Education 2006-2007

UNIT 1. How Others See Us and How We See Ourselves<new>1. The Biology of Risk Taking, Lisa F. Price, Educational Leadership", April 2005The author clearly discusses the physiological bases of adolescence". It is a very important essay on this matter. This article illuminates the wonders of puberty and explains why educators need to have a positive outlook on kids in early puberty.<new>2. Parents Behaving Badly, Nancy Gibbs, Time", February 21, 2005Parents can behave wrongly" and it is thus important that parents and elders learn to be in communication with educators. There is a need for understanding between parents and teachers.<new>3. Metaphors of Hope, Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld, Phi Delta Kappan", December 2004The author describes the promising examples of four wonderful teachers and how their students have responded. Teaching since 1956, the author has traveled the nation, observing students and teachers in classroom interaction".<new>4. Pell Grants Vs. Advanced Placement, Kirk A. Johnson, USA Today", September 2004This article discusses the various merits of Pell Grants versus Advanced Placement" courses in high school and how high school students can qualify for college level courses. What is discussed is the current Presidential administration's recommendations for enhanced Pell Grants versus Advanced Placement courses. The author tries to explain the various merits of either Enhanced Pell Grants or Advanced Placement Courses.<new>5. How Smart Is AP?, Claudia Wallis and Carolina A. Miranda, Time", November 8, 2004The authors try to argue that it is necessary to consider the various approaches to Advanced Placement Course work". The article talks about the various approaches to Advanced Placement Course work in high school as well as how students can get college credit for it.<new>6. Sobriety Tests Are Becoming Part of the School Day, Patrick O'Gilfoil Healy, New York Times.com", March 3, 2005This article deals with sobriety tests for kids" who might come to school having used alcohol. Basically it describes what school districts are doing to try to prevent kids from coming to school with alcohol on them.<new>7. Spinning the Message on NCLB, Anne C. Lewis, Phi Delta Kappan", December 2004This newsy article has to do with commentary on the No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB) passed by the Bush administration and Congress. It tries to describe some of the issues involved in the NCLB Act", and it refers to a report by the Public Education Network (PEN) on the NCLB Act.<new>8. Choice Struggles On, Clint Bolick, National Review", October 11, 2004This article is about school choice" and the status of the issue of private or public school choice policies in American schools". The author supports the idea of school choice where people can choose which school to send their kids to.<new>9. The 36th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, Lowell C. Rose and Alec M. Gallup, Phi Delta Kappan", September 2004This annual poll of the public's attitude toward the public school system" continues to be a very valuable source of information regarding the current state of publicly supported education.UNIT 2. Rethinking and Changing the Educative Effort<new>10. Tradeoffs, Societal Values, and School Reform, Iris C. Rotberg, Phi Delta Kappan", April 2005This article deals with various educational trade-offs and social values involved in school reform". It takes an international perspective" in its discussion of major recent events in Russia, China, England, as well as the United States, and other countries. The article is also very interesting in that it looks at how social values affect educational change and reform.<new>11. Teaching Against Idiocy, Walter C. Parker, Phi Delta Kappan", January 2005The author of this article uses the concept of idiocy metaphorically in a clever argument to try to request that schools provide responsible citizenship training". The article tries to show why schools have a responsibility to help students become responsible citizens. This interaction in schools can help children enter into social consciousness" and it is in puberty that they learn these skills.<new>12. School Accountability: An Alternative to Testing, Ken Jones, Current", July/August 2004The author develops an argument around the questions to whom should schools be accountable" and by what means should schools be accountable. Proposed is what he calls a balanced model of student learning. He goes on to basically support the idea that communities must determine how to support such alternative models of school accountability".<new>13. Distance Education in High Schools, Davison M. Mupinga, The Clearing House", January/February 2005The author of this article deals with the various types of distance education in the schools including cable television, correspondence courses, interactive televsion", and online internet courses". He proposes some ideas about how distance education ought to proceed and talks about the benefits and the challenges facing distance education in high schools.UNIT 3. Striving for Excellence: The Drive for Quality<new>14. How Schools Sustain Success, Valerie Chrisman, Educational Leadership", February 2005The author discusses the differences between academically successful" or unsuccessful schools", and what we need to do to sustain those practices which we know to be successful. The author denigrates into a discussion of what the differences are in successful school leadership as opposed to unsuccessful school leadership.