described in thispublication.

Because of its immediacy and eminent practicality, the EnglishTeacher Specialist ;Program has already shown considerable promise.A great many of the teachers listed in the following pages havealready served extensively as inservice education leaders. However, ifthe program is to continue to have impact, it requires the support ofleaders in local education agencies. The state can only try to foster

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the development of meaningful inservice education programs; thereal work must be done locally. It is my hope that this directory willbe useful to those in local education agencies who have responsibilityfor inservice education programs.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

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Preface

This publication is an expanded version of a similar document,entitled California's English Teacher Specialists, which was publishedby this Department early in 1970. As was true for the earlierdocument, the purpose of this publication is to focus attention upona unique approach to inservice education, the English TeacherSpecialist Program, and to facilitate the implementation of thisprogram throughout the state. It is considerably longer than theearlier document because of the addition of the names and personalannotations of the members of a new cadre of teachers who havebeen included in the program and also because of the addition of twoindexes.

The introduction to this document is intended to providebackground information. It includes a brief history of departmentalactivities in the realm of English education in recent years, therationale which led to the development of the English TeacherSpecialist Program, specific acti7ities that have been carried on underthis program, and suggestions regarding ways in which the EnglishTeacher Specialists might most effectively be used. The main body ofthe document consists of a directory, which provides brief butpertinent information about each of the teachers involved in thisprogram and lists them alphabeticall3 by geographical areas in thestate. The appendix supplies additional information tvgarding mat-ters rase:red to earlier in the document. The index is intended tofacilitate the selection of English Teacher Specialists for specificinservice education tasks.

We in the Department of Education have been delighted with thesupport this program has received throughout the state. We areparticularly indebted to administrators in the schools and districtsfrom which these teachers have come for their willingness to releasethese teachers to attend training sessions and to carry on inservice

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education programs outside of their own districts. We should alsolike to thank the leaders of the California Association of Teachers ofEnglish, officials in local education agencies, and a large number ofpersons from this state's universities and colleges for the excellentjob they have done in planning workshops, conferences, and inservicetraining programs in which the services of these teachers have beeneffectively used. We are grateful for the fine services provided by thespeakers and the group leaders during th w. training sessions theseteachers attended while preparing for their new roles. We deeplyappreciate the help provided by the members of the EnglishTextbook and Framework Implementation Committee in planningand carrying out this program. The observers who attended thetraining sessions for these teachers provided valuable advice andhelped to spread the word about this new program, for which we arevery much obliged.

A number of individuals have given extensively of their time andenergy in behalf of this program, and most conspicuous among thesehave been H. Hartby Hillsen, who served as chairman of the EnglishTextbook and Implementation Committee; Mrs. E. Joanne Dale,Marie Dickinson, Mrs. Barbah Lea Johnson, Sophie Schnitter, Mrs.Violet Tallman, and John Walters, who have provided exemplaryleadership in support of this program within their respective countysuperintendents' offices; Helen Strickland, who provided particularassiOance in planning and organizing this program; Barbara Hartsig,who helped to plan and organize the training session attended byrepresentatives of all of the teacher preparatory institutions in thestate; Nolan Noble, who led efforts to make the program betterknown in the state; and Everett O'Rourke, who assisted in thepreparation of a program evaluation report. We thank Jack H. Stoltzof the Office of the Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schoolsand Thomas O'Connor of the Office of the Monterey CountySuperintendent of Schools for lending audiovisual equipment and forconsulting with interested teachers during the training sessions.

We appreciate the extensive support provided this program by theState Steering Committee on Publications and Curriculum.

Finally, we should like to acknowledge the cooperation providedby the several statewide educational organizations which cospon-sored 26 regional meetings during the spring of 1969 to announcethis program throughout the state. Included among these were theCalifornia Association of County Superintendents of Schools andStaff, California Association of School Administrators, California

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Association of Secondary School Administrators, California Elemen-tary School Administrators Association, California Association forSupervision and Curriculum Development, California School BoardsAssociation, and the California Association of Teachers of English.

