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