Search

In "Systems for Instructional Improvement," Paul Cobb and his colleagues draw on their extensive research to propose a series of specific, empirically grounded recommendations that together constitute a theory of action for advancing instruction at scale. The authors outline the elements of a coherent instructional system; describe productive practices for school leaders in supporting teachers' growth; and discuss the role of district leaders in developing school-level capacity for instructional improvement. Based on the findings of an eight-year research-practice partnership with four large urban districts investigating their efforts to enhance middle school math instruction, the authors seek to bridge the gap between the literature on improving teaching and learning and the literature on policy and leadership. They look at the entire education system and make recommendations on improvement efforts with a focus on student learning and teachers' instructional vision. In particular, the authors offer insights on the interplay among various supports for teacher learning, including pullout professional development, coaching, collaborative inquiry, the most instructionally productive uses of principals' time, and the tensions that tend to emerge at the district level. They provide a guide for district-level leaders in organizing their work to support significant teacher learning. "Systems for Instructional Improvement" provides an invaluable resource for school and district leaders, while outlining a clearly focused agenda for future research. ["Systems for Instructional Improvement: Creating Coherence from the Classroom to the District Office" was written with the Middle-school Mathematics and the Institutional Setting of Teaching (MIST) team. Afterword by Michael Sorum.]

This volume summarizes projects funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, examining the various lessons learned. The 39 reports are organized in nine sections titled: (1) "Preface"; (2) "Access and Retention"; (3) Improving Teaching and Learning"; (4) "Curriculum and Instruction"; (5) "General Education"; (6) "International Education"; (7) "Teacher Education"; (8) "Performance Funding and Reporting in Colleges and Universities"; and (9) "Disseminating Proven Reforms." Each project report describes its purpose, innovative features, evaluation and project impact, lessons learned, project continuation and dissemination, and contacts for further information. Overall, most projects were deemed successful. Lessons gleaned from the projects include the fact that holding students to high standards works; passionate, creative teaching is crucial; difficulties will arise and can be surmounted; and excellent work eventually brings recognition and reward. (SM)

This document is the final report of Phase I of a comparative study of teacher-training practices among 12 nation members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The purposes of the study were to: (1) provide concrete, comparable descriptions of teacher-preparation systems useful to educators, researchers, and policymakers in all APEC member countries; (2) identify the key issues and challenges facing members with respect to teacher preparation and professional development; and (3) identify practices conducive to preparing teachers whose vision and methods of teaching enable students to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The reports prepared by the APEC members, following a common framework, describe each member s teaching force and labor-market conditions, teacher-preparation programs, licensing provisions, induction practices or internships, and ongoing professional development for teachers. An introductory section, "Highlights of the Study," summarizes the similarities and differences among the 12 nations. Chapter 1 is "Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in APEC Members: An Overview of Policy and Practice" (submitted by Office of the Under Secretary, U. S. Department of Education; prepared by V. L. Cobb, L. Darling-Hammond, and K. Murangi). Chapters 2 through 13 are the individual reports on teacher training and professional development from the participating countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and the United States. (ND)

