In this project, we have been fortunate enough to have the support
and guidance of nine advisors who represent many segments of
the language arts educational community. With their assistance,
we have designed Conversations in Literature to meet
the needs of language arts educators working with students in
middle and high school.
Judith Langer, Chief Content Advisor
A. Langer, Ph.D.
Judith A. Langer is Professor of Education at the University
at Albany, State University of New York. She specializes in
studies of language, literacy, and learning. Her research focuses
on how people become highly literate, on how they use reading
and writing to learn, and on what this means for instruction.
Her major works examine the nature of literate thought
the knowledge students use when they "make sense" and the ways
in which their learning is affected by activities and interactions
in the classroom. She has studied reading and writing development,
the ways in which understandings (envisionments) grow over time,
how particular literacy contexts affect language and thought,
and the contribution of literature to literate thought.
She is presently studying the professional and classroom features
that accompany English programs where students are "beating
the odds" in literacy. Her work on envisionment building has
had a major impact on literature instruction and assessment.
She serves on many advisory boards and national reform groups
involved in reconceptualizing literacy education.
Langer has published in a wide variety of journals and collections.
Her books include Reader Meets Author/Bridging the Gap; Understanding
Reading and Writing Research; Children Reading and Writing:
Structures and Strategies; Language, Literacy, and Culture:
Issues of Society and Schooling; How Writing Shapes Thinking:
Studies of Teaching and Learning; Literature Instruction: A
Focus on Student Response; Literature Instruction: Practice
and Policy; and Envisioning Literature: Literary Understanding
and Literature Instruction. Effective English Instruction
will soon be published.
Langer has been director of the National Research Center on
English Learning & Achievement (CELA) since 1987. The Center's
research, including Langer's work on envisionment building,
has been primarily funded by the United States Department of
Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).
She is also chair of the Department of Educational Theory and
Langer serves as the chief content advisor for Conversations
Dale Allender currently serves as the Associate Executive Director
of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). A former
teacher in the Iowa City Community School District, Allender
has also lectured at Grinell and Coe Colleges. He has also served
the language arts community as an Editorial Board Member of
The New Advocate, as representative-at-large for the
Alliance for Curriculum Reform, and in his current position
as the NCTE Liaison to the Iowa Council Teachers of English
and language arts Executive Board.
A recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer
Institute for Native American Literature fellowship and numerous
other awards, Allender has also served as a consultant and curriculum
developer for a number of media projects, including Songmasters:
The American Road, a music recording of traditional socially
conscious songs performed by contemporary popular music artists;
Tutu and Franklin: A Journey Towards Peace, a dialogue
between Desmond Tutu and John Hope Franklin and twenty-one international,
multicultural high school students; and Regret to Inform,
an award-winning documentary on widows from the Vietnam War,
featured on PBS.
Some of Allender's recent publications include "Deep Reading:
Building a Schematic Bridge Across World Mythology and Multicultural
Literature" which appeared in Multicultural Review, "The
Myth Ritual Theory and the Teaching of Multicultural Literature,"
"Standing on the Border: Issues of Identity and Border Crossing
in Young Adult Literature," and "African and African American
Voices and Experiences" which is included in Adventuring
Arthur N. Applebee,
Arthur N. Applebee is Professor in the School of Education,
University at Albany, State University of New York, and (with
Judith Langer) is Director of the federally sponsored National
Research Center on English Learning and Achievement. The Center
has an active research and development agenda in elementary
and secondary instruction, in effective uses of technology,
and in teacher education.
During his varied career, Applebee has worked in institutional
settings with children with severe learning problems, in public
schools, as a staff member of the National Council of Teachers
of English, and in research and professional education. He joined
the faculty at the University at Albany from Stanford University
in 1987, as part of a SUNY-wide Graduate Research Initiative
designed to place the University at Albany at the forefront
of literacy research in the United States.
