September 5, 1984
Education Week, Vol. 04, Issue 01
Education
Opinion
The Diary Of Latoya Hunter
These passages are from The Diary of Latoya Hunter: My First Year in Junior High, to be published this month by Crown Publishers. Latoya kept the diary—at the request of the publisher—during her 7th grade year at Junior High School 80 in the Bronx.
Education
Opinion
This Side Of Paradise
Faith Kline describes the details of her ideal and "quite unrealistic" classroom.
Education
Opinion
Undiscovered Talent
The author is a freelance writer and cartoonist based in Cookeville, Tenn.
Education
Opinion
The Baggage Of Abuse
Millions of children in our country carry more than their book bags to school each day. They also haul into the classroom the baggage of abuse. What do they unpack?
Education
California's Proposed History and Geography Curriculum Standards
Following is the text of a preliminary draft of proposed standards for the U.S. History and Geography curriculum in grades 9 through 12 in California. Standards are also being developed for curricula in U.S. Government, Civics, and Economics and in World History, Culture, and Geography. The proposals were discussed at last month's meeting in Berkeley.
The draft proposals represent the work of a 25-member committee, appointed by the state education department, that includes teachers, administrators, and university professors specializing in history.
Education
Idea of Citizen's Lobby Is Weighed by Governors
Two governors, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Bruce E. Babbitt of Arizona, are exploring the possibility of founding a national citizens' lobby that would work "to keep education reform on the front burner," according to their spokesmen.
Education
N.C. Educator To Leave Post
Walter L. Marks, superintendent of the 55,000-student Wake County public-school system, resigned late last month following the discovery by the Wake Board of Education that he was one of nine district administrators charged by the state with misspending almost $490,000 in federal Chapter 1 funds during the past two school years.
Education
Senate Majority Leader Said Readying Civil-Rights Bill for Floor Vote
Senate aides reported last week that the chamber's majority leader, Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. of Tennessee, has decided to bring to the Senate floor a controversial measure intended to nullify the U.S. Supreme Court's narrow interpretation this year of the federal law barring sex discrimination in education.
Education
Closing of Teacher Programs Urged
At a Washington press conference last week, C. Emily Feistritzer, author of a new study of state teacher-certification processes, also charged that up to half of the teacher-preparation programs in the country "aren't up to standards and should be shut down."
Education
Teacher Licensing Is in Disarray, Study Contends
States' teacher-certification procedures are "a mess" and should be replaced with national certification standards, a Washington-based researcher has charged.
Education
Rare Ratio Lures Teacher to One-Student School
What motivates a 28-year-old teacher from Freeport, Ill., to pack her bags, buy a snowmobile, and accept a job on a remote ranch in Wyoming to instruct a class of one?
"That's quite a ratio," the teacher, Karla R. Swiggum, says.
Education
Federal News Roundup
The Justice Department filed suit against Cook County, Ill., school officials last week, charging that they have discriminated against current and former teachers by denying them full use of their sick leave for pregnancy-related disabilities.
The department, in papers filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, simultaneously proposed a consent decree which, if approved by the court and school officials, would resolve the lawsuit.
Education
States News Roundup
The Vermont State Board of Education has approved new graduation requirements and educational standards for the state's 100,000 public-school students.
The reform package represents the first time the state has established comprehensive standards for both elementary and secondary schools and specified course requirements for graduation.
Education
National News Roundup
The American Federation of Teachers is encouraging its membership to put pressure on local authorities to remove asbestos from schools because, aft officials say, the federal government is not acting quickly enough to reduce the hazard.
At its annual convention in Washington, D.C., late last month, the union provided its members with a document called "Asbestos: A Time Bomb in Our Schools." The report outlines the scope of the problem and tells teachers what to do if they think their school contains asbestos. aft officials estimate that more than 648,000 school employees run the risk of being exposed to the substance.
Education
Portrait of Voc.-Ed. Classes Offered
Data from the government's major longitudinal study of high-school students confirm that several commonly held notions about vocational education are accurate, the National Center for Education Statistics concludes in a new analysis.
Education
Ad Hoc Group Drafting Manifesto on Agenda
An ad hoc and bipartisan group of 40 prominent educators, scholars, and lawmakers is drafting a manifesto intended to "sustain the quest for educational excellence" and add "important new items to local and national educational agendas."
Education
Secretary Bell 'Pleased' With G.O.P. Plank on Schools
The platform adopted by the Republican Party in Dallas late last month gave unusual emphasis to education.
Education
Opinions Clash at Conference To Define History Curriculum
If educators fail to define a core curriculum in history, state governments will do it for them, Michael W. Kirst, a professor of education at Stanford University, warned a group of 650 historians, administrators, and social-studies teachers at a meeting here recently.
Federal
Reagan Says Teacher to Be First Space Passenger
President Reagan announced that an elementary- or secondary-school teacher would be the first private citizen to fly on a space-shuttle mission.
Education
Opinion
Recognizing Writing as the Key to Learning
It was already common knowledge that Johnny couldn't read when a 1975 Newsweek cover story made it clear he couldn't write either.