How can teachers make sound pedagogical decisions and advocate for educational policies that best serve the needs of students in today's diverse classrooms? What is the pedagogical value of providing culturally and linguistically diverse students greater access to their own language and cultural orientations? This landmark volume responds to the call to attend to the unfinished pedagogical business of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Conference on College Composition and Communication 1974 Students' Right to Their Own Language resolution. Chronicling the interplay between legislated/litigated education policies and language and literacy teaching in diverse classrooms, it presents exemplary research-based practices that maximize students' learning by utilizing their home-based cultural, language, and literacy practices to help them meet school expectations. Pre-service teachers, practicing teachers, and teacher educators need both resources and knowledge, including global perspectives, about language variation in PreK-12 classrooms and hands-on strategies that enable teachers to promote students' use of their own language in the classroom while also addressing mandated content and performance standards. This book meets that need. This book contains four parts. Part I, Setting the Context, includes: (1) Cross-Currents in Language Policies and Pedagogical Practices (Jerrie Cobb Scott, Dolores Y. Straker, and Laurie Katz); and (2) Perspectives on Language Policies and Pedagogical Practices, includes: Interview 1: Issues in Global and Local Language Policies (Joel Spring); Interview 2: An Insider's View of African American Language Policies and Pedagogies (Geneva Smitherman); Interview 3: The Law of Language in the United States (Cristina M. Rodriguez); and Interview 4: What Teachers Need to Know to Educate English Language Learners (Mary Carol Combs). Part II, Educational Policies, Attitudes, and Unfulfilled Promises, contains: (3) The Hidden Linguistic Legacies of Brown v. Board and No Child Left Behind (John Baugh and Aaron Welborn); (4) Portraits Counterportraits, and the Lives of Children: Language, Culture, and Possibilities (Rick Meyer); (5) Restore My Language and Treat Me Justly: Indigenous Students' Rights to Their Tribal Languages (Dorothy Aguilera and Margaret D. LeCompte); (6) Power, Politics, and Pedagogies: Re-Imagining Students' Right to Their Own Language Through Democratic Engagement (Valeri Kinloch); (7) Exploring Attitudes Toward Language Differences: Implications for Teacher Education Programs (Laurie Katz, Jerrie Cobb Scott, and Xenia Hadjioannou); (8) Positionality: Using Self-Discovery to Enhance Pre-Service Teachers' Understanding of Language Differences (Nancy Rankie Shelton); and (9) Beyond the Silence: Instructional Approaches and Students' Attitudes (David E. Kirkland and Austin Jackson). Part III, Toward a Pedagogy of Success in Classrooms, contains: (10) "We Have Our Own Language as Well as the Languages We Bring": Constructing Opportunities for Learning Through a Language of the Classroom (Beth V. Yeager and Judith L. Green); (11) "Taylor Cat is Black": Code-Switch to Add Standard English to Students' Linguistic Repertoires (Rebecca S. Wheeler); (12) There's No "1" Way to Tell a Story (Laurie Katz and Tempii Champion); (13) Culturally Responsive Read-Alouds in First Grade: Drawing Upon Children's Languages and Cultures to Facilitate Literary and Social Understandings (Jeane Copenhaver-Johnson, Joy Bowman, and Angela Johnson Rietschlin); (14) Developing Culturally Responsive Teacher Practitioners Through Multicultural Literature (Tamara L. Jetton, Emma Savage-Davis, and Marianne Baker); (15) Educating the Whole Child: English Language Learners in a Middle School (Mari Haneda); (16) New Chinese Immigrant Students' Literacy Development: From Heritage Language to Bilingualism (Danling Fu); and (17) High Stakes Testing and the Social Languages of Literature and Literate Achievement in Urban Classrooms (Dorothea Anagnostopoulos). Part IV, Global Perspectives on Language Diversity and Learning, contains: (18) Possibilities for Non-Standard Dialects in American Classrooms: Lessons from a Greek Cypriot Class (Xenia Hadjioannou); (19) The Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and Other Community School Practices in Brazil (Ana Christina Dasilva Iddings); (20) The Social Construction of Literacy in a Mexican Community: Coming Soon to Your School? (Patrick H. Smith, Luz A. Murillo, and Robert T. Jimenez); (21) Multilingualism in Classrooms: The Paritetic School System of the Ladin Valleys in South Tyrol (Italy) (Gerda Videsott); (22) Educational Policies and Practices in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Case for Indigenous African Languages (Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu); (23) Meaningful Early Literacy Learning Experiences: Lessons from South Africa (Carole Bloch); and (24) India's Multilingualism: Paradigm and Paradox (Zarina Manawwar Hock). "3/5 of a Language?", a foreword by David Bloome, and "Reflections on Language Policies and Pedagogical Practices", an afterword by Jacqueline Jones Royster, Jerrie Cobb Scott, and Dolores Y. Straker, are included. An author index and a subject index are also included.

