January 18, 1984
Education Week, Vol. 03, Issue 17
Education
Schools Joining National Fight Against Child Abuse
For the second time in as many months, a television dramatization of a serious child-abuse problem has drawn a record number of viewers. Like "Adam" which documented one family's tragedy with a missing child, last week's ABC-tv movie, "Something About Amelia," dramatized a form of child abuse that has been called the last taboo--incest.
Education
Excerpts From the Chavez Memorandum to the Civil-Rights Commission
Following are excerpts from the Jan. 4 memorandum prepared by staff director Linda Chavez for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that are directly related to education.
Education
Calif. Scholars Launch Project To Better Understanding of Education
Two of California's most highly regarded education professors, with a $300,000 foundation award, are directing a project to help close what they see as a serious information gap for state policymakers.
Ed-Tech Policy
Urban Districts Found Lagging in Computerized Instruction
The country's largest city school systems have been innovators in the administrative uses of computers, but urban districts are lagging behind other types of districts in the number of computers available for student use and in the level of instruction offered on the machines, a survey by the Council of Great City Schools has found.
Education
Federal File
Edward A. Curran, the former National Institute of Education director who sought the abolition of his agency and was asked to resign for his suggestion, apparently still knows how to find a good fight.
Education
N.E.A. Convenes State Leaders for Training in 'Coalition Building'
In an effort to "move the nation's agenda" toward issues of educational reform, the National Education Association last week gathered its state leaders together for the first time in three years.
Education
High Court Refuses To Review Detroit Reverse-Bias Lawsuit
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a setback for the Reagan Administration, announced last week that it will not review a controversial "reverse-discrimination" lawsuit involving the Detroit Police Department.
Education
QUIZMASTER
What was the largest traditional high school (in terms of enrollment) in U.S. history? (The answer will be included with next week's quiz.)
Education
Peanut Butter Corps Spreads the News
They have interviewed Maureen Reagan, the racecar driver Johnny Rutherford, and Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana.
Education
Update News
The Minneapolis school board and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers reached a tentative agreement on a two-year contract, averting a strike that had been set for Jan. 17.
Education
Governors Call School Improvement a Top Priority
Peggy Caldwell, Cindy Currence, Charlie Euchner, Susan G. Foster, Sheppard Ranbom, Thomas Toch, Susan Walton, and Pamela Winston contributed to this report.
Education
People News
Four individuals have been named finalists in the 1984 National Teacher of the Year program. They are: C. Ray Baker, a teacher of social studies at Southside High School, Fort Smith, Ark.; Francis Clark Chamberlain, a teacher of mathematics, English, and social studies at The Community School, Napa, Calif.; Kim Natale, a physics teacher at Pomona Senior High School, Arvada, Colo.; and Sherleen Sue Sisney, who teaches history and political science at Ballard High School, Louisville, Ky.
Education
Rights-Panel Memo Said Not To Mark Shift in Policy
The staff director of the new U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said last week that the panel's expected reassessment of longstanding policies on remedies for discrimination does not mean it is becoming a "mouthpiece" for the Reagan Administration.
Education
Florida Governor Seeks Swift Action On Rule To Implement Merit-Pay Plan
Gov. Robert Graham of Florida, concerned about possible delays in setting up a merit-pay plan for teachers, has asked officials in the State Department of Education to write the rule needed to put the state's new merit-pay law into effect.
Education
Unusual Behavior, Bruises May Be Signs of Child Abuse
It is often difficult to identify cases of suspected child abuse and neglect, child-advocacy officials agree. To help teachers and others make identifications, Brian G. Fraser, in The Educator and Child Abuse, published by the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, lists signs teachers should look for.
Education
Task Force Finds E.D. Could Cut $2.83 Billion
A task force composed of business executives told President Reagan last week that the Education Department could save taxpayers $2.83 billion over the next three years by adopting 60 cost-cutting measures.
Education
Q&A: Discipline Codes Must Foster Balance of Order, Autonomy
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE: Order and Autonomy, by Ellen Jane Hollingsworth, Henry S. Lufler Jr., and William H. Clune 3d, will be published early this year by Praeger Publishers. Following a three-year study of discipline problems in schools, the authors wrote SCHOOL DISCIPLINE as a guide to administrators and teachers in developing successful discipline policies.
Education
School Programs Teaching Children To Recognize, Avoid Abuse
In addition to sponsoring programs that help educators identify child abuse, schools have begun to teach children to protect themselves by learning how to recognize abusers, how to prevent abuse, and how to tell a parent or trusted adult if they have been the victims of abuse.
Education
Michigan Board Approves Plan To Improve Education System
The Michigan Board of Education last week adopted the most comprehensive education-reform package in its 20-year history, according to officials in the Michigan Department of Education.
Education
Connecticut Board Rejects Longer School Year
The Connecticut Board of Education has rejected a proposal to lengthen the school year for students but has approved a broad school-improvement plan that would mean a longer school year for teachers, expanded kindergarten services, and more academic courses at the high-school level.
Education
Congress Returns to Education Issues
Members of the Congress return here next week to confront an agenda crowded with education items and very little time to deal with them.
Education
Bell Asks Librarians To Join Quest for Excellence
In an address before representatives of the nation's libraries last week, Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell announced that the Education Department will sponsor a series of seminars to examine, in light of the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, the roles libraries can play in fostering educational excellence.
Education
Opinion
Watching Canada's Emerging Struggle
Americans have been using the law to reform education for over a century. This activity, especially in the last four decades, has been in either real or symbolic recognition of the desire to reform society by the legal manipulation of schooling.