With degrees from Yale, Harvard, and the University of London,
Applebee's work focuses on how children and adults learn the
many specialized forms of language required for success in school
subjects, life, and work. His numerous books and articles focus
on particular issues in curriculum and instruction in reading,
writing, and the English language arts. Since the early 1970s,
he has also worked with the National Assessment of Educational
Progress, helping to design, implement, interpret, and report
a continuing series of evaluations of the educational attainment
of U.S. students.
An internationally recognized expert, Applebee consults at the
national, state, and district level on effective approaches
to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Applebee is a former
editor of Research in the Teaching of English, a past
president of the National Conference on Research in Language
and Literacy, and a recipient of the David H. Russell Award
for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English, from
the National Council of Teachers of English.
Elizabeth Close is the Director of Educational Outreach for
The National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement
(CELA). Before assuming that role in 1999, she taught for many
years in the Guilderland Central School District near Albany
New York and in the Roosevelt and Sachem Central School Districts
on Long Island. As a teacher, she was one of a number of teacher/researchers
working with Judith Langer and her research staff in the Envisioning
Close completed her undergraduate work at the State University
of New York at Stony Brook. She did her graduate work at Hofstra
University and the University at Albany. She has been active
in the National Council of Teachers of English, serving on the
Secondary Section Steering Committee, the Executive Committee,
and as chair of the first Middle Level Nominating Committee.
She was the recipient of the 1999 NCTE Edwin A. Hoey Award for
Outstanding Middle School Educator in language arts and received
a Paul and Kate Farmer Writing Award in 1993 for an article
in English Journal. She was co-editor of "Middle Talk,"
a column in English Journal, and co-editor of A Middle
Mosaic: A Celebration of Reading, Writing, and Reflective Practice
at the Middle Level (NCTE, 2000).
Shawn Eric DeNight has been a high school English teacher since
1985. At Miami Edison Senior High School, he teaches English
and journalism. He is also the language arts department chairperson.
In 1999, he earned certification from the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards in English/Language Arts for
adolescents and young adults. He has worked with the National
Board as an assessor and as an assessment developer. In 1995,
he received his Ph.D. in English education from the University
of Miami. His dissertation study investigated the effects of
teacher written comments on the quality of students' writing.
In October of 2000, he was named to USA Today's All-USA Teacher
Team. In 1994, he was selected as Florida's state teacher of
the year. In 1997, he participated in a teacher exchange program
to Russia and Ukraine sponsored by the United States Information
At his school, DeNight sponsors the National Honor Society,
supervises a computer writing lab, and chairs the school's accreditation
self-study team. For his school district, he works as a facilitator
at the Zelda Glazer Writing Institute, a two-week summer in-service
program dedicated to the teaching of writing. He has also been
a leader in the district's intergenerational community outreach
As the K-12 Specialist in English language arts for the Maryland
State Department of Education, Frank Horstman works with a variety
of issues related to language development: curricular design,
instructional implementation, assessment, and school improvement.
Specific projects have ranged from kindergarten-Maryland Model
for School Readiness (MMSR) training, to primary-managing the
Reading Excellence Act Grant, to middle-range finding for the
Maryland Writing Test (MWT) and the Maryland School Performance
Assessment Program (MSPAP), through high school-collaborating
on the development of the English High School Assessment. While
he received his formal training in applying theories in cognitive
psychology, linguistics, and classical rhetoric to improving
writing instruction, Dr. Horstman credits the training he received
from his English, journalism, and foreign language students
with helping him develop a very practical perspective on English
He also believes that serving as both a staff development facilitator
and an administrator have helped him to see the learning process
from still other perspectives. Dr. Horstman welcomes the opportunity
to support educators across Maryland in their goal to improve
student achievement in English/language arts.
Alfredo Celedon Lujan is a native of the village of Nambe in
northern New Mexico. He currently teaches English at the Native
American Preparatory School in San Ysidro, New Mexico. Lujan
is active in many national language arts organizations. He is
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Rainbow Strand
planner for Middle and Secondary Sections, a member of NCTE's
Steering Committee, Secondary Section, and a member of the Early
Adolescent language arts Committee with the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards.
