English
English education major
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -- William Butler Yeats
The English Education major at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse prepares students to be middle and high school English teachers licensed to teach in Wisconsin. Through course work and field experiences, English Education majors focus on the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines, as well as instructional tools to make these aspects of the subject matter meaningful for all learners.
At the culmination of the program, students earn a degree in English in the program area of English Education and are prepared to apply for a Wisconsin teaching license.
Students must apply to the School of Education Secondary Teacher Education Program (SOE STEP) for admission into the English Education program. Once admitted to the program, students complete a sequence of courses and field-based experiences that emphasize integrated and coordinated course work. Because their courses tie directly to field experiences, students can better relate what they learn in courses to schools, classrooms, and adolescents.
A student graduating from this program will be able to:
- Demonstrate ability to use disciplinary knowledge to create positive learning experiences;
- Select and modify strategies to assess disciplinary knowledge of learners appropriate to the context;
- Demonstrate discipline specific information literacy skills in order to create and modify positive learning experiences;
- Select a rich variety of texts and modify language strategies to make appropriate pedagogical decisions to support diverse learners.
English Department Faculty/Advisors for English Education
Dr. Virginia Crank
Dr. Tom Jesse
Dr. Stephen Mann
Dr. Merideth Garcia
STEP Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
STEP Program Frequently Asked Questions by Students
Professional Organizations
The National Council of Teachers of English is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.
NCTE student membership forms
The Modern Language Association
The International Reading Association promotes reading by continuously advancing the quality of literacy instruction and research worldwide.
International Reading Association student membership forms
The National Middle School Association
The National Writing Project
State Organizations
Wisconsin State Reading Association
English Standards
Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for English Language Arts
State Department Information
Department of Public Instruction English Language Arts home page
Children and Young Adult Book Lists
Américas Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature: The Américas Award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.
The Coretta Scott King Award: The American Library Association presents the Coretta Scott King Award annually to authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream."
Oyate: This organization works to see that Native Americans lives and histories are portrayed authentically in texts. This site includes evaluation of texts, resource materials and fiction by and about Native peoples and includes a books to avoid list.
Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award: The award was established in 1995 by the College of Education at Texas State University-San Marcos to encourage authors, illustrators and publishers of books that authentically reflect the lives of Mexican American children and young adults in the United States.
International Children's Digital Library: The mission of the International Children's Digital Library Foundation is to excite and inspire the world's children to become members of the global community - children who understand the value of tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children's literature available online. This web site includes full books and a search engine that allows you to search by language, age level, continent, country, subject and or time period and more.
The Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
The Mildred L. Batchelder Award encourages an international exchange of quality children's books by recognizing United States publishers of such books in translation.
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
The National Book Foundation Awards