<new>15. A Case for School Connectedness, Robert W. Blum, Educational Leadership", April 2005Educators need to help students feel connected to school, and educators need to care about the learning needs of their students. The author makes very specific suggestions as to what educators can do to improve how students feel about school".<new>16. No Child Left Behind: The Illusion of School Choice, Lisa Snell, Current", November 2004This article discusses the No Child Left Behind Act" and how school choice has problems being implemented. The author compares one bad school to another and how a very small percentage of students who request transfers to other schools receive those transfers.<new>17. Charters "Yes!" Vouchers "No!", Joe Nathan, Educational Horizons", Winter 2005This article is about the differences between charter schools" and voucher systems" for schooling, and it attempts to describe the differences between the charter idea and the voucher idea in terms of schooling. The author makes very specific suggestions and descriptions for the charter idea in terms of developing charter schools, and then he attempts to make an argument that the charter idea is better than the voucher idea.<new>18. Intuitive Test Theory, Henry I. Braun and Robert Mislevy, Phi Delta Kappan", March 2005This article provides a very interesting background to different conceptions of human intelligence and assessment. The whole purpose of the article is to indicate what are defensible and non defensible ways to assess students. The authors build an argument around the concept of phenomenological primitives", or p-prims".19. No Flower Shall Wither; or, Horticulture in the Kingdom of the Frogs, Gary K. Clabaugh, Educational Horizons", Winter 2004The author provides a very creative metaphorical and satirical tale of "educational reform" and politically driven accountability" in the mythical "Kingdom of the Frogs." This is good and interesting reading for all of those who follow the development to improve school accountability through high stakes competitive measures.20. Why Students Think They Understand-When They Don't, Daniel T. Willingham, American Educator", Winter 2003/2004The author discusses the possible contributions to students' academic development which cognitive science has to offer. Viewing how we learn and the ways in which we can know and problem solve is something cognitive scientists have to offer.UNIT 4. Morality and Values in Education<new>21. Seven Worlds of Moral Education, Pamela Bolotin Joseph and Sara Efron, Phi Delta Kappan", March 2005The authors make the point that character education" is very good, but there are some other things that can be done. There are five or six other models of moral education that, like character education, the moral world of cultural heritage" emphasizes values. Several examples are given from African and European perspectives.<new>22. Pathways to Reform: Start with Values, David J. Ferrero, Educational Leadership", February 2005The author talks about the distinction between policy systems and practice that relates to values. If we want to reform education, we have to be willing to consider the moral values" involved in any proposition involving educational reform".<new>23. The Employment of Ethical Decision-Making Frameworks in Educational Change, Raymond A. Horn, Jr., Scholar-Practitioner Quarterly", Vol. 2, No. 2The author speaks about the framework for a democratic ethical development and the development of curriculum. There are discussions in the article of democratic curriculum development" and what values are to be instructed.24. The Missing Virtue: Lessons From Dodge Ball & Aristotle, Gordon Marino, Commonweal", April 25, 2003The author addresses the reality of several shifts in human values in recent years and the question of which values should be taught," if possible, in schools." He reminds us of Aristotle's admonition that we acquire virtue" by practicing virtuous actions and developing a moral balance in our lives. He inquires as to how do we teach courageous moral commitment."UNIT 5. Managing Life in Classrooms<new>25. The Key to Classroom Management, Robert J. Marzano and Jana S. Marzano, Educational Leadership", 2003-2004This article on classroom management" deals with how teachers should approach classroom management by using research based strategies in planning appropriate levels of dominance and cooperation between teacher and students. Teacher-student relationships provide an essential foundation for effective classroom management, and classroom management is the key to high student achievement.<new>26. Reach Them to Teach Them, Carol Ann Tomlinson and Kristina Doubet, Educational Leadership", April 2005 This article discusses two models, with reference from both on how to help students. The author goes on to discuss how teachers can be respectful and share stories with students.<new>27. Dealing with Rumors, Secrets, and Lies: Tools of Aggression for Middle School Girls, Betsy Lane, Middle School Journal", Janaury 2005The author discusses in very interesting detail how girls and boys will use lies and rumors" to achieve their personal goals" in their social lives, and the author offers suggestions on how to reach out to students.28. Heading Off Disruptive Behavior, Hill M. Walker, Elizabeth Ramsey, and Frank M. Gresham, American Educator", Winter 2003/2004The authors discuss how teachers can either constructively deal with or, ideally, prevent anti-social behavior in students. How teachers can respond responsibly to prevent anti-social, disruptive behavior on the part of students is the major focus of this article.29. True Blue, M. Christine Mattise, Teaching Tolerance", Spring 2004The author describes an "anti-bullying" program which she developed to help students feel safe in school and on school grounds. The program is creative; it involves teaching children what they can do when they are confronted by "bullying" behavior at school.UNIT 6. Cultural Diversity and Schooling<new>30. Brown at 50, ABA Journal", April 2004This is an article about the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education" that attempted to end school segregation in the United States.