BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MEETING The meeting was called to order at 9:30 A.M. Members present introduced themselves and reported on their summer activities. Members in attendance included Southland Representative Kathy Allen, Member at Large Michelle Birrer, California Department of Education Liaison Beth Breneman (Saturday only), Member at Large William Burns, Central Representative Caroline Caracciolo, Treasurer Anne Fristrom, Convention Coordinator Punky Fristrom, Secretary Carleen Hemric, Resolutions Chair Jim Kliegl, Member at Large Olga Kokino, GSDCTE Repesentative Carole LeCren, President Robin Luby, Policy/Legislative Chair Don Mayfield, Member at Large Akiko Morimoto, Member at Large Anna Roseboro, Vice President Aaron Spain, Membership Chair Linda Stockton, TUCATE Representative Carol Surabian, Member at Large Celia Trujillo, Redwood Representative Joan Williams, Member at Large Mahlon Woirhaye, and Member at Large Bill Younglove. Absent: Kern Representative Robert Richmond, FACET Representative Faith Nitschke, CALIFORNIA ENGLISH Editor Carol Jago, Member at Large Bob Chapman, CATE 2000 Chairs Angus Dunstan and Cecil Morris. Piro moved and Spain seconded the approval of the May, 1999 minutes. MOTION PASSED. Piro moved and P. Fristrom seconded the approval of the agenda. MOTION PASSED. REPORTS OF OFFICERS PRESIDENT - Luby shared NCTE folder, CATENet folder, legislation folder, and general correspondence. In her written report posted on CATEWeb before the meeting she noted that all dates for upcoming events in individual councils should be submitted to Larry Jordan. Following our error concerning the CYRM winner on the Web Page, all members are reminded to check information they post carefully and then to read the page to check its accuracy. Carole Le Cren and Carol Jago were nominated for the Committee to Revise the Recommended Reading List. John Cotter was again named our state coordinator for the NCTE Achievement in Writing Awards Program. Vince Piro is serving as the interim coordinator of the Promising Young Writers Program. Nominations for a permanent chair are solicited. Luby and Jago attended the invitational meeting of a State Curriculum Committee to "proofread" and "comment" on the working copy of the Strategic Learning and Teaching booklet in July. The working copy is available for perusal. Le Cren moved and Spain seconded the approval of Diana Souther as CYRM Representative, replacing Carolyn Blakemore who resigned. MOTION PASSED. Luby reported that CATE had been fined $520 by the California Department of State for failing to file an on-time quarterly lobbying report. Luby will be attending the CYRM Committee meeting October 2-3 as well as the Asilomar, Yosemite, and Living Tree conferences. Luby requested council newsletter announcements and reminders of the availability of money for projects or scholarships, CYRM books and programs, and the Reid and Kahl scholarships. Luby mentioned that she had given permission to Cantor Publishing to use the CATE created "ABC's of Writing." All members were asked to prepare for a searching evaluation of who and what we are as an organization and in the process reexamine the document created as part of last year's Leadership Conference. PAST PRESIDENT - In his written report Piro noted that the CATE President, Vice President, Membership Chair, Policy/Censorship Chair, and Convention Coordinator will represent CATE as directors at the NCTE Annual Business Meeting at the Denver Convention and will be reimbursed as per Policy 8.4. NCTE is offering free networking and mentorship opportunities, online resources, and NCTE membership to every new English/language arts teacher in the country this year. The NCTE Annual Convention will be held in Denver November 18-21. Other NCTE dates are available at http://www.ncte.org/convention. Piro will again try to forward the motion requesting that NCTE officers and committee members be required to maintain membership in their local affiliate at the NCTE Annual Business Meeting. Any resolutions that the Board wishes to submit at the Annual Business meeting should be given to Piro immediately. Piro has application forms for NCTE offices. Bob Infantino is running for Representative at Large of CEL (the Committee on English Leadership). Californians recently elected to NCTE offices include Akiko Morimoto as Middle School Representative to the Executive Committee. CATE offices open for nomination include president, vice president, member at large - secondary, member at large - small councils, member at large - unspecified and all council representatives for election. (CATE Bylaws Article 7.3) Nominations are needed for CATE Awards of Merit, the CATE Distinguished