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ACTR Membership

Founded in 1974, The American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) is a professional membership association for American teachers of Russian language and literature. With more than 1,650 members, ACTR is dedicated to advancing the teaching of Russian through publications, programs, and conferences.

In association with broader American Councils' initiatives, ACTR:

  • Publishes the internationally recognized scholarly journal, Russian Language Journal, now in its 57th year. RLJ is a bilingual scholarly review of research, resources, symposia, and publications pertinent to the study and teaching of Russian language and culture, as well as comparative and interdisciplinary research in Russian language, culture and the acquisition of Russian as a second language. www.russnet.org/rlj/
  • Is the foremost and primary developer of Russian language textbooks in the United States. www.americancouncils.org/publications.php
  • Organizes and implements a wide aray of international exchange and training programs for high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, scholars and professionals. www.actr.org/programList.php
  • Supports and maintains the primary national internet based resources-sharing site for American students and teachers of Russian. www.russnet.org
  • Fosters contacts and exchange of ideas among Russian specialists from around the world through publications, programs, and conferences
  • Assists in the organization of high school Olympiadas of Spoken Russian throughout the United States, officially recognizing participants, selecting students to represent the United States in international Olympiadas, and providing financial assistance for travel to international Olympiadas
  • Conducts the National Russian Essay Contest each fall, providing an opportunity for junior and senior high school students to measure their progress in written communication
  • Develops and maintains opportunities for the exchange of Russian-language teachers and students in secondary schools

ACTR members receive four seasonal issues of the ACTR Letter, a professional newsletter of current professional news and an annual Directory of Members, containing addresses and telephone numbers of ACTR colleagues. Members are also eligible to participate in these regular competitions for students:

NPSREC (the National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest) - College and university Russian students write an essay on an assigned topic under controlled circumstances. These essays are then read by a panel of judges in Russia and evaluated. Students can achieve gold, silver, or bronze medal status or are assigned Honorable Mention status.

NREC (the National Russian Essay Contest) for secondary and middle school students. Students write an essay on an assigned topic under controlled circumstances. Essays are evaluated by a panel of judges who assign gold, silver, or bronze medals or Honorable Mention status. Gold medal essays by advanced students and native speakers are sent to Russia for a second-level judging, with the medal status assigned again.

Olympiada of Spoken Russian for secondary and middle school students. Olympiadas are held by state and region. Teachers and their students are invited to a central location, where students appear before a series of three judges or teams of judges. Each commission focuses upon a different aspect of Russian culture or speaking ability and assigns a score to each student. Students receive gold, silver, or bronze medals based upon their aggregate score. Every student receives at least an Honorable Mention.

Become a Member

For more information, or to become a member of ACTR, please send an e-mail to actrmbrs@sbcglobal.net or download and submit the membership application.

Member Information

  • ACTR Membership Application [743.31 KB]
    The American Councils for Teachers of Russian invites your membership enrollment for the current year.

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