Thought the group might be interested in what guidelines for college Eng.
and Eng. Ed programs were just passed by NCATE (Friday, October 17, 1997)
in Wash. D.C. at the All-Boards meeting of NCATE.  This applies to
approximately 550 of the 1300 colleges and universities who prepare
teachers (that is the number affiliated with NCATE--The National Council
for Accreditation of Teacher Education).  Please note that we have
have all active verbs, so the "understands" will have to be changed and
this will not become official until that is done and approved.
 
3.1  the program prepares the preservice teacher with knowledge and
understanding of the English language; as a result, the preservice teacher
will
        3.1.1  understand language acquisition and development;
        3.1.2  demonstrate how reading, writing, speaking, listening,
                viewing, and thinking are interrelated;
        3.1.3  understand the impact of cultural, economic, political, and
                social environments upon language;
        3.1.4  understand and respect diversity in language use, patterns,
                and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and
                social roles;
        3.1.5  understand the evolution of the English language and the
                historical influences on its various forms;
        3.1.6  understand English grammars;
        3.1.7  understand semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology;
        3.1.8  understand the various purposes for which language is used.
 
I invite you to suggest ways to change those statements into performances
that we might expect of teachers.
                                        Tom McCracken
                                        NCTE Representative to NCATE
                                        Member of Executive Board, NCATE