Search

Focuses on the closing of Whitaker Middle School in Portland, Oregon. Ventillation of the school; Health hazards of the school; Details on a petition filed by teachers against the school.

Focuses on the efforts of Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to encourage school administrators to split up big high schools into smaller learning communities. Criticisms against the proposal of Vander Ark to build smaller high schools instead of bigger ones; Discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of smaller high schools as compared to bigger high schools; Efforts of Vander Ark to push forward his education reform proposal.

Features Palestinian Yousef Hannon, a mathematics teacher at Gage Park High in Chicago, Illinois. How Hannon came with the idea of teaching in Chicago; Details on the experience of Hannon in applying as a teacher in the state; Information on the Global Education Outreach program.

Deals with the lawsuit filed against the Union Intermediate High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Brandi Blackbear, a student accused of being a witch. Her interest in Wicca; Details on the lawsuit; Reaction of the Tulsa Task Force on Religious Freedom to the lawsuit.

Focuses on the services offered by Eagle Rock School in Colorado to troubled students. Location of the tuition-free boarding school; Activities of students in the school; Influence of the school's culture on its students.

Presents an article on the 2000 National Teachers Hall of Fame event in Emporia, Kansas. How the town celebrated the event; Background information on the Hall of Fame; Selection of honorees; Information on the 2000 group of honorees from different parts of the United States; Comparison of the event to the Milken Educator Awards.

Reports on the classroom culture at Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit school company in San Francisco, California. Comparison between state and public schools and the for-profit schools; Complaints of teachers at the Thomas A. Edison Charter Academy against the company; Comments on the school curriculum.

Focuses on a method developed by professor of statistics William Sanders on judging the effectiveness of teachers and schools in the United States. Policy implications; Career background of Sanders; How the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, or TVAAS, works.

Details the lawsuit filed against the Advanced Placement (AP) program of California, which is administered by the College Board and the Educational Testing Service. Story of Rasheda Daniel, a 12th grader at Inglewood High School with the testing program; Complaint of the American Civil Liberties Union against the authorities involved in the testing program; Background of the AP program; Growth of the AP program in California.

Deals with the case of incompetency and misconduct filed against Paul Pflueger, a teacher at Capistrano Valley High School in Rancho Mission Viejo, California. Charges against him; Testimony of his supporters; Teaching techniques he use.

Describes the life of high school teacher Kevin Tucker after the shooting at the Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in April 20, 1999. What he suffered after the event; How he copes; Views on the event.

Focuses on the demand claimed by substitute teachers in California. Classified advertisement placed by Shirley Kirsten, a transplanted New Yorker and divorced mother who has been working as a substitute teacher in the Fresno Unified School District; Information on the Fresno Area Substitute Teachers Association, a union formed by substitute teachers; Complaints from the teachers.

Looks at architect Steven Bingler's innovative designs for school buildings. Description of schools in various states built by Bingler and his firm, Concordia Architects; Focus on collaboration between school and community; Biographical information on Bingler; Work as a planning consultant to various school districts; Aim of incorporating school buildings into other community structures.

Features the Plainfield Community Middle School in Indiana, which encourages children to take part in some sort of extracurricular activities to boost their self-esteem. School's popularity for its `widespread participation' policy; Critics of the school's policy; Conservatives' argument that focus of self-esteem must be a means to, or a result of, academic success.

Focuses on the lawsuit filed by the students of Valerie Halas against the Board of Education of Blue Spring for removing her as the adviser of the `Jaguar Journal,' the school newspaper of Blue Springs South High School in Kansas City, Missouri. Background of Halas; Claims of the students for their First Amendment rights; Decision-making at the school newspaper under Halas supervision.

Features Nobel Learning Communities, a company that owns a chain of for-profit schools in the United States. Number of schools owned by the company; Tuition fee of Nobel's schools; Criticism on the company; Profile of A.J. `Jack' Clegg, the company's owner; Chief competitor of the company.

Focuses on the Joslyn Art Museum, an Art Deco gem in Omaha, Nebraska that contains an encylopedic collection of paintings, prints and sculptures. Information on the discipline-based art education (DBAE) approach; Attitude of teachers towards the museum; History of DBAE; Adoption of arts education in school curriculum.

Focuses on Philip Bigler, a teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax, Virginia, who was featured in some television (TV) programs in the United States due to his contributions to education. List of TV programs that featured Bigler; Bigler's comment on his appearance at the television program `Late Show With David Letterman'; Other public appearances of Bigler.

Focuses on the growing concerns in the United States about the use of pesticides near schools. Details on the case of Rio del Valle Junior High School; Symptoms experienced by physical education teacher John Cort after nearby fields to the school were sprayed with insecticide; Agreement reached between growers that farm the strawberry fields; Health problems that can possibly be the result of the insecticide spraying; Reason California was the center of the controversy.