Service Award, and CATE Classroom Excellence Awards. (CATE Policy 10) VICE PRESIDENT - Spain summarized the August 14 Advisory meeting at the Campbell Union School District Enrollment Center. Future advisory meeting dates will be November 6 at the CRA Convention in Long Beach, January 8 in San Jose, and April 15 in San Diego. NCTE communication was shared, CATE's financial situation reviewed, and the tentative agenda for the September Board meeting discussed. Spain provided a list of tentative and confirmed presenters for the September Leadership Conference. COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE - Le Cren reported that the Presidents' Handbook was reviewed and will include Policies, a Calendar/Timeline, Treasurer Procedures, Reports and Deadlines, Awards, Newsletter Guidelines, Where Reports and Minutes Should Be Sent, Whom to Ask Questions. Some representatives had questions regarding membership dues payment to councils. The group suggests a volunteer agreement form for the new Convention Handbook. The two-years prior Convention Chair should be the mentor for the current convention chair. SECRETARY - Hemric reminded Board members to submit directory updates and information for business cards. Members were also reminded to review Policies 8, 9, 10, and 11 for discussion in December. TREASURER - A. Fristrom reported a checking account balance of $2,167.85, a savings account balance of $134,813.16, a Memorial CD balance of $10,998.63, a Vanguard GNMA portfolio of $30,578.66, a Vanguard Index Trust of $24,718.24, and a Vanguard Value Index Fund of $19,505.13. Caracciolo moved and Spain seconded approval of the Luby-Caracciolo-Spain review of the treasurer's books. MOTION PASSED. MEMBERSHIP CHAIR - Current membership totals are Capitol - 151, Central - 933, Fresno - 71, Kern - 71, Redwood - 33, San Diego - 364, Southland - 856, TUCATE - 47, Upper - 59, Libraries - 33, Out-of-state - 17, and Comps - 6 for a total of 2441. Of the 102 memberships processed during August, 70 were renewals. Since May 39 new members have taken advantage of the half-price offer. The 177 membership increase over the summer is the largest in three years. Precision has been sending out "thank you" letters with every new membership. The renewal appreciation letters are ready to go out along with free bookmarks to all renewing one-year members. Members outside the United states will be assessed an additional fee for magazine mailing costs. We currently have six complimentary memberships. The Membership Committee will discuss expanding the number of these offered and other promotional campaigns for this year. Council representatives are asked to pick up updated quarterly rosters. Ideas for CATE gifts at CATE 2000 are solicited. The CATE booth will be on display at the CRA Convention in Long Beach November 4-6. Help is needed. CONVENTION COORDINATOR - In his on-line report P.Fristrom noted that the room reservation form for CATE Board and Resolutions Committee members is available on-line. It should be filled out and returned by the December board meeting. Individual board members and council committee members should be ready to volunteer for work at the convention. Board members were reminded to provide gifts for exhibitors and books for new teachers at the convention. Council committees are urged to make their wishes concerning hospitality suites known and invited to fund parts of the convention if they so desire. A planning meeting for CATE 2000 was held in Sacramento in August. Linda Scott has agreed to a one-year contract as convention registrar. CATE 2000 CHAIRS - Fristrom brought flyer in progress noting that the major speakers are Lois Lowry, Derek Walcott, Chitra Divakaruni, Billy Collins,Sherman Alexie, and CYRM primary level winners, Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole. Other presenters scheduled include Sheridan Blau, Rae Jeanne Williams and Jane Hancock, Jane Shaffer, Bob Infantino, Jenee Gossard and Lynne Culp, David Doty, Carol Jago, Jim Burke, Fran Claggett and Joan Brown, and Linda Taggart-Fregoso and Don Mayfield. Susan Tuimoloau in Eureka will be the graphic artist for the registration flier and the program. The Friday evening entertainment will be at the Golden State Museum with music, unlimited buffet food, and a no-host bar. The Pre-Convention Workshop will be hosted by the Area III Writing Project based at UC Davis. Committee meetings were begun at 11:00. Following lunch the group returned for reports at 1: 45 P.M. COMMITTEE REPORTS POLICY/CENSORSHIP (Mayfield, chair: Kliegl, Kokino, Luby, Piro, Younglove.). The committee felt we needed to get more information regarding the CTC recommendation for an additional certificate in reading for teachers in a