THOMAS SHELLHAMMERDeputy Superintendent for Programs

MITCHELL L. VOYDATChief, Bureau of Elementary andSecondary Education

H. GLENN DAVISManager, Reading Task Force

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English Textbook and Frameworkimplementation Committee

Fred C. Beyer, Former Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools,Modesto (deceased)

Douglas C. Campbell, Secondary Curriculum Consultant, Santa RosaCity Elementary and High School District

Mrs. Bernice M. Christenson, Elementary English Supervisor, LosAngeles Unified School District (Former member of CaliforniaAdvisory Committee for an English Framework)

Walter A. Eagan, Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools, SantaRosa (Former committee chairman)

H. Hartley Hillsen, Assistant Superintendent, Instruction, Office ofthe San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, SanBernardino (Committee chairman)

Mrs. Linda Kessler, Teacher, Grade Six, Burbank Unified SchoolDistrict (Former member of California Advisory Committee for anEnglish Framework)

Gerald Levin, District Chairman of English, Napa Valley UnifiedSchool District (Former member of California Advisory Commit-tee for an English Framework)

Alice L. McMaster, Coordinator, Language Arts, Office of the ContraCosta County Superintendent of Schools, Pleasant Hill

Fred Myers, Chairman, English Department, Kate Ila High School,Anaheim Union High School District

Robert E. Palazzi, Chairman, English Department, Burlingame HighSchool (President, California Association of Teachers of English,1968-1970)

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.....-9[4,1.(7,71 TVII MISC.1%.0,1

Leo Ruth, Supervisor of Secondary Education (English),Universityof California, Berkeley

Myron H. Schussman, Staff Assistant, Office of the San MateoCounty Superintendent of Schools, Redwood City (Formercommittee chairman)

Alice Scofield, Professor of Secondary Education and English, SanJose State College (Former member of California AdvisoryCommittee for an English Framework)

Mrs. Virginia Shattuck, Teacher, Intermediate Level, Merced CityElementary School District

Mrs. Elaine H. Stowe, Program Specialist, Language Arts, SacramentoCity Unified School District (Former chairman of Committee onEnglish and Related Subjects, California Curriculum Commission,and former member of California Advisory Committee for anEnglish Framework)

Helen Strickland, Consultant, Secondary Education, Director of AreaIII English Project, Office of the Placer County Superintendent ofSchools, Auburn (Chairman of the Committee on English andRelated Subjects, California Curriculum Commission)

Mrs. Anne G. von der Mehden, Secondary English Teacher, Gross-mont Union High School District, Spring Valley (Served on theBoard of Directors of the California Association of Teachers ofEnglish for five years)

Francis W. Watson, Principal, Fair Oaks Elementary School, Red-wood City Elementary School District (Chairman, CaliforniaElementary School Administrators Association Curriculum Com-mission)

Ruth Overfield, Consultant in Reading, Bureau of Elementary andSecondary Education, California State Department of Education,Sacramento (Former member of California Advisory Committeefor an English Framework)

George F. Nemetz, Consultant in English, Bureau of Elementary andSecondary Education, California State Department of Education,Sacramento (Project coordinator)

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Contents

Foreword inPrefaceEnglish Textbook and Framework Implementation

Committee ixIntroduction 1

Directory of English Teacher SpecialistsArea I 21Area II 25Area III 29Area IV 41Area V 51Area VI 79

Alphabetical List of English Teacher Specialists 119Index by Specific Subject Area 123Appendix A Personnel who Served as Observers During the

Training Sessions for the English Teacher SpecialistProgram 143

Appendix B College and University Representatives to theInvitational Conference on the Preparation of Teachersof English, November 9-13, 1969 145

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Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove a retreat of rustic beauty

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nTrir D1IiJ"The teacher of English, by liberating the imaginations of students

through literary experiences and by helping to develop theirlinguistic abilities, is probably the greatest single force for thepreservation of humanistic values in our technocratic society," wroteMichael F. Shugrue in his review and assessment of the innovations inthe teaching and learning of English in the decade since 1958.1

In its report on the state of the profession in 1964, tile Committeeon National Interest of the National Council of Teachers of Englishconcluded:

Despite the importance of English in the total instructional program, in noother major subject ... has so little been done to provide for the continuingeducation of teachers. No matter how sound the course of study in English,no matter how improved the textbooks, no matter how bright the students,the programs in English will be no better than the teachers who direct them.This report presents clear-cut evidence that the majority of today'selementary teachers and secondary teachers of English are not adequatelyprepared in the subject. The need for concerted national, state, and localefforts to improve the continuing education of teachers in English has neverbeen so evident.2

The California State Department of Education in 1968 published abasic statement of principles and general guidelines for Englishinstruction and curriculum entitled English Language FrameworkforCalifornia Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. Inthe published framework, the committee emphasized the need forcontinuing inservice education of teachers:

Degree and credential programs cannot complete the education of anyteacher. Effective implementation of this Framework will necessitateinservice education now for teachers at all levels, and further developments in

1Michael F. Shugrue, English in a Decade of Change. New York: Western Publishing Co.(Pegasus), 1968, p. 85.

2The National Interest and the Continuing Education of Teachers of English. Preparedby the Committee on National Interest. Champaign, National Council of Teachers ofEnglish, 1964, p. 178.

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faculty members to provide for the emerging needs for inserviceeducation, perhaps a statewide program could be developed to affordinterested teachers the opportunity to update themselves profession-ally by drawing upon a relatively untapped resource the knowledgeand experience of highly informed and skilled peers. It was agreedalso that in a number of skill and knowledge areas, no one couldprovide teachers with more meaningful and practical assistance thantheir more outstanding colleagues. A proposal to marshal the talentsin the profession and to bring them to bear on the issues of inserviceeducation eventuated.

Department Asks for Nominations of Specialists

The effort to implement the proposal began in August, 1968,when letters of solicitation were sent to county and districtsuperintendents of schools and to acknowledged leaders in Englisheducation in California; they were given a brief description of theprogram that was envisioned and were invited to nominateoutstanding teachers of English at grades one through twelve whomight serve their peers as inservice education leaders. Specifically,

tz3. t

James R. Gray, University of California, Berkeley, chats with Virginia Reid, Oakland, anobserver. Mr. Gray was one of seven consultants who served as small-group leaders.

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they were informed that during the program, specialized intensivetraining would be provided to carefully selected groups ofoutstanding language arts teachers representing all grade levelskindergarten through grade twelve and all regions of the state. Thegroup was to be known as "State Department of Education EnglishTeacher Specialists." As specified in the letters of solicitation, it wasto be comprised of:

tehers whose qualifications combine (1) recognized excellence asclassroom teachers; (2) a high degree of competency in the field of Englisheducation, particularly in regard to the more recent developments; (3) someexperience in a professional leadership capacity; and (4) the ability, eitherproven or highly potential, to relate well with peers in workshop situations.

The response to the solicitation was most gratifying; nearly 1,000teachers were nominated. Making selections from among so manyoutstanding candidates proved to be a trying task. A special selection,committee finally completed its work, however, and some 110teachers were chosen as members of the first cadre.

Training Sessions Begin

Next, a group of six people experienced in teacher education wasformed to serve as consultants and small-group leaders during thetraining program. These included James R. Gray of the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley, Helen Lodge of San Fernando Valley StateCollege, Leo Ruth of the University of California at Berkeley, AliceScofield of San Jose State College, Helen Strickland of the Office ofthe Placer County Superintendent of Schools, and William G.Stryker, now of San Fernando Valley State College. Several five-daytraining sessions were planned, and the first was held in November,1968. The site chosen was the Asilomar Conference Grounds, awell-known retreat in Pacific Grove, California.

During the planning, the obvious question emerged as to whetheror not so short a period of training as was envisioned could produceany significant results. Reasoning, however, that such an outstandinggroup of teachers would require relatively little additionalpreparation for their new roles and that because of their compositeof abilities, they could quiddy learn a great deal from one another,the committee proceeded to plan specific short-term trainingactivities. Intensive sessions were designed not only to provide theparticipants with learning experiences in the content areas of Englishbut also to prepare them for the give and take of working with

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Helen Lodge, San Fernando ValleyState College, was anotherconsultant.

teachers in the field where, it was hoped, they would serve aseducational change agents. The participants were divided into groupsof approximately 20 and assigned to consultants or small-groupleaders.

On a typical day during the training sessions, they attended alarge-group session, listening and responding to a major speaker.They spent the bulk of their time, however, in small-group sessionsreacting to the speakers, exchanging ideas, learning of newdevelopments in the field of English from their peers and the groupleaders, becoming aware of appropriate readings, and what wasperhaps most important, making brief presentations of an inservicenature to which colleagues in the group might react with praise orconstructive criticism. They were also given time to browse in atemporary library of pertinent publications that was set up on thegrounds, to engage in individual study, and to view pertinent filmsthat had been carefully selected. Because the days were so full andthe program so intense, it was necessary to schedule several breaksduring the course of each day to allow time for contemplation andrelaxation. It was at these moments that the rustic beauty ofAsilomar was so much appreciated. The surroundings were indeedhelpful to the success of the program.

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James Moffett, an authority in English Andrew M. Wilkinson, University ofeducation, addresses members of the Birmingham, England, speaks at a train-first cadre. ing session.

Distinguished Speakers Serve as Catalysts

Although the most important learning at these training sessionsprobably took place during the small-group sessions, thedistinguished speakers who appeared during the large-group sessionsperformed an important service as catalysts for thought, discussion,aril reading. In the selection of spe...kers, an attempt was made toavoid duplication by finding spokesmen for several of the emergingand sometimes divergent views evidemt in English education circles.

The speakers for the first cadre of teachers trained under thisprogram represented a wide array of talent. John 0. Regan, ananthropologist-linguist from the Claremont Graduate School, spokeon the subject of language development, and Wallace W. Douglas ofNorthwestern University spoke on rhetoric and composition. AuthorJames Moffett spoke on a subject fairly synonymous with the title ofhis important boak, A Student-Centered Language Arts Curriculum,Grades K-13: A Handbook for Teachers. W. Ross Winterowd of theUniversity of Southern California spoke on grammar and rhetoric.Andrew M. Wilkinson of the University of Birmingham, England,discussed the primacy of speaking and listening activities in languagearts programs, and Geoffrey Summerfield of the University of York,

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England, demonstrated ways in which the study of poetry mightbecome an exciting activity for young people. Another of theoutstanding speakers was Ruth G. Strickland of Indiana University,who discussed the trends and issues in elementary English. Robert P.Stockwell, Chairman of the Department of Linguistics at theUniversity of California at Los Angeles, covered some fine points of.grammatical analysis. Kenneth Johnson, currently of the Universityof California at Berkeley, explored the nonstandard Negro dialectand its implications for teaching, and Eddie Hanson, Consultant inEnglish as a Second Language for the California State Department ofEducation, suggested approaches to the teaching of English toMexican-American youth. Author John Holt, perhaps best known forhis important book entitled How Children Fail, made a number ofobservations about the failure of overly traditional English programsin the schools of this nation.

Group Members Learn from One Another

During these training sessions, a deliberate mixing of elementaryand high school teachers was established so that members of eachgroup could become more knowledgeable about curricula andteaching approaches appropriate at all grade levels. These experiences

John Holt (right), author of How Children Fail, discunes his presentation during a coffeebreak.

1 8\

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seemed to be particularly valuable for the high school teachers, somany of whom tend to be unfamiliar with teaching strategies andcontent appropriate at the elementary level. In turn, the elementaryteachers in the group were quick to broaden their understanding ofmajor content areas and to perceive new ways in which thisunderstanding might be reflected in their teaching. This learningfrom each other persisted outside the structured program as intensediscussion continued on into coffee and meal breaks. Despite theirbrevity, these experiences seemed to stimulate avid reading, andconspicuous intellectual growth was evident among the participants.In one way or another, it was the catalytic nature of the activitiesduring the training sessions that seemed to spur the participants tonew endeavors and to help them discover new worlds, new vistas, andnew vantage points. For them, the world of English teaching wouldnever again be quite the same.