Deals with the Success for All, a reading program designed by Robert Slavin for students. How the program works; Information on the Madison Elementary, one of the schools that will employ the program; Biggest selling point of the program.

Discusses the services offered by the Washington Opportunity School in Las Vegas, Nevada to disruptive students. History of the school's establishment; Constant supervision given to students; Objectives of the school; Partnership of the opportunity school with regular schools.

Profiles Joe Rogers, a lawyer and politician. Personal information on Joe Rogers; Importance he placed on education; Information on the class action law suit he lead against the Denver Public Schools and the Colorado State Board of Education; Information on the two schools.

Reports on the 1998 Milken National Educator Awards held in the Century Plaza Hotel's Los Angeles Ballroom in California. Awarding of checks by Lowell Milken and Michael Milken; First presentation of the awards in 1987; Notification of winners through their state education chiefs or by Lowell Milken.

Features the Integrated Day Charter School, a controversial Norwich, Connecticut charter school endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA) and opposed by its local affiliate. Difficulties encountered by teachers June Morrone, Joan Heffernan and Joyce Werden when they set out to expand their alternative elementary program; Collaboration between teachers, parents and educators.

Profiles first grade teacher Gloria Tuchman. Views on bilingual education; Career in teaching English at the Taft Elementary School in California; Advantages and disadvantages of learning bilingual education; Teaching methods in bilingual education; Educational background; Family life.

Focuses on school reforms proposed by National Education Association (NEA) President Robert Chase. Details on Chase's speech for the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA); Views on Columbus, Ohio's peer-review and peer-assistance program; Events that led to Chase's election; Attacks against the union by Bob Dole; Information on the report `An Institution at Risk,' by the Kamber Group.

Focuses on the suspension of Patsy and Nadine Cordova from teaching at Vaughn Junior and Senior High School in Vaughn, New Mexico for teaching their students the history of Hispanics which the school officials found anti-diversity. Accusation of insubordination for refusing to teach the prescribed curriculum; Support by the New Mexico Civil Liberties Union to the sisters.

Reports on the issues raised by `Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary,' a documentary made by a school teacher Laura Angelica Simon as reaction to Proposition 187, a bill banning illegal immigrants from public schools in California. Attention due to the documentary; Entry into a film festival; Protection of schools from public policy debates; Denial of chance for ambitious students.

Analyzes the impact of student population size on the quality of high school education in the United States. Case description of G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School in Miami, Florida which offer above-average level of education despite having the second largest student population nationwide; National Association of Secondary School Principals' report on restructuring schools.

Features Oliver Community School-Based Program, a course program that teaches children how to manage their asthma disease which will in turn reduce absences and decrease emergency and hospital visits. Lessons being given at the program; Effect of the program to the asthmatic students; Reasons on the spread of asthma disease; Impact of the program to community and the hospital; Commendations given to the program.

Profiles Linda Jacobs, an independent high school counselor who guides students to the college admissions process. Jacob's service fee; Goal as a counselor; Involvement with the case of student Christie Shan; Strategies in making decisions; Track record as a private counselor; Relationships with clients.

Discusses how a high school student in Colorado attacked the way evolution was taught in schools. Contradictions between scientific explanations and the Bible; Teaching of evolution as an example of America's moral decline; Challenge borne from religion; Clarity of the Bible on evolution.

Features Chicago Public School's chief of investigations Maribeth Vander Weele. Aim of eradicating corruption, fraud and abuse from the schools; Work with the `Sun-Times'; Work with reform board chief Paul Vallas; Personal and professional principles; Comments of co-workers on Vander Weele.

Focuses on the challenges facing Bert Morgan, the only male teacher at James T. Granbery Elementary School, in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. Career highlights; Resistance from female colleagues; Practical reasons for the feminization of the teaching professions; Suspicious parents; Unflattering remarks; Fears of child abuse; Need for males in teaching profession; Compensation issues.

Reports on a lawsuit filed by female high school students and their parents against the Owasso Independent School District in Owasso, Oklahoma for discriminating against its female athletes. Comments from Ron Randolph, a plaintiff in the case; Background on the issue; School's failure to comply to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Reactions of parents and students to the suit.

Focuses on the California Basic Education Skills Test for new teachers in the state. Performance of minorities; Calls for a much tougher national examination for teachers.

Focuses on home schooling in San Juan, California. Option of attending classes at a schoolhouse on the campus of Oak Tree Elementary School; Home schooling as a threat to public education; Curriculum description; Nonconformity issues; Comments from parents.