This companion book to "Principals of Dynamic Schools" and "Dynamic Teachers" brings to life the process of making and enacting educational policy and helps decision makers evaluate, interpret, and analyze the policies that govern their schools. In accessible language, this book presents educational leaders with a conceptual framework for developing effective and ethical school policies. Organized by key issues such as English Language Learners, inclusion, and bullying, the text incorporates vignettes, research, and relevant theories to illustrate how readers can: (1) Create a dialogue that represents the needs of all stakeholders; (2) Define relevant policies that are ethically sound; and (3) Integrate legally mandated policies with schoolwide resolutions. Providing a forum for critical reflection and community deliberation, this insightful resource offers a practical policy-making process that encourages thoughtful leadership and schoolwide collaboration. Following a foreword by Gene V. Glass and preface, the book contains eight parts. Part I, The Many Ps of Policy, presents: What Are Dynamic Schools?; Policy, Program, Procedure, or Practice?; What Do School Leaders Say About Policy?; and Policy as Local Deliberative Process. Part II, The Choice to Act: Shaping the Dialogue, contains: Reasoning; Acting; Evaluating; and The Framework in Practice. Part III, Inclusion: From Dilemma to Imperative, continues with: Reasoning; Acting; Evaluating; and Reviewing the Inquiry Process of This Dynamic School. Part IV, Immigrants and the Schools: Opening or Closing Doors, continues with: Reasoning; Acting; and Evaluating. Part V, Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners: More Than One Way, contains: Reasoning; Acting; and Evaluating. Part VI, Asset Building and "No Pass, No Play": Considering the Whole Child, contains: Justice in Learning; The Scenario: Part II; Reasoning: Justice in Policy Acting and Evaluating; and The Scenario: Part III. Part VII, School Climate: Preventing Acts of Bullying, contains: Reasoning; Moral Reasoning; Acting; and Evaluation. Part VIII, Putting the Framework Into Practice, concludes with: A Dialogue Among Principals; and Final Thoughts. Also includes references and an index.

Key experts with extensive research and classroom experience examine how the multiple dimensions of race, class, culture, power, and knowledge interact in mathematics classrooms to foster and create inequities. Chapters explore new theoretical perspectives, describe successful classroom practices, and offer insights on how to develop an effective sociocultural approach to equity in math education. Seeing diversity as an instructional resource rather than as an obstacle to be overcome, this volume: (1) helps to understand the process by which diverse learners experience mathematics education; (2) examines the way students' identities can influence their mathematics learning; (3) describes mathematics education programs that have demonstrated their success with poor, urban, and rural students of color; (4) explains why certain teaching and learning interventions are successful; and (5) offers culturally based approaches to mathematics education, including activities for the classroom. Following a Foreword by James A. Banks and an Introduction by Na'ilah Suad Nasir and Paul Cobb, the following chapters are included: (1) Research, Reform, and Equity in U.S. Mathematics Education (Sarah Theule Lubienski); (2) Paying the Price for "Sugar and Spice": Shifting the Analytical Lens in Equity Research (Jo Boaler); (4) (Re)Defining Equity: The Importance of a Critical Perspective (Rochelle Gutierrez); (5) "So One Question Leads to Another": Using Mathematics to Develop a Pedagogy of Questioning (Eric Gutstein); (6) Transactions of Mathematical Knowledge in the Algebra Project (Frank E. Davis, Mary Maxwell West, James G. Greeno, Melissa S. Gresalfi, H. Taylor Martin, Robert Moses, Marian Currell); (7) Bilingual Mathematics Learners: How Views of Language, Bilingual Learners, and Mathematical Communication Affect Instruction (Judit Moschkovich); (8) Building on Community Knowledge: An Avenue to Equity in Mathematics Education (Marta Civil); (9) Social Valorization of Mathematical Practices: The Implications for Learners in Multicultural Schools (Guida de Abreu, Tony Cline); (10) Identity, Goals, and Learning: The Case of Basketball Mathematics (Na'ilah Suad Nasir); (11) Mathematics Learning and Participation in the African American Context: The Co-construction of Identity in Two Intersecting Realms of Experience (Danny Bernard Martin); and (12) Culture, Identity, and Equity in the Mathematics Classroom (Paul Cobb, Lynn Liao Hodge).

