Teachers and librarians looking for some good reads that show the diversity of girls’ lives can turn to a bibliography compiled by a private school group. The Committee for Women and Girls in Independent Schools has compiled a list of over 70 fiction and nonfiction books about girls from all over the world and from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. The selections, for ages 10 to 14, were chosen for educators who wish to present a culturally balanced view of young women’s lives.
The Washington-based National Association for Independent Schools sponsors the committee that drew up the bibliography. The list is available, while supplies last, to teachers and librarians from all schools. To obtain a copy, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Many Girls’ Voices, N.A.I.S., 1620 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5605.
Those interested in private school accreditation should mark their calendars for June 12-13.
The National Association for Private School Accreditation is holding a public-policy forum in Arlington, Va., in conjunction with its spring meeting there.
The Washington-based association was formed several years ago as the umbrella group for private-school-accrediting associations. At its meeting last fall, it gave its first stamps of approval to six groups. (See Education Week, 10/5/94.)
The state of North Carolina recently accepted the group’s seal of recognition, and the association is working on ties to other states and to philanthropic organizations.
The forum will include presentations by representatives of the U.S. Education Department’s office of nonpublic education and the U.S. Justice Department’s office of immigration and naturalization services. For more information, call Charles J. O’Malley, the executive director of the group, at (410) 349-0139.
Sister Lourdes Sheehan, the secretary of education for the U.S. Catholic Conference, has said she will leave July 1 to head the Alliance for Catholic Education in South Bend, Ind.
Begun a year ago to address the lack of qualified Roman Catholic teachers in poor school systems, ACE recruits top education students from the University of Notre Dame to teach in needy classrooms.
About 40 ACE teachers, who receive a small stipend, were placed in classrooms this year. Officials of the program, which receives funding from participating schools, donations, and an AmeriCorps grant, expect it to expand to 90 next year.
