February 19, 1992
Education Week, Vol. 11, Issue 22
Education
News in Brief
A tax-reform task force appointed by Gov. Guy Hunt of Alabama has issued a wide-ranging set of recommendations that includes calls for nearly $500 million a year in new tax revenues and a requirement that local school superintendents be appointed rather than elected.
Education
Grant to Union To Verse Chicago Teachers in Reform
The Chicago Teachers Union last week received a $1.1-million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fundation to support a three-year effort to help the city's 26,000 teachers apply research about effective teaching and learning practices in their schools.
Education
Academy of Math, Science Proposed in Massachusetts
Massachusetts high-school teachers as well as students would be able to spend time at nearby postsecondary institutions to enrich their understanding of mathematics and science, under a proposal included in Gov. William F. Weld's 1993 budget.
Education
State News Roundup
The number of New York State residents taking the General Educational Development test was cut nearly in half after the state began charging a $25 fee, according to figures from the state education department.
Education
Media Column
Whittle Communications has received a financial boost that should help it expand its "Channel One" classroom television news show and provide money for the research phase of its planned chain of private schools.
Education
News Updates
The American Honda Education Corporation has reached a "conceptual" agreement with the Colorado State Land Board for a 640-acre site near Estes Park for its proposed boarding school.
Education
District News Roundup
Schools Chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez of New York City said last week that he was developing plans to lengthen the number of hours and days that children spend in the city's schools.
Education
National News Roundup
American voters will be taking careful stock of Congressional candidates' education platforms this fall, according to the results of a survey conducted last month by a Republican polling firm.
Education
Benefits of G.E.D. 'Significant,' Study Concludes
WASHINGTON--Iowans who earned General Educational Development certificates in the 1980's experienced substantial gains in employment, earnings and benefits, job skills, and job satisfaction, according to one of the first longitudinal studies of those who passed the G.E.D. test.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor.
In "The Ends of History" (Commentary, Feb. 5, 1992), Harvey J. Kaye chastises Lynne V. Cheney, the head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and others on her side of the fence for promoting what he calls "an artificial and one dimensional" history curriculum. He accuses such people of favoring history that ignores "the underside of Western civilization" and our "traditions of dissent and struggle from below."
In "The Ends of History" (Commentary, Feb. 5, 1992), Harvey J. Kaye chastises Lynne V. Cheney, the head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and others on her side of the fence for promoting what he calls "an artificial and one dimensional" history curriculum. He accuses such people of favoring history that ignores "the underside of Western civilization" and our "traditions of dissent and struggle from below."
Education
Opinion
Are We Really Serious About Reform ?
Let's get serious about school reform. What we have now is mostly political rhetoric and a widespread lack of accountability by all parties concerned. No one wants to do the right thing. It's far easier to blame someone else, particularly teachers and parents. If those who lead this nation became accountable for their actions, our schools would be in good shape. Rhetoric has never been, and will never be, a proper substitute for responsibility.
Education
Opinion
Beyond Half an Education
I consider myself half-educated. How could that be, you say. I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and have been a professor there and at several other major universities. Yet, I say, I am only half-educated. How can that be?
Education
Opinion
Needless Battles on Dyslexia
Teachers have for years battled over a phonetic versus a "look-say" approach to reading. The recent release of a Yale University-based study of dyslexia ("Study Challenges 'All or Nothing' View of Dyslexia," Jan. 22, 1992) sets the stage for a similar battle between those who think dyslexia is a biologically based disability and those who maintain it is something children may naturally outgrow.
Education
E.D. Weighs Special-Education, Chapter 1 Rule Changes
Special educators and regular educators participating in the federal Chapter 1 program would be able to collaborate in serving disabled and disadvantaged students, under two sets of pending rule changes currently under consideration by the Education Department
Education
Justice Reportedly Drops 25 Colleges From Inquiry
The Justice Department reportedly has notified 25 colleges and universities that it is no longer investigating them for possible violations of antitrust laws in connection with the sharing of tuition and financial-aid information.
Education
Researchers Set 'Ambitious' Time Line For Developing New Science Standards
The national education goals' emphasis on science achievement has helped place the development of national standards for precollegiate science teaching, curriculum, and assessment on a "fast track," a spokesman for the National Academy of Sciences said here last week.
Education
Impact-Aid Advocates Ponder Capitol Hill Strategy
While many segments of the education community are gearing up for 1993, when many of the federal precollegiate education programs are to be reauthorized, the stakes are especially high for schools that depend on impact aid.
Education
Fellows Program Links Researchers, Agencies
To Floraline I. Stevens, the director of the program-evaluation and assessment branch of the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of the most important benefits her time at the National Center for Education Statistics has given her is peace and quiet.