This collection presents techniques for tapping a broad range of literary sources to inspire young writers. Drawing upon poetry, folk tales, story jokes, and more, Literary Ideas walks students in grades 3-8 through the process of creating new stories and developing them as scripts for choral readings, readers theatre, and classroom plays. The process inspires creativity, problem solving, observation, and listening skills within a writing and theatrical framework. Includes the following: Poetry for Choral Readings Fairy Tales for Reader's Theater Folk Tale Plays Fairy Tale Alterations for Reader's Theater Fairy Tale Alterations for Plays Modern Fairy Tale Plays Story Joke Plays Poetry Plays Historical Plays Modern Cultural Myth Plays

Bloomfield Academy was different from other American Indian boarding schools. The Chickasaws had not been relegated to a reservation and had achieved a much higher level of autonomy, self-sufficiency, and independence than most other tribal nations. The Chickasaw Nation founded Bloomfield in 1852 not because the government demanded it but because the Chickasaw people knew that literacy training was crucial to their survival as a nation. Bloomfield was also remarkable because it was superior to schools for Whites in Indian Territory at that time, it existed as an academy long after the American common school supplanted the academy system, and it was an academy for females. Bloomfield had three different administrations--mission, tribal, and federal--and each had its own agenda. The missionaries' agenda was to Christianize and civilize. After the Civil War, the Chickasaws took full control of the school. Their agenda was to be able to compete with Whites, and the school established entrance requirements, high academic standards, and social literacy and arts programs. In 1906, the federal government terminated tribal governments and operated Bloomfield. The government's agenda was to strip students of their culture and heritage and immerse them in activities that would foster patriotism and a nationalistic spirit. Interviews with 15 former students describe life at the school during the federal period. In 1932, the school was renamed Carter Seminary, after a longtime champion of the school, and it still operates today. (Contains 154 references, biographies of interviews, notes, an index, photographs, and maps.) (TD)

Commonwealth College was the longest lived and most notorious of the resident labor colleges operating during the 1920s-30s. Founded in 1923 at NewLlano Cooperative Colony in Louisiana, the school was modeled on the self-maintenance characteristics of an abortive pre-war experiment in social education: Ruskin College. Disputes over priorities with NewLlano Colony forced the college to relocate to isolated, rural Polk County, Arkansas, in 1924. Commonwealth's early leaders were dedicated Debsian socialists who were convinced that a different type of education for the new industrial class would result in massive social changes, transforming American capitalism into a utopian cooperative commonwealth. Allegations that the college was teaching communism, atheism, and free love and advocating complete social equality of Blacks and Whites led to an investigation by the Arkansas legislature in 1935. Finally, strident local opposition brought a court action that closed the college in 1940. This book presents the history of Commonwealth's extraordinary group of students and staff and the rich intellectual life they produced on the self-sustaining communal farm in the Arkansas forest. The story of this idealistic experiment provides insights into the failure of Marxism in America. Chapters are: Getting There: From Ruskin and Llano to NewLlano and Reality, 1914-1923; The Odyssey to Arkansas and Dramatis Personae, 1923-1924; College Building, 1924-1928: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; From Utopian Isolation to Activist Isolation, 1928-1931: The End of the Zeuch Era; On Being a Commoner; A Change of Course: Lucien Koch and the "New Commonwealth," 1931-1935; Fatal Attraction: Commonwealth and the STFU [Southern Tenant Farmers Union], 1934-1937; and Better Dead than Red: 1937-1940. (Contains extensive references, an index, and photographs.) (SV)

This chapter focuses on a particular type of classroom teaching experiment that is conducted in collaboration with a practicing teacher. The first section discusses the theoretical orientation that underpins this methodology and outlines the types of problems that are addressed in the course of a classroom teaching experiment. The three central aspects of this methodology in the context of developmental research include instructional design and planning, the ongoing analysis of classroom events, and the retrospective analysis of all the data sources generated in the course of a teaching experiment. Against this background attention is given to specific methodological issues, among them generalizability, trustworthiness, and commensurability. Finally, the process of establishing collaborative relationships with teachers is reviewed and the chapter concludes by discussing problems for which other methodologies might be more appropriate. (KHR)

