Illinois Association of Teachers of English

The Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) serves English and Language Arts teachers at all levels throughout the state of Illinois.

The organization began in 1907 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. An "English section" met November 22, 1907, to establish the organization. The first president was Edward Chauncey Baldwin, Professor of English. The National Council of Teachers of English grew from IATE, emerging at the University of Illinois in 1911. IATE remained at the University of Illinois until it moved its headquarters to ISU in 2001. The ISU English Department welcomed the organization, offering space, secretarial and administrative support, and publication support for the IATE Newsletter and the Illinois English Bulletin, the IATE journal, which has been regularly published since 1920.

IATE meets each October at various locations around the state of Illinois. The organization provides support for teachers, student teachers, and leaders in English and language arts departments. The organization also works with NCTE on issues of equity, diversity, and academic freedom for teachers.

IATE sponsors a Minority Scholarship each year for a prospective minority teacher who is planning to student teach. The organization also sponsors the Paul Jacob Research Award for teacher research in the field of Language Arts.

The Illinois English Bulletin sponsors a young writers edition each spring, giving an opportunity for teachers who belong to IATE to submit their students' poetry and prose to the participating IATE judges. The Poet Laureate of Illinois, Kevin Stein, chooses the top poem each year, giving an award to the winner in a state-sponsored celebration in Chicago. Other issues of the Bulletin publish articles by speakers and presenters at the state conference as well as articles submitted by teacher scholars from across the nation.

The English Department, IATE, and the Illinois State Writing Project sponsor an IATE Central District meeting each February. The Central District also sponsors a September meeting held at University High School that concentrates on issues involving reading and literacy.