Administrators Attend Sessions as ObserversP

When the training sessions were planned, it was thought thatrepresentatives of county superintendents' offices and large schooldistricts in the state ought to be present as observers during thetraining sessions so that administrators could gain insight regardingthe effective use of these teachers later in the school districts. A list

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(Opposite, left) William Stryker, SanFernando Valley State College, wasanother consultant and smallgroupleader.

(Right) George Nemetz, CaliforniaState Department of Education,opens one of the training sessions.

Alice Scofield, San Jose State Col-lege, was a consultant and anadviser to the program

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of names was developed, invitations were sent, and approximately 50of these people accepted the bids and attended the training sessionsas observers, occasionally meeting in small groups themselves todiscuss ways in which the services of these teachers might best beimplemented.

The decision to invite these observers to the training sessions wasfortunate. Already experienced in the development and operation ofinservice education programs, they were quick to perceive the bestways in which the talents of the English Teacher Specialists might beemployed. Since the aims of the program would have been largelydefeated if the skills of these teachers had gone relatively unusedoutside their own districts, the suggestions and the contributions ofthese observers were particularly helpful. (Those who served asobservers are listed in Appendix A to this publication.)

Perceiving that school board members and many administrators oflocal education agencies' might need to lie convinced of the pressingnecessity for inservice education programs in general and of theefficay of the English Teacher Specialist Program in particular, theseobservers, together with representatives of a number of statewideeducational organizations, planned and carried out some 26 regionalmeetings. Held throughout the state in the spring of 1969, these

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meetings were attended by approximately 1,500 people, includingmany elementary and high school administrators and some schoolboard members and school district and county superintendents. Anumber of the English Teacher Specialiss were called upon toprovide brief demonstrations at these meetings and to explain theEnglish Teacher Specialist Program and its raison d'elre. A mostsignificant by-product of this total effort was the cooperativeendeavor that the planning and staging of these regional meetingsseemed to evoke from the many disparate organizations andgovernmental units involved. By working together, they helped toinaugurate the infant program in the field.

It was made clear during these regional meetings that the intent ofthe state in this program was to foster the development of inserviceeducation for teachers of English, not to interfere with personal andschool district decision making. The English Teacher Specialists andtheir administrators were informed that probably most inserviceeducation programs would be conducted outside of school hours.However, on those occasions when the specialists would need to bereleased from classroom duties in order to conduct inserviceeducation programs in another school district or office of a countysuperintendent of schools, the question of substitute pay was amatter to be worked out locally; the state would not involve itself insuch negotiations. It was also pointed out that the specialists were in

Helen Strickland, Office of the Placer County Superintendent of Schools, was one of theconsultants and a program adviser,

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Leo Ruth, University of California,Berkeley, speaks at a large-groupsession.

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no way required by the state to comply with requests for theirservices. If inquiring agencies were unwilling or unable to help coverpossible travel and substitute costs, the specialists were, of course,free to decline requests for their services.

Leaders in English Education Attend Final Session

The final training session for the first cadre of teachers trainedunder this program was held in November, 1969, and wascosponsored by the Department of Education and the CaliforniaCouncil on the Education of Teachers. It was decided to broaden thenature of this session by inviting representatives from the English andthe education departments of all of the teacher preparatoryinstitutions in the state. The selection of these representatives wasaccomplished with the help of the chancellors and presidents of theseinstitutions. Well over 100 of these college and university facultymembers, who included some of California's most distinguishedleaders in English education, attended the session, and livelyinterchange occurred during both large- and small-group meetings. (Alist of these representatives is included in Appendix B.)

Conference planners consciously included in each small grouprepresentatives of both the English and the education departments ofthe colleges and universities and English Teacher Specialists at boththe elementary and secondary levels. The observers from school

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,

Eddie Hanson, formerly with theCalifornia State Department ofEducation, discusses approaches onteaching Mexican-American youth.

districts and offices of county superintendents of schools also joinedgroups. As was expected, this mix produced spirited dialogue at first,but as participants became better acquainted, they became morefully aware of how their varying vantage points often led tomisunderstandings, and enlightening discussion began to emerge.

Among the major speakers who helped to spark discussion andthinking at this conference were Robert Hogan, Executive Secretaryof the National Council of Teachers of English; Karl Openshaw, Deanof the School of Education at Sacramento State College; MilesMyers, a particularly articulate member of the English TeacherSpecialist cadre; Kent Gill, a classroom teacher from the Davis JointUnified School District who had recently completed a fellowshipyear at Harvard, which included visits to schools in Great Britain;William Glasser, a leading psychiatrist perhaps best known for histwo recent books, Reality Therapy and Schools Without Failure;Alan M. Hollingsworth, experimentally inclined chairman of theEnglish Department at Michigan State University; and Edmond J.Farrell of the University of California and currently AssistantExecutive Secretary, National Council of Teachers of English, whoprovided provocative vistas regarding the future of English education.From all reports, this training session quickened statewide interest in

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improved programs for both the preservice and inservice education ofteachers of English.

Evaluation Shows Success of Program

The members of the first cadre of English Teacher Specialists wereextensively used in inservice education programs throughout thestate even before the completion of their training sessions. Anevaluative study of the efficacy of the program was completed by theState Department of Education in late 1969. It indicated that a greatmany members of the first cadre had successfully carried outinservice education assignments and that the teacher-to-teacherapproach did seem to have considerable merit. Indeed, these teachershad touched the professional lives of literally thousands of otherteachers and, in the collective opinion of those who had called uponthem for their services, most of them had performed very well indeedin their new roles.

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Kent Gin, Davis Joint Unified School District, works with his group.

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Second Cadre of English Teacher Specialists is Formed

Accordingly, it was decided that a new cadre of teachers would beselected and trained to augment the efforts of the first group ofteachers, many of whom were already overextended by the demandfor their services. The selection process was similar to that used inchoosing the teachers for the'first cadre except that it was decided tolimit this cadre to language arts teachers who taught kindergartenthrough grade nine only. This decision was occasioned by the factthat most of the teachers in the first cadre taught at the senior highschool level while most requests for help with inservice educationprograms were coming from those who had elementary and juniorhigh school teachers in mind.

The selection process was completed, and 140 members of thesecond cadre were given training in several sessions during 1970. Itwas significant that these training sessions were carried on despite thefact that the state was unable to fund them to the same extent as inthe past. A measure of the local support for this program wasrevealed when d number of local education agencies provided

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Geoffrey Summerfield, from the University of York, England, relaxes after addressingmembers of the second cadre.

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financial assistance which, when added to the state's funds, helped tomake it possible to stage the training sessions for the new cadre. Forthose who were responsible for the program, it was a most gratifyingdevelopment.

The training sessions for the teachers in the second cadre weresimilar to those held earlier except that they more fully reflected theorientation of elementary and junior high school language artsteachers. Because the second cadre was larger than the first, anadditional group leader was retained Kent Gill, who had servedpreviously as a speaker.

Several of the speakers who had appeared before the first cadre ofteachers were also invited to speak to the teachers in the secondcadre. These included James Moffett, Geoffrey Summerfield, RuthStrickland, Edward Hanson, Miles Myers, and also Mr. Gill. Otherdistinguished speakers also appeared at the sessions for the secondcadre. Walter Loban of the University of California at Berkeleyemphasized the importance of appealing to the emotions of studentsin language arts teaching. Helen Lodge of San Fernando Valley StateCollege discussed the teaching of language. John Yockey and Mrs.Nancy (Delaney) McHugh, members of the first cadre of EnglishTeacher Specialists, demonstrated improvisational drama as ateaching technique, and William Tikunoff, another member of thefirst cadre and currently on the staff at the University of SouthernCalifornia, spoke on teaching techniques for the open classroom.Richard Chase, well-known author, spoke on the art of story telling,and James Squire, Editor-in-Chief of Ginn and Company and formerExecutive Secretary of the National Council of Teachers of English,discussed the problems of accountability in English education. PatLindquist of the United States International University exploredstudent-centered approaches to the teaching of the language arts, andElizabeth Watson, an exchange teacher from Great Britain, discussedthe British Infant School and similar new educational movements inthe schools of her land.

Specialists Serve in Many Capacities

As was true for those in the first cadre, the teachers in the secondcadre were prepared to serve in their own and other school districtsand also in university and college extension divisions as inserviceeducation leaders and educational change agents. Under this rubric,teachers in both cadres have already participated in a great variety ofactivities intended to improve language arts education. In addition tomaking presentations and performing teaching demonstrations in

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William Tikunoff, University of South-ern California, discusses teaching tech-niques for the open classroom at one ofthe sessions.

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Elizabeth Watson, an exchange teacherfrom Great Britain, describes new educa-tional movements that have emerged inher homeland.

school districts and offices of county superintendents of schools,teachers in the two cadres have:

1. Assisted curriculum committees in school districts to plan,develop, and implement new language arts curricula

2. Served on county committees working on teaching guides andsimilar publications

3. Taught singly and in teams for college and university extensiondivisions

4. Appeared on the programs of various educational conferencesand conventions

5. Appeared on video-taped sequences of demonstration teaching6. Written articles which have been published in education journals7. Assumed leadership roles in organizations of English and

reading teachers8. Authored or coauthored several publications

The vast majority of the teachers in the two cadres have continuedwith their classroom teaching, only occasionally serving in these newcapacities during nonteaching hours or on a released-time basis.

Those who wish to make similar use of the services these teacherscan provide are invited to negotiate with them directly. They are also

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17

urged to make careful plans to ensure that the teachers can beeffective when providing services. Program chairmen, in particular,will have prime responsibility for the success of undertakings towhich English Teacher Specialists are asked to contribute. In theabsence of careful planning and adequate communication on the partof those who develop inservice education programs, even the bestefforts of the English Teacher Specialists will largely be negated. Ifthe specialists are given adequate notice and know the needs and theaspirations of the members of their audiences, they are much morelikely to proceed with confidence and to be successful with theirassignments.

Prospective program chairmen are also urged to develop ongoinginservice education programs and not to limit their planning tofleeting workshops. Single, short meetings, like those usually heldprior to the opening of school in the fall, obviously can have value. Acarefully planned, but relatively brief session, can stimulate teachersto further reading and experimentation. But the depth and breadthof many of the new developments in English education require morethan this. Too frequently, typical inservice education programs tendto be ephemeral. Something more on the order of short coursesreplete with readings and demonstrations seems necessary if teachersare to assimilate the new content and the new teaching approachesthat are emerging in the field. The English Teacher Specialists areprepared to engage in such programs either 'singly or in teams.Prospective program chairmen are urged especially to consider thelatter. By judiciously, selecting from among the specialists, keepingconstantly in mind their individual strengths, program directors canbring a composite of talents to bear on the unique needs of theteachers in a particular area.

It is our hope that this directory will help to foster the effectiveuse of the English Teacher Specialists. Each specialist was asked toassist in the preparation of this document by writing his ownannotation, by means of which he was to try to reveal the type ofinservice education activities he is best prepared to offer. Althoughbrief, these statements provide at least some insight as to areas Ofstrength; further information can quickly be obtained bycorresponding directly with individuals on the list. For convenience,these lists have been arranged by area in the state, and an index hasbeen provided to simplify the task of finding teachers with certainspecialties. We who have been involved in this program wouldparticularly welcome comments and suggestions regarding itsoperation and earnestly solicit the support of California's educatorsfor this experiment in continuing education.

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cAsilomarConference for English Specialists

California

Light laces through cedarsdappling the patio.

The squirrel flourisheshis plume and talks back, while

a blue jay racks his complaint andbelow, the' talkers talk

and the leaders leadthe dissenters dissent

and'repent and the martyrs bleed.

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