Online geographic information system (GIS) services are expanding rapidly as private organizations, government agencies, and libraries are developing Web sites that deliver GIS data, graphics, and metadata. Such services are divided into five categories: graphic snapshots, spatial database catalogs and libraries, map generators, map browsers, and real-time maps and images. Reviews and discussion of these online GIS services and selected URL's are provided. (Author)

The uses and techniques of quilt making are presented in this book which focuses on the quilt patterns as allegory for pioneer history. Pioneer experiences are described and linked visually with appropriate quilt patterns. An activity accompanies each pattern presentation. The work is organized into 10 chapters: (1) "Quilts and History: A Simple Nine-Patch Collage"; (2) "Saying Good Bye: Quilt- Block Bookmarks"; (3) "Going West: Broken Dishes Puzzle"; (4) "Building the Cabin: House-On-A-Hill and Pine-Tree Border"; (5) "Inside the Cabin: Shoofly Box"; (6) "Work to Do: Bear's Paw Greeting Card"; (7) "Food and Clothing: Corn-and-Beans Recipe Folder"; (8) "Special Occasions: Dresden Plate Punch Work" (9) "Weather: Sunshine and Shadows Weather Diary"; and (10) "Following a Star: Hanging Windmill Star." The book concludes with suggestions for further reading and an index. (MM)

Most current writing about American public education describes it in terms of a crisis situation. However, schools often serve as scapegoats for the failure of other institutions and for social ills that they had no part in creating. This book presents a collection of essays and commentaries on recent proposals for educational reform and actions taken by government to establish national standards. Part 1 contains the introductory chapter by Robert Orrill, entitled "Titanic Structure or Human Scale: School Reform at the Close of the Twentieth Century." Part 2 contains a single chapter that provides a historical overview of curriculum and national standards in the United States. In "Curriculum Ferment in the 1890s," Herbert M. Kliebard shows that the American school-reform experience has been characterized by continuing struggle, rather than consensus. Part 3, which offers perspectives on national standards, includes the following chapters: (3) "Implications of Subject-Matter Standards" (Christopher T. Cross); (4) "The Politics of National Standards" (Tom Loveless); (5) "The Threat to Freedom in Goals 2000" (Stephen Arons); (6) "Developing World-Class Education Standards: Some Conceptual and Political Dilemmas" (J. Myron Atkin); and (7) "Curriculum and Assessment Standards: Common Measures or Conversations?" (Dennie Palmer Wolf). The fourth part, which examines issues around standards and educational policy, contains the following chapters: (8) "Policy and Practice: The Relations Between Governance and Instruction" (David K. Cohen and James P. Spillane); and (9) "Goals 2000 and a Reauthorized ESEA: National Standards and Accompanying Controversies" (Michael W. Kirst and James W. Guthrie). Part 5 is comprised of: (10) "Teachers' Professional Development: Critical Colleagueship and the Role of Professional Communities" (Brian Lord); and (11) "Teachers Regulating Themselves: Teachers Owning Their Standards" (Philip A. Cusik). Part 6 includes: (12) "National Curriculum Content Standards: The Challenges for Subject Matter Associations" (Diane Massell); and (13) "Problems and Issues Facing the National Standards Project in English" (Miles Myers). An index and chapter references are included. (LMI)

This book contends that choice is critical to the process by which parents, students, and teachers can build consensus that allows a community of learning to emerge. It argues that the key to meaningful school choice is a system of tuition vouchers involving nongovernment schools, together with deregulation, which will foster an education that is nonelitist, pluralistic, and empowering. Part 1 deals with general issues in education and the need for choice, particularly through vouchers. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the conditions of education today and the reasons that government schools no longer meet the needs of a changing society. Chapter 2 describes some of the paradoxes and ideological factors that surround the voucher debate. The third chapter examines how the limited choice among schools functions and explains why the absence of incentives to expand the supply of alternative schools undermines the success of this approach. An opportunity for choice that involves both government and nongovernment schools is described in chapter 4. Part 2 (chapters 5-7) focuses on the failure of efforts by government schools to improve the education of minorities and the poor. The third part (chapters 8-10) examines empirical evidence about the effects of nongovernment schools on the poor and the effects of voucher-like policies in higher education and in systems of primary and secondary education around the world. The fourth part (chapters 11-15) responds to criticism of vouchers and examines the larger social issues involved in permitting choice, including the equitable provision of information, problems of attracting investment to schools in poverty areas, the presumed dangers of failing to socialize all children in a common culture, elitism, and accountability. The final chapter reviews issues and examines some of the political motivations that will sustain ongoing conflict over vouchers in the ensuing decade. (Contains 257 references.) (LMI)