Previously, Lujan taught English at Pojaque Middle School, chaired
the NCTE Committee on Racism and Bias, and was a member of NCTE's
Commission for Literature. He also served as a SLATE (Support
for the Learning and Teaching of English) representative in
New Mexico, and edited Capirotada, the newsletter of
NCTE's Latino Caucus. He has also held leadership roles in educating
teachers, serving as an instructor at the Bread Loaf/Gallup-McKinley
Teachers Institute, and as an instructor/facilitator in many
Writing Across the Curriculum workshops and inservices.
His publications have appeared in The Council Chronicle,
California English, La Herencia del Norte, Bread Loaf Rural
Teacher Magazine, Bread Loaf News, A Work of ARTE, New Mexico
Sports Journal , Puerto del Sol, and the New Mexico Humanities
Lujan was an National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow (1985,
1989, 1990), won First Place for student writing portfolio in
the Quality Education Awards Program at University of New Mexico,
and has served as a writer in residence for the Anchorage and
Mat-Su School Districts in Alaska.
Elizabeth Penfield is Professor Emerita of English at the University
of New Orleans. She is the author of four books and numerous
articles published in state, regional, and national journals,
including Arizona English Bulletin, English language arts
Bulletin, and the ADE Bulletin. Her book Short
Takes, published by Harper Collins, is currently in its
seventh printing. She is a contributor to the Longman Bibliography
of Composition and Rhetoric, and her article Freshman
English/ Advanced Writing: How Do We Distinguish the Two?
was published in On Teaching Advanced Writing. Together
with Charles Moran of the University of Massachusetts, she edited
the NCTE publication Conversations: Contemporary Theory and
the Teaching of Literature. Penfield has also presented
papers to many state, regional, and national groups, including
the Conference on College Composition and Communication and
the National Council of Teachers of English.
Penfield's principle areas of interest are composition and rhetoric,
and contemporary literature. She has consulted on writing with
schools throughout Louisiana and for the Wyoming Conference
on Freshman and Sophomore English. She has also chaired the
New Orleans Writing Project. At the University of New Orleans,
she has directed the freshman program, chaired the English Department,
and served as Associate Dean of Liberal Arts.
Sallie Snyder is a former language arts/reading supervisor for
the Miami-Dade County Public School District where, during her
25 years in the district, she also taught high school English
at all levels and was an assistant principal for curriculum.
In addition to her other responsibilities as supervisor, she
served as the district administrator for Dr. Judith Langer's
study on exemplary English instruction in the Miami-Dade County
area. She also had the pleasure of being both a facilitator
for the Zelda Glazer Miami-Dade County Public Schools/University
of Miami Writing Institute for ten years and a member of the
Pacesetter English teacher training team for three years. While
working as a supervisor, she served on several state committees
and served a term as President of the Florida Council of Language
Before moving to Florida, Sallie taught language arts in Ohio,
California, Nebraska, and Georgia. Now living on the southern
Oregon coast, she is an adjunct teacher of writing at Southwestern
Oregon Community College, and, in addition to her work for Maryland
Public Television, works part time as a consultant for a publisher.
Betty Tillman currently teaches Ethnic Literature, American
Literature, and European Literature at Raoul Wallenberg Traditional
High School in San Francisco. She serves as head of the English
Department there, and is very instrumental in its program to
support beginning teachers. Her thirty-five year career as a
language arts educator has also included numerous positions
on Wallenberg's Literature Review and Recommendations and Fine
Arts Core Curriculum Committees. Holding a master's degree in
Theater and Communications from the University of New Orleans
(LSUNO), Tillman has advised the drama clubs in many of the
schools in which she has taught, and coordinated talent shows
and other opportunities for student artists to showcase their
talents. In September 2000, she was selected to take part in
the Toyota International Teacher Study Program in Japan.
Tillman has also created and presented a video for middle and
high school teachers on teaching techniques for African American
students, entitled, "I Didn't Do Nothin', Why You Always Picking