self-contained classroom. The Committee recommends that the Resolutions Chair continue to emphasize the need for authentic assessment of writing and that the Resolutions Committee formulate a resolution regarding the inadequacy of multiple choice tests to assess writing skills, the claims of HBJ that their items adequately address standards, and the preparation of instructional materials for test preparation, especially with a focus on secrecy of items and adequacy of instruction. CONVENTION COORDINATING - (P. Fristrom, chair; Birrer, Burns, Caracciolo, A. Fristrom, Morimoto, Roseboro) The committee reviewed the draft of the CATE 2000 flyer and recommended approval of a one year contract for Linda Scott as registrar, paying her $5.00 a registrant and $4.00 per purchase order. Fristrom moved and Morimoto seconded to approve the appointment of Linda Scott to a one-year term as Convention Registrar. MOTION PASSED. The committee reviewed the new NCTE policy on selection of a convention site and recommended a draft of a response to NCTE. Stockton moved and Williams seconded the approval of a letter written by P. Fristrom to NCTE outlining our thoughts concerning the selection of convention sites. The committee recommended contacting Kay Williams-Pierce concerning the position of Convention Chair for CATE 2001 Ontario. Birrer moved and Morimoto seconded the approval of Kay Williams-Pierce as CATE 2001 Chair pending her acceptance. MOTION PASSED. The committee rcommended that CATE 2005 be held in the north. P. Fristrom moved and Birrer seconded that P. Fristrom explore Northern California cities: San Jose, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Francisco, and Fresno for CATE 2005. MOTION PASSED. The committee asked the Convention Coordinator to create a volunteer agreement for Convention Chairs. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT/LIAISONS - (Spain, chair; Breneman, Allen, Caracciolo, Hemric, Le Cren, Surabian, Trujillo, Williams) Advantages and disadvantages of the Leadership Conference were discussed with the consensus that it should be continued, but methods need to be adapted to increase attendance of local councils. The Leadership Conference should continue in conjunction with the September Board meeting, and it was suggested that next year's conference be held in Sacramento with legislative emphasis. The committee felt that veterans of the CATE Board (Past Presdent, President, Member at Large, Legislative Chair) would be good candidates for NCTE offices. Southland, Redwood, and San Diego representatives on the committee felt they had candidates who would run for CATE office. Le Cren volunteered to revise Policy 8.11 concerning the Virginia Reid Scholarship. Birrer moved and Caracciolo seconded that we suspend the Virginia Reid Scholarship including the cycling until that Policy is revised in December. MOTION PASSED. (Two nays and two abstentions) The Marilyn Kahl Scholarship, administered last year by Central Council will be administered by Southland. Our goals are to continue to inform, educate, and represent the CATE constituency, create a professional community, encourage candidates for CATE offices, review and revise policies, and continue the Leadership Conference. LIAISON REPORTS CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - Brenneman reported that on-going developments concerning the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 (PSAA) are posted at the CDE web site (www.cde.c.gov/psaa). About 1400 of the underperforming schools (the lower half of the statewide distribution based on '98 and '99 STAR achievement results) volunteered for the $96 million program. 430 schools were randomly chosen to receive $50,000 or up to $200 per student whichever is greater to implement improvement activities. Schools chosen must contract with external evaluators by October 1. Schools chosen and evaluator lists are on the CDE website. Approximately $15.5 million is expected to be made available for California schools through the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) Program, a federal initiative for school-wide reform based on effective research models and strategies with a minimum allocation of $50,000 per school site for competitive grants. Approved CSRD applications submitted before June 30 will be posted soon on www.cde.da.gov/isa/csrd A process for updating the California Recommended Literature lists will begin in October. CRA, CATE, CRLP, CWP, CABE, CSLA, and CLA were asked for committee membership recommendations. Debby Lott (916-657-2678) is CDE's new reading specialist. Breneman and Barbara Jeffus are working with Debby on the internal planning committee. Diane Levin is now reporting to Chief Deputy Superintendent Scott Hill and Rod Atkinson to Chief Deputy Superintendent Leslie Fausset. The new CDE 4-12 literacy handbook, Strategic Teaching and Learning, consisting of a theoretical framework and 55 comprehension, vocabulary, and print skill strategies will be disseminated this fall. Alignment with the Reading/Language Arts Framework was reviewed by a committee, including Luby and Jago, this summer which also provided advice about the dissemination and orientation sessions which are scheduled around the state this fall with Beth Breneman and Bob Pritchard as presenters. The book will be mailed to all districts his fall and will be available for purchase through the Publications Sales Office, probably by late October. The plan is also to make the document available on the CDE website. In June the State Board adopted language arts materials to add to the existing list of adopted language arts materials. For the first time districts are beginning to purchase products that are aligned with standards. AB2519 establishes a specific schedule for the next four adoptions with reading/language arts in 2002 using criteria derived from the English Language Arts Framework. Those criteria have to be ready by October, 2000, with the effort headed by Linda Sain (916-657-1281) in the Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Office. Jan Chladek has returned to the Assessment Office (916-657-3011) as the language arts consultant. That office is seeking CATE representatives to serve on committees to provide input about the matrix test and to look at the alignment of the Golden State exam with standards. Marion Miller (916-657-4393) works on the high school exam. She and Jan have been informed of CATE's interest in being involved in CDE committees and of the need to provide timely information to CATENet. New AB1086 providers of professional development in reading have been identified and are posted on the CDE website: www.cde.ca.gov, click on Elementary, then again on AB1086. Two sources of funding are available: $75 million for supplemental instruction for pupils in grade 2-9 and for pupils recommended for at risk of retention in grades 2-6, and $30 million to fund remedial instruction to pupils in grade 7-9 who have been retained or are at risk of retention. Thus far only 3% of the available funding has been tapped. Request for Applications (RFA) Grants for California Partnerships Academies and the Carl D. Perkins 1900-2000 Local Plan/Application for Funds are available at www.cde.c.gov/secondary/news.html. Char Barkman Keuscher would like to know if the CATE Board has any interest in having a CATE representative on a group to identify professional books to recommend to elementary teachers through the Elementary Networks Office. Carol Surabian volunteered to contact her directly. CALIFORNIA ENGLISH Editor - Jago reported on-line that for the May 1999-September 1999 period 22 manuscripts were submitted and ten accepted for publication. The fall issue will be in members' hands soon. Heinemann purchased the back cover to advertise Jim Burke's new book I Hear America Reading. An attempt is being made to get the California Department of Education to purchase an ad for the new California Language Arts Framework in the winter issue. Jago has a book, Nikki Giovanni in the Classroom: The Same Ol' Danger but a Brand New Pleasure. ASM publications is purchasing an ad in the winter issue advertising the book. CATE Writing Contest winners will be published in the winter and spring issues. The electronic medium is allowing Jago and other manuscript reviewers to provide constructive comments to writers, enabling CE to publish members' work and nurture them professionally. LEGISLATIVE/CommuniCATE - Mayfield - In his on-line report Mayfield highlighted legislation which he had digested from Zaragoza-Diaz's monthly reports including the additional certificate for teachers providing reading instruction in a self-contained classroom as well the requirements for a Reading and Language Arts Specialist, and the California Board of Education appointments: Marion Bergeson, Susan Hammer, Monica Lozano, Carlton Jenkins, and Vicki Reynolds. He mentioned the SAT-9 problems with HBJ and referred to his Easy Reference editorial concerning SAT-9 in which he noted that although the test makers claim that 50% of the new test items address standards, a close examination reveals that only 9.6% of the items come close to assessing standards. Given the uses of the test results - loss of local control, staff firings, the SAT 9 may not be the most appropriate vehicle for school reform. CATEweb - In his on-line report Jordan noted that the present count of CATEweb visitors includes people from 59 countries with the top five being the U.S., Canada, Australia, Italy, and Germany. Daily visitors average 235 and hit a high of 713 on August 19. Board of Directors Reports were once again made available on the web. Please use the Calendar and Notice pages to promote events on a statewide or at a local level. Simple polls can be instituted with results open for viewing or submitted by email to a particular individual. CATENet - In his on-line report Burke noted that CATENet continues to grow and remain a lively forum. Burke was awarded this year's NCTE/SLATE Intellectual Freedom Award for his work as CATENet moderator, an award to the CATE Board as well. He will receive the award at the Denver Convention and give a follow-up session about censorship related issues. Feedback from CATENet users indicates satisfaction with content and service remains high. People subscribe through Burke's web site, CATE's web site, or someone giving out Burke's email address. The upcoming CATE Convention is supported and promoted and information requests forwarded to whomever is appropriate. RESOLUTIONS CHAIR - Kliegl requested that all council committees forward to him the name of their Resolutions Committee member and that resolutions be developed and sent to him as soon as possible. CAPITOL - no report CENTRAL - Caracciolo reported on-line that Central Council revised their Constitution, Policies, and job descriptions to eliminate the office of President Elect, and extend the terms of President, Vice President, and Past President to two years. Board memberships have increased in the elementary area. College representation is still needed. New teachers and membership are areas of focus. Book talks and small get togethers with new teachers have helped attract new teachers and inform them about CATE. A fall conference with the California Writing and Reading and Literature Projects is planned. Representatives from these groups will be invited to be liaisons on the Central Board. FACET - Nitschke reported on-line that FACET, along with the other Valley Councils of CATE,helps sponsor the Yosemite Conference which will be held at the Yosemite Lodge on October 22, 23, and 24 featuring Frances Mayes and Jean Janzen. Whenever the Council hears of a teacher being challenged because of the use of a book, that teacher will be connected with an appropriate CATE member. GREATER SAN DIEGO - Le Cren reported on line that GSDCTE would hold a Fall Kick-off/Membership Drive at Barnes and Noble The annual conference, Promising Practices, will be held December 8-9 at the Town and Country with Janet Allen, Ralph Fletcher, Chris Crutcher, and Quincy Troupe. Information about the conference and registration forms are available at thewebsite www.sdcoe.k12.us/score/gsdcte/gsdcte.html The Winning Writers Reception will be held April 13, 2000, and the Lake Arrowhead Retreat April 28-30, 2000. Board meetings will be held on September 29, October 20, January 19, March 15, and May 17. The council is updating our constitution/bylaws and creating board policies. GSDCTE will have board elections this year. KERN - No Report. REDWOOD - Williams reported on-line that the Redwood Council had not met since May but will meet soon to welcome new teachers and offer them the special deal on membership. In the spring Williams was asked by members to write a letter as the council representative explaining why teachers should be financially supported in their requests to attend CATE 2000 and send it to local school. SOUTHLAND - The Fall Conference will be held Saturday, October16 at the Doubletree Hotel in Pasadena with featured presentations by the Living Voices and author Cristina Garcia. The Conference of the Living Tree will be held January 14-16 at the Mission Inn in Riverside, the Victorian Tea on March 12 will honor student writers, and a Spring Outing to the Getty in will occur in May. TUCATE - The fall kick-off was held September 16, and plans are being made for the annual WIT conference for students. Censorship and testing may become a big issue in the council this year. We will continue our book talks. From 4:00-5:00 the group discussed the future direction of CATE: problems, mission, goals. Further discussion will take place on Sunday. The meeting recessed at 5:00 P.M. Sunday, September 19 The Board reconvened at 8:30 A.M., began Committee meetings, and returned for reports at 10:00 A.M. PUBLICATIONS (Le Cren, acting chair; Birrer, Mayfield, Surabian, Williams, and Younglove) First and second place winners in the CATE Professional Writing Contest were chosen and the Prompt for next year written. The winners were Connie St. Amour ($250) from Central and Linda Faust ($150) from Southland. Kokino will continue coordinating the contest. A new Policy 8.14 was created for the implementation of the CATE Creative Writing Contest which will be introduced for vote in December. Specific ideas for CATEweb should be sent to Birrer by December to be discussed at the December Board meeting. The name of Bonnie Rooney has been submitted as the California Promising Young Writers Coordinator. Council committees should submit names of judges for this contest, the Literary Magazine judging, and the Achievement in Writing judging to Chapman. Younglove shared a literary map from 1961. Preliminary criteria for selecting authors to be included are: widely read, on core or extended reading list, on recommended reading list, a native or a person identified with California. A two-sided map (elementary and secondary) was suggested. We will have a ballot/survey at CATE 2000 at the booth and/or at luncheons to get ideas from attendees. Suggested ideas for upcoming CommuniCATE topics include: test preparation and validity, and the high school exit exam. EXECUTIVE/FINANCE (Spain, chair; A. Fristrom, P. Fristrom, Hemric, Kliegl, Luby, and Trujillo) President Luby directed Treasurer A.Fristrom to place Marilyn Kahl funds in a CD account. Citing the decline in registration experienced by CRA, P. Fristrom warned that CATE 2000 costs may be up and that we should remain cautious about expenditures. The committee agreed that CATE should pay NCTE Convention costs for Jim Burke when he accepts the Intellectual Freedom Award. Piro moved and Spain seconded that CATE pay transportation and per diem for Jim Burke to attend the 1999 NCTE Convention in Denver. MOTION PASSED. In our long range planning discussion the committee agreed that CATE should explore credit cards and the implications of CATE in cyberspace. President Luby will direct A. Fristrom, Jordan, Jago, and Scott to study the implication of CATE's committing to net-based memberships, publications, and communications, and report to the December Board meeting. The possibility of a CATEweb fee site was discussed. The committee agreed that the Advisory Committee membership should be increased. Piro moved and Spain seconded the addition of a voting member (a member at large or a council president depending up on geographical location and availability) to the Advisory Committee each meeting. MOTION PASSED. MEMBERSHIP (Stockton, chair; Burns, Ellis, Exacoustos, Morimoto, Roseboro, Williams) The long range goal is 3000 in 2000. Complimentary memberships were discussed, including a need for follow-up when new ones are given. Suggestions of people to receive complimentary memberships are welcome. Stockton moved and Williams seconded that CATE allot up to $1000 for the fiscal year 1999-2000 from the membership budget line to provide two complimentary memberships for each active council to disperse as they see fit. MOTION PASSED. Precision will be asked to look into the cost of self-addressed, prepaid return envelopes. An on-line survey of members to obtain profiles was discussed. Gift suggestions for CATE 2000 included mouse pads, clipboards, desk blotters, and phone cards. Sale items might include prop-ups, bookmarks, A-Z Writing Poster, Literary Map. Dunstan and Morris will be asked for their preference. The committee noted that all council correspondence should contain the CATE logo. UNFINISHED BUSINESS The concept of housing CATE archives on a college or university campus was discussed. Council committee representatives were asked to submit names of members interested in serving on Promising Young Writers, Achievement Awards in Writing, and Literary Magazine Competition judging panels. In discussion of long range planning the general consensus was that as current CATE membership ages, CATE must appeal to a younger population who need information, fresh ideas, and strategies. Cyberspace has an appeal, and CATE could expand its use with help links, member's favorite sites, interactive sites, and ranking of sites. Some members cautioned that the use of the web not confirm the notion that teaching can be improved with a quick fix. The electronic media is to be seen as support, not everything. The quality of whatever CATE does electronically must be good. Other ideas included a strand for new teachers at CATE conferences. The problem of CATE visibility was addressed with such suggestions as including CATE as part of member identification for any materials disseminated, a letter from the president to principals about the organization, a speakers bureau for education classes, and a paper newsletter. NEW BUSINESS Members were reminded to bring gifts for our white elephant exchange at the December Board meeting. Williams moved and Surabian seconded that the meeting adjourn at 11:45 A.M. Respectfully submitted, Carleen Hemric, Secretary |