June 1, 1994
Education Week, Vol. 13, Issue 36
Ed-Tech Policy
Foundation Seeks To Help Schools Harness Power of Technology
A new North Carolina-based philanthropic foundation hopes to raise $30 million to $40 million within the next 18 months to help schools harness the power of "multimedia'' technologies.
Education
Harvard Drive Seeks $60 Million for Ed. School
Harvard University has launched a massive fund-raising campaign that for the first time will focus on the needs of historically underfunded departments, including the school of education.
Education
Standards for World History A Tough Task
After two years of work, the effort to draