<HTML dir=ltr><HEAD><TITLE>RE: draft of CBW Social Justice Policy</TITLE>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>I too approve of the spirit and the general rhetorical drift of this resolution. Nice work! I would want to "do" something with the fact that what we are doing is calling on a 1974 resolution. That is, what does it mean in 2008 to be reaffirming that statement?</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hannah</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV align=left><FONT color=#800080><FONT size=1><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Hannah Ashley, Ph. D.</FONT></SPAN> <BR></FONT></FONT><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua"><FONT color=#800080><FONT size=1><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Associate Professor, Composition and Rhetoric Program, Department of English<BR></FONT></SPAN>Director, Writing Zones 12.5 (<A href="http://www.wcupa.edu/writingzones">www.wcupa.edu/writingzones</A>)</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua"><FONT color=#800080><FONT size=1><BR></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=#800080><FONT size=1><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua">551 Main Hall, </FONT></SPAN><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua">West Chester University</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua">610-738-0499, </FONT></SPAN><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Book Antiqua"><A href="mailto:hashley@wcupa.edu" target=_blank>hashley@wcupa.edu</A></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT color=#800080><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=1><SPAN lang=en-us>"If you're not terrified when you are writing, you're writing about the wrong things." --Dorothy Alison--</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> cbw_exec-bounces@tamu-commerce.edu on behalf of Shannon Carter<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sun 4/27/2008 2:46 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Susan Bernstein<BR><B>Cc:</B> sanchezdeborah@yahoo.com; cbw_exec@tamu-commerce.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [CBW_Exec] draft of CBW Social Justice Policy<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=2>Wow! I can't think of anything to add and I agree: this work is indeed crucial. The revision Sonya has created of the CCCC/CBW Fellowship call for apps really foregrounds advocacy in ways this policy articulates. At least I think it does.<BR><BR>And I look forward to our discussion and, eventually (perhaps following revision suggestions), approval of this important policy statement. I also look forward to including such statements on our website.<BR><BR>What do you guys think? How do we feel about the wording, the spirit, and the goals of this draft and project?<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Shannon<BR><BR>Shannon Carter<BR>Associate Professor of English<BR>Texas A&M-Commerce<BR>shannon_carter@tamu-commerce.edu<BR><A href="http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/">http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/</A><BR>903-886-5492<BR><BR><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Susan Bernstein [<A href="mailto:susan.naomi@gmail.com">mailto:susan.naomi@gmail.com</A>]<BR>Sent: Fri 4/25/2008 12:55 PM<BR>To: Shannon Carter<BR>Cc: cbw_exec@tamu-commerce.edu; sanchezdeborah@yahoo.com<BR>Subject: draft of CBW Social Justice Policy<BR><BR>Greetings eveyone,<BR><BR>Attached and below please find a very *rough* draft of a CBW Social<BR>Justice Policy. As you'll see, NCTE presented a 1974 Position<BR>Statement that dovetails with much of what we discussed at our<BR>Executive Board meeting at CCCC. By coincidence, the NCTE Statement<BR>was presented in New Orleans. Many thanks to my U of Cincinnati<BR>graduate student Deborah Sanchez for directing me to this statement.<BR><BR>Since this draft is rough and percolating at once, I look forward to<BR>our discussion about it on the list. Please contribute any and all<BR>revisions, questions, comments, concerns. Given current material<BR>conditions for students enrolled in Basic Writing courses, I advocate<BR>for the urgency of our work-- and the open discussion that will lead<BR>to addressing the widest audience possible for our concerns.<BR><BR>Warm regards and good wishes for the weekend,<BR><BR>Susan<BR><BR>Susan Naomi Bernstein<BR>LaGuardia Community College<BR><BR>Toward Social Justice for Students Enrolled in Basic Writing Courses:<BR>A Conference on Basic Writing Policy Statement<BR><BR><BR> We of the Executive Board of the Conference on Basic Writing have<BR>duly noted the disparities in educational conditions for our students<BR>enrolled in our Basic Writing courses across the United States. These<BR>conditions point to lack of adequate and sufficient access to<BR>resources that would aid full matriculation to college, including but<BR>not limited to:<BR>? Insufficient access to preparation for college-level courses based<BR>on systemic educational inequities in public schools<BR>? Insufficient access to financial aid counseling<BR>? Insufficient access to academic advising and personal counseling<BR>Insufficient access to disability services<BR>? Insufficient access to academic and fine arts courses that foster<BR>and sustain students? growth in areas related to progress in basic<BR>writing and<BR><BR>Further, we would suggest that students enrolled in honors programs<BR>and other more privileged educational venues enjoy routine access to<BR>such resources. Equally important we must point out that those<BR>students enrolled in Basic Writing courses often come from<BR>underrepresented and underserved groups in higher education and<BR>include African American, Latino, poor, working class, documented and<BR>undocumented immigrants, and students with disabilities.<BR><BR>Basic Writing courses serve as a mirror to reflect systemic injustice<BR>throughout US society. Indeed, the increased reliance on standardized<BR>tests to track, measure, and reward ?academic progress? negatively<BR>impacts students enrolled in Basic Writing courses. Such tests create<BR>rigid categories of achievement that impede students? educational<BR>progress.<BR><BR>As longitudinal research has demonstrated, higher education provides<BR>sustainable long-term benefits for achieving individual economic and<BR>intellectual goals, which positively impacts US society as a whole<BR>(Attewill and Lavin; Sternglass). With these issues in mind, we<BR>advocate that educators for Basic Writing and administrators involved<BR>with student success initiatives actively support and implement the<BR>NCTE Position Statement ?On Support for Motivated but Inadequately<BR>Prepared College Students? as suggested below.<BR><BR>On Support for Motivated but Inadequately Prepared College Students<BR>1974<BR>NCTE Annual Business Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana<BR>Background<BR><BR>We believe that all colleges and universities, by the act of admitting<BR>students, become responsible for creating conditions that will permit<BR>those students to exercise their own right to learn.<BR><BR>Clearly, some students who are admitted and who desire to learn lack<BR>adequate educational backgrounds to progress satisfactorily in<BR>traditional learning situations, and many institutions of higher<BR>learning are making little or no effort to help them. Be it therefore<BR><BR>Resolution<BR><BR>Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English encourage<BR>college and university administrations, and legislative bodies, to<BR>allocate sufficient funds to provide individualized and supportive<BR>programs for students who are motivated but inadequately prepared for<BR>success in colleges and universities to which they are being admitted.<BR><BR><A href="http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/curr/107455.htm">http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/curr/107455.htm</A><BR><BR></FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>