SUNY New Paltz professors and coeditors of English Journal, an international publication for English teachers and English teacher educators, will present at SUNY Buffalo State as part of the ongoing WNYNET speaker series.
RSVP by October 1st, 2014 to WNYNET@gmail.com
Full Circle: Reflections on a Textual Revolution
Biographical Information
Julie Gorlewski
Since 2010, Julie has served as an Assistant Professor in Secondary Education at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Her research and teaching focus on the interrelations between and among schooling, social class, literacy, and identity. Julie’s academic interests are drawn from her experiences as an English language arts teacher in the Maryvale School District in western New York State where she taught high school level English for fourteen years. During that period, she led district-wide efforts to develop an ESL program, an Academic Learning Center, and a parent volunteer program. She was instrumental in expanding the district’s reading program, overseeing the implementation of an online grading system, and coordinating the district’s language arts program. She also served as the English Department Chair.
Never losing her focus on the classroom, Julie’s dissertation analyzed the impact of standardized testing on student writing from both the teacher and student perspective. Her first book, Power, Resistance, and Literacy: Writing for Social Justice (which was based on her dissertation) won the 2011 Critic’s Choice Award from the American Educational Studies Association; and her second book, Using Standards and High-Stakes Testing for Students, won that organization’s 2012 Critic’s Choice Award. Additional co-edited books include Left Behind in the Race to the Top: Realities of School Reform (Information Age, 2013), Social Context Reform: A Pedagogy of Equity and Opportunity (Routledge, in press), and Effective or Wise? Teaching and the Meaning of Professional Dispositions in Education, (Peter Lang, in press)
Additional publications have explored the effects of contemporary reforms on teachers, students, and communities, as well as how narrative analysis fosters the critical reflection necessary for culturally responsive classrooms. She has presented research findings and papers at conferences sponsored by the American Educational Research Association, the American Educational Studies Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Association for Multicultural Education, and the New York State English Council. Current projects focus on the development of professional dispositions in pre-service and practicing teachers, interdisciplinary literacies, and the effects of standardized assessments on teaching and learning. At SUNY New Paltz, Julie has chaired the College Committee on Educational Technology, is a member of the Honors Program Advisory Council, and has served on several search committees. Last spring, she was the recipient of the College’s first-ever Provost Award in the Outstanding Pre-Tenure Faculty category. Julie is currently co-editor of the National Council of Teachers of English publication, English Journal.
David Gorlewski
David’s career in education includes extensive experience as a high school language arts teacher and program coordinator, a K-12 school administrator, an assistant professor, and a higher education department chair and program director. His research interests flow from his experiences as a public school teacher and administrator. They include the effects of tracking and ability grouping, systemic reform initiatives, curriculum development, and the impact of standardized testing on teaching and learning. His transition from teacher to administrator occurred while conducting an analysis of his school district’s writing program. Emerging from the study were issues related to excessive tracking and an over-emphasis on writing correctness. David served as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and assistant superintendent for personnel before entering higher education.
David is currently an assistant professor in the Educational Leadership program at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Prior to coming to New Paltz, David was on the faculty of D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York where he taught courses in the Education Department and the Educational Leadership Doctoral program. He has also served as Education Department Chair and as Director of the Doctoral program. Co-authored publications include three books: Theory into practice: Case Stories for School Leaders; Making it Real: Case Stories for Secondary Teachers; and Using Standards and High-Stakes Testing for Students. In addition to several co-authored articles and book chapters, David’s work, entitled Overflowing but Underused: Portfolios as a Means of Program Evaluation and Student Self-Assessment, appeared in NCTE’s English Journal in 2010. He has also authored book reviews in both English Journal and Excelsior.
In collaboration with his wife and fellow English Journal co-editor, Julie Gorlewski, David has written on topics as diverse as academic bullying, teacher dispositions, the impact of surveillance on teacher identity, and the use of rubrics. He has made numerous presentations at national educational conferences.