<new>31. Learning to Teach in Urban Settings, Valerie Duarte and Thomas Reed, Childhood Education", 2004The authors deal with how students preparing to teach should learn about the cultural diversities in the urban school settings". In this process, they talk about teachers candidates and how they can learn to prepare for cultural diversity" in their classrooms. This relates to equity in education" and to the need for all students to be sensitive to cultural differences.<new>32. Challenging Assumptions About the Achievement Gap, Al Ramirez and Dick Carpenter, Phi Delta Kappan", April 2005This article deals with the national dialogue about the achievement gap between cultural majority and minority students" and what the reasons are for any sort of achievement gap. The discussion includes what policy makers and teachers can do to better understand how to be more equitable and equally deal with students in classrooms with diverse populations.<new>33. The Challenge of Diversity and Choice, Charles Glenn, Educational Horizons", Winter 2005The author argues that school choice" programming within the public schools" or within the private schools" should operate within a framework of policies and public accountability to ensure that all children will benefit from it.UNIT 7. Serving Special Needs and Concerns<new>34. Rethinking Inclusion: Schoolwide Applications, Wayne Sailor and Blair Roger, Phi Delta Kappan", March 2005This article deals with the concept of inclusion" and what we need to consider in terms of dealing with general education" of students. The argument presented is an equity based argument" on the idea that all students need an equal chance.<new>35. Self-Efficacy: A Key to Improving the Motivation of Struggling Learners, Howard Margolis and Patrick McCabe, The Clearing House", July/August 2004This article has to do with the kinds of things students can do to improve self efficacy", a key to improving the cognitive abilities of students. There is a discussion of what self efficacy is. The authors list a series of 8 things that teachers can do to help students improve on their ability to learn.<new>36. Vouchers For Parents: New Forms of Education Funding, Lamar Alexander, Current", July/August 2004The author argues that it is necessary to develop new approaches to vouchers" and parental choice in American education, and the author calls for a development of a different sort of Pell Grant". The author notes the necessity for a new kind of Pell grant that might help parents to be able to better choose their students' schools.UNIT 8. The Profession of Teaching Today<new>37. First-Year Teaching Assignments: A Descriptive Analysis, Byllie D'Amato Andrews and Robert J. Quinn, The Clearing House", November/December 2004This article deals with how first year teachers" tend to get assigned. Novice or new teachers often are given the same reponsibilities that their experienced colleagues, despite the fact that learning to teach is a continuum of experience over a period of time rather than something first year teachers can learn all at once.<new>38. Nuturing Passionate Teachers: Making Our Work Transparent, Randall Wisehart, Teacher Education Quarterly", Fall 2004The author talks about how to help first year teachers" and student teachers" better develop themselves. He points out that in his work with beginning teachers, he has identified 4 points that he sees as necessary.<new>39. Becoming a Teacher as a Hero's Journey: Using Metaphor in Preservice Teacher Education, Lisa S. Goldstein, Teacher Education Quarterly", Winter 2005This article discusses preservice teacher preparation" and how it relates to the metaphor of a hero's journey.UNIT 9. For Vision and Hope: Alternative Visions of Reality40. Building a Community of Hope, Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Educational Leadership", May 2004The author reviews what should be the elements at work in building communities of hope within school as well as cooperative community building efforts between school systems and their respective community environments.41. Mission and Vision in Education, Edward G. Rozycki, Educational Horizons", Winter 2004The author provides a creative, metaphorical essay on issues related to our visions for education and why some visions prevail and others fail. He offers suggestions for how we can assess our visions for education as they relate to our educational missions.<new>42. Beyond the Book, Parker Rossman, The Futurist", January/February 2005The author discusses the development of electronic learning tutorial instrument systems" that can be quickly updated faster than currently printed text books.43. An Emerging Culture, Christopher Bamford and Eric Utne, Utne Reader", May/June 2003The authors provide a worldwide vision" of how the innovative alternative Waldorf School System" has come about, which is part of the vision for a better human condition created by the social vision of Rudolf Steiner." Steiner's vision of a better human future has been played out in many different fields of human endeavor, education being one of them.