National Network for Educational Renewal

Proposal for NNER Journal

Respectfully submitted by John Anderson, Jean Eagle, Laura Nicosia, Tom Poetter, John Skillings, Jim Tomlinson and Caren Town

April, 2008

Historical Perspective:

This effort at publishing a journal for the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER) began with the inception of the Tripartite Council, if not before then. When the first Tripartite Council gathered, Arts & Science (A&S) faculty members noted that more of their colleagues should be engaged in the work of the NNER and the Agenda for Education in a Democracy (AED). A year after that initial meeting, the Executive Board of the NNER agreed that more could be done to encourage A&S faculty members engagement in the AED and it funded an initiative led by John Anderson, then A&S representative on the Executive Board and Ann Foster, Executive Director of the NNER to gather A&S representatives to work on strategies to increase involvement. A meeting of a cross-section of A&S faculty made several recommendations and the launch of a publication that would count towards promotion and tenure requirements was one of the primary recommendations. At the 2007 Annual Conference of the NNER, a committee was formed to prepare a full proposal for the journal. That committee met, with Miami University graciously hosting the group in mid-February, 2008. This proposal represents the work of that committee and we submit it to the governing councils of the NNER for comment and approval.

Preamble:

The primary purpose of the proposed journal of the NNER is to inform the network about issues, policies and practices that relate to the advancement of the AED. Another purpose of the journal, and its constituting/governing committee, is to increase engagement across the four parts of the network—higher education faculty in colleges of education and the arts & sciences, P-12 faculty and administrators, as well as community members. Still, another purpose of the proposed NNER journal is to foster inquiry and the publication of articles based upon that inquiry; especially, as it relates to the four-part mission of NNER settings and policy issues that pertain to the advancement of agenda. The final purpose is to provide access to the published research for a broad range of readers.

Journal Purposes:

The committee proposes that the following statement be used to guide prospective authors on the purpose of the journal.

“The purpose of this journal is to encourage various forms of scholarship related to the Agenda for Education in a Democracy. (More can be learned about the Agenda for Education in a Democracy on the website of the National Network for Educational Renewal http://www.nnerpartnerships.org.) Each article should address an issue relevant to the AED such as:

Fostering effective participation in a social and political democracy.
Ensuring that all have access to those understandings and skills required for satisfying and responsible lives.
Developing and provide continuing support to educators who nurture the learning and well being of every student.
Encouraging educators to be competent and committed stewards of their schools and communities.
Informing a reader about educational policy issues related to the agenda of the NNER.

We publish articles that present collaborative works across educational settings and boundaries as well as scholarship that informs the Arts and Sciences, method in Colleges of Education, and pedagogy/content in P-12 school settings. Submissions should be accessible to a broad range of readers interested in education. We encourage creative forms of expression. Submission length of articles should normally be 5,000 words or less.

Logistical Issues:

Name of the Journal:

We propose that the journal be named: Education in a Democracy: A Journal of the NNER. This title is the preference of the committee as it focuses on two important items; first, the content flavor of the journal (education in a democracy) and, second, it attributes sponsorship of the journal to the NNER.

Other titles that were considered included: A Journal of Education in a Democracy, Democratic Action, Education in a Democracy, and Democratic Education. While the committee members favor the title given above, they are amenable to another choice to be made by the Executive Committee and the Governing Board.

Refereeing of Articles:

All articles (unsolicited and invited) will be refereed before being published. Refereeing will be double blind (author is unknown by the reviewers, and the reviewers remain anonymous). Decision to publish an article will be informed by the reviews, but the final decision will be made by the editor and the editorial board (see more details below). A central criterion for accepting articles will be the overall quality of the work and the prospective interest to the members of the NNER.

Intellectual Property:

In general, articles in the journal will be the intellectual property of the NNER. We propose that we follow the same policy that Kappan uses, and to that end we suggest the following text be included in the journal: “The NNER will hold the copyright to articles. Authors may choose to retain the general copyright in their name, but as a condition of publication, the NNER requires authors who hold copyright to grant permission to post electronically and in print the full text of the article in NNER publications.”

Format of Journal:

The journal will be published in an on-line format and will be accessible via a linkage on the NNER website. Members who wish to receive the journal electronically will receive it by e-mail at no cost. Hard copies (inexpensive format) of the journal will be produced and made available to participants at the annual conference, again at no cost.

There will be no advertisements in the electronic journal, but there will be space made available to announce activities of the NNER (e.g., annual conference, grant opportunities). Advertising could be considered for the hard copies that are distributed at the annual conference. To avoid mailing costs, no hard copies will be mailed.