Chapter 12 in a book on school law focuses on religious activities within the schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that bible reading and prayer recitations are not permissible. However, objective study of religion as history or literature or the study of comparative religions would be acceptable. The Court has given approval for excusal from school sessions for religious programs that were not held on public property and that involved public school personnel only in limited ways. In sharing school facilities with religious groups, the Court said that fees, at least covering out-of-pocket expenses, must be charged and all religious or nonreligious groups must be treated equally. Several courts have ruled that family life and sex education programs did not interfere with the parents' and students' free exercise of religion. (Author/MLF)

The book examines the effect of class barriers on blue collar workers by mirroring occupational/ethnic backgrounds of the white manual-laboring population in the Boston area through urban anthropological observations as well as 150 in-depth interviews conducted in 1969-70. It mainly reflects the experience of middle-aged, third generation American males. The authors explore the moral hierarchy of national and cultural differences, the effects of the intrusion of urban renewal, and the dilemma of working people trying to find out what position they occupy in America. The interviews generally reflected a crisis in self-respect of the working man, a hidden anxiety of feeling inadequately in control with feelings of self-defeat. A central position of the book is that everyone in society is subject to a scheme of values whereby they must unremittingly validate self by wearing "badges of ability" in order to win others' respect and their own. The authors examine worker sacrifices, hopes, and defenses in light of the tangled, complex relationship of denied freedom and dignity, and perceive the psychological motivation of a class society as being the healing of self-doubt, which, in turn, keeps the class order going. (EA)

The use of topographic landmarks and other anatomic considerations have been shown to reduce the incidenceofcomplications,aswellasthelearningcurve, associated with endoscopic carpal tunnel release [1]. This technique was based on findings of several anatomic studies [2-6].The purpose of this chapter is to outline the anatomic approach to endoscopic carpal tunnel release and discuss the pertinent anatomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders are clinically and genetically heterogeneous. There are several mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) point mutations responsible for common mitochondrial diseases such as mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, stroke-like events, myoclonic epilepsy and ragged red fibers, neuropathy, ataxia, retinitis pigmentosa, and Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. As a result of the clinical overlap, it is usually necessary to analyze more than one mutation for a patient suspected of a mitochondrial disorder. Molecular diagnosis is often performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the most likely point mutations. However, this method is time-consuming and often produces problems associated with incomplete restriction enzyme digestion. In addition, PCR/ RFLP analysis may not be able to detect a low percentage of heteroplasmy. For a more effective method of diagnosing mtDNA disorders, we have developed a multiplex PCR/ allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) dot blot hybridization method to simultaneously analyze 11 point mutations. The PCR products from a DNA sample containing a homoplasmic wild-type or mutant mtDNA sequence will hybridize to either the wildtype or the mutant ASO probe. The PCR products of a heteroplasmic DNA sample will hybridize to both wild-type and mutant ASO probes. This PCR/ASO method allows the detection of low percentage mutant heteroplasmy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tri-redundant version of a system S is a system T that is specified from S as follows. First, system T has the same number of processes and the same topology as system S. Second, each variable x in a process in system S is replaced by three variables x, x′, and x″ in the corresponding process in system T. Third, the actions in each process in system S are modified before they are added to the corresponding process in system T and some new actions are added to the corresponding process in system T. In this paper, we show that a tri-redundant version T of a system S has interesting stabilization and fault-masking properties. In particular, we show that if S is stabilizing, then T is also stabilizing. We also show that if T ever reaches stabilization, and then a "visible fault" occurs, then the effect of the fault is masked and the reached stabilization of T remains in effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Amanda Millay Hughes on exploring the potential sacred objects in teaching and learning about world religions, one by Arthur J. Schwartz on identifying and measuring religious genius, and another by Rachael Kessler on helping students find connection, compassion and character at school.