November 21, 1990
Education Week, Vol. 10, Issue 12
Education
Opinion
S.A.T. Scores: Miserable or Miraculous?
I recently read an article by the Washington Post's syndicated columnist Richard Cohen entitled "Johnny's Miserable S.A.T.'s." I don't have to tell you its contents or how Mr. Cohen feels. This diatribe differed from other education-bashing pieces so much in vogue lately, only in that it blamed the kids themselves and their parents more than the schools for the miserable state of affairs.
Education
'Choice' and 'Voice' Acknowledge Parents' Key Role in Education Process
Parents are gaining influence in the schools not only through the movement to give them a role in school decisionmaking, but also as a result of the ongoing drive to allow them to choose among schools.
Education
Voters Appear Content With Legislatures--For Time Being
In contrast to the turmoil created by the voters in the nation's governorships, this month's elections brought little immediate change in the legislatures, experts on state politics said last week.
Education
New Federal Rules for Children's Television Draw Fire
WASHINGTON--Just a few weeks after the Children's Television Act of 1990 became law, the Federal Communications Commission has moved quickly to propose new rules to reflect the direction it received from the Congress on how to regulate children's programming.
Education
State Journal: Told you so; Gloomy post-mortem
State officials in Montana expressed surprise and concern recently after discovering that their school-finance reform law would cost $50 million more over the next three years than they had anticipated.
Education
Report Raps Shared-Decisionmaking Effort in Los Angeles
A report critical of the first year of shared decisionmaking in Los Angeles schools has stoked longstanding hostilities between the teachers' union and district officials, with the union questioning whether the report's purpose was to undermine reform.
Curriculum
Books:Readings
David Tyack and Elisabeth Hansot, both of Stanford University, have compiled an exhaustive (and handsomely illustrated) history of coeducation in America--the first comprehensive look at how gender policies and practices have helped shape the public schools.
Education
Picking the Winners
For the 14th consecutive year, students at a Cincinnati high school have anticipated their elders in choosing the winners of general-election contests.
Education
House Education Panels Slated for Major Reshuffling
Washington--Representative William D. Ford, the Michigan Democrat who will take over as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee in the upcoming 102nd Congress, has announced that he will also head the panel's Postsecondary Education Subcommittee.
Education
District News Briefs
The parents of a Chicago high-school student are the first to be convicted under a stepped-up anti-truancy program in the district and could go to jail if their son misses any more school.
Education
Federal File: Making a point; By any other name; Brain teasers; Poor form
In honor of American Education Week, the White House's office of national service put an educational slant on its "points of light" campaign.
Education
O.C.R. Scores Early Win In Special-Ed. Dispute
The Education Department's office for civil rights has won a preliminary skirmish in its legal battle with the DeKalb County, Ga., school district, by ensuring that the case, which challenges the o.c.r.'s authority to investigate certain special-education complaints, will be decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.
Education
Role of Parents in School Decisions Long Debated
The debate over the role of parents in school governance is closely related to the centuries-old debate over lay versus professional control of education.
Education
People News
Colman Genn, the superintendent of Community School Board 27 in southeastern Queens, N.Y., who last year blew the whistle on patronage in his district, has announced his resignation effective Jan. 2.
Education
College-Enrollment Trends for Black Males 'Less Extreme' Than Thought, Study Says
The widely reported plummet in the number of young black men attending college is in fact largely a statistical anomaly caused by the increasing number of white women who opt for higher education, a new study by the RAND Corporation contends.
Education
Illinois Districts File School-Finance Lawsuit
A group of 47 Illinois school districts, including Chicago, last week filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court challenging the state's school-finance system.
Education
College News
Gov.-elect John Engler of Michigan does not plan to dismantle the state's prepaid- tuition program, but residents may have to pay more to enroll once the new Governor is sworn in, according to a spokesman.
Education
State Chiefs Set Sights on Federal Omnibus Education Bill
Urging the Congress to pass the omnibus education bill that died in the final hours of the 101st Congress will be a top priority for the Council of Chief State School Officers in the coming year, members agreed here last week.
Education
Federal Court Rejects Teacher's Claim Of Right To Teach Theory ofCreation
Teachers enjoy no constitutional right to ignore school directives in order to present creationism in the classroom, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled.
Education
Proposals To Create New National Test For Students Misguided, Anrig Argues
Creating a new national test for all students is the "wrong answer" to the problem of lagging educational performance, the head of the nation's largest testing firm said here last week.
Education
Goodlad Gets $1.25 Million To Help Institute Reforms
The Exxon Education Foundation last week presented the educational researcher John I. Goodlad with a five-year, $1.25-million grant to help schools, colleges, and universities reform teacher-education programs along the lines suggested in his new book, Teachers for Our Nation's Schools.
Education
State News Briefs
An injunction issued by a lone circuit-court judge ordering striking teachers across West Virginia to return to their classrooms last March was illegal, the state supreme court has ruled.
Education
News Update
A Georgia man has been charged with murder for allegedly mailing package bombs that killed a federal appellate judge in Alabama and a civil-rights lawyer in Georgia and nearly exploded in the office of the Jacksonville, Fla., chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Education
Urban Educators Back Strategic Plan For Reaching Set of Reform Objectives
The Council of the Great City Schools last week approved a preliminary strategic plan for achieving a series of national goals that will be presented to leaders of 80 national organizations at an urban education summit in Washington in January. Leaders from the education, business, and philanthropic communities, some of whom helped draft the "Strategies for Success," have pledged to attend the two-day summit.
Education
Tennessee Board Set To Approve Restructuring Plan
The Tennessee state board of education was set late last week to adopt a comprehensive school-restructuring plan that includes a $3.3-billion final version of the five-year 21st Century Challenge program spearheaded by Gov. Ned McWherter.
Education
Ground-Breaking Voucher Program In Wis. Rejected
In a narrowly focused decision, a state appellate court in Wisconsin last week struck down the Milwaukee public schools' ground-breaking parental-choice program.
Education
Shanker Quits 'Channel One' Advisory Panel
Worried that his involvement was being promoted as an endorsement of Whittle Communications' "Channel One" classroom news show, Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has resigned from an advisory council for the controversial service.
Education
Power of Parents Put to the Test in Chicago Reform Experiment
The sentiments expressed by the above diarist, one of 20 anonymous council members recording their experiences for Catalyst, reflects the seriousness with which most parents and community members have approached their new roles as overseers of this city's schools.
Education
Panel Calls for Overall Strategy To Assess Head Start
The effectiveness of the Head Start program will never be fully determined unless researchers use new strategies that recognize the diversity of the program's student population and of the local programs themselves, a new report by a federal advisory panel contends.