All submissions to the journal will be made electronically, and all communications in the refereeing process with be handled in the same manner. Protocols will be established for the proper electronic submission of articles by the Editorial Board (see below).

Strategies for the Recruitment of Articles:

There will be three general sources of articles for the journal. First, the presentations at the annual conference will be a major source of potential articles. Editorial Board members will encourage presenters to follow-up their presentations by submitting an article for the journal. Some of these submissions could come from sessions at the annual conference that have been purposefully scheduled on areas of general interest to NNER members to promote papers for the journal. There will be regular communication with the Tripartite Council regarding areas of interest that should be included in the conference and the journal.

A second source of articles will be invited submissions from individuals working in areas associated with the NNER. The editorial board members will be encouraged to seek such articles. And finally, the editorial board will welcome submitted articles from individuals.

Timing:

If the proposal for a journal is approved, then an editor and an editorial board would need to be established as soon as possible. The solicitations of articles will be commenced immediately, with one source being invited articles based on presentations at the 2008 annual meeting.

We propose that the journal be published once a year and that it be available before the annual meeting. The first edition would be available electronically before the 2009 annual meeting, and the hard copies will be distributed at that meeting.

Editorial Board:

Decisions on the articles and other material to be included in the journal will be made by the editor and editorial board. The editor and editorial board will be appointed by the Executive Board of the NNER with the endorsement of the Governing Council.

The Editorial Board shall consist of 6 - 9 members, with two elected from each area of the tripartite council. The editor may select, with approval of the executive board, up to three more members of the editorial board. Once community members become more active in the work of the NNER we believe the editorial board should be expanded by two additional members. The editor will work closely with the editorial board in approving articles and choosing topics to be addressed in the journal.

We recommend that a Publications Committee be established and that it will report to the Governing Board of the NNER. The Publications Committee sets the editorial policy for the journal, and guides the editor and editorial board. One possibility is that the current members of the “journal drafting committee” initially serve as members of the Publications Committee with additional members appointed by the Executive Committee. Individuals could serve three-year terms that are staggered. The Publication Committee will meet at each annual meeting, and will communicate on other occasions electronically. The editor of the journal will be an ex-officio member of the Publications Committee as will the publication manager (see below). The Publication Committee could assume the responsibility for recommending the editor and editorial board members to the Executive Committee and the Governing Board. The Publication Committee should make a report each year to the Tripartite Council to ensure that the journal provides value to the membership of the NNER.

Location:

Miami University has offered to serve as the host site for the journal on a three-year trial basis, with the option of continuing beyond that timeframe with the mutual consent of Miami and the NNER. The trial period would include the publication of the journal in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Miami would provide the computer server space for the journal, send e-mails as needed, copy-edit the journal, and prepare the hard copies of the journal for the annual meeting. Miami also would provide the personnel needed to provide the day-to-day management of the journal. A publication manager will be chosen, with the approval of the Executive Committee, to manage the operations of the journal at Miami. Potential articles would be sent to Miami electronically and then distributed electronically to the editor to commence the refereeing process.

After the trial period, the management home for the journal could remain at Miami or be moved to a new location in the network, if the Executive Board and Governing Council of the NNER make that decision.

Finances:

There will be no cost to NNER members for receiving the journal in electronic format or for the hard copies distributed at the annual meeting. For the trial period, the computer space and personnel services provided by Miami will be provided at no cost to the NNER. The only costs anticipated would be some modest postage and paper costs, which are anticipated to be less than $500 per year. It is anticipated that the costs at Miami would remain similar in subsequent years. If the journal moves to a new site after the trial period, costs would have to be reconsidered. Probably, costs can be recovered through advertisements in the hard copies distributed at the annual conference or from donors.

Schedule:

Date	Activity
April, 2008	Committee finalize draft proposal
May, 2008	Proposal available to E.B.
July, 2008	E.B. approval with suggested changes
August, 2008	Finalize formatting & publication
September, 2008	Committee meets at Annual Conference updates schedule begins recruitment of articles Governing Council Approval
October, 2008	Article recruitment continues
November, 2008	Conference Panels Proposed to E.B. talk to authors theme-based roundtables that will be basis for the 2010 edition
December, 2008	E.B. approval of outline and publication protocols for the journal, and conference plans related to the journal

Spring, 2009	Reviews complete and revisions sought
Summer, 2009	Copy-editing and journal organization
September, 2009	Journal available online
October, 2009	Printed copies available at Annual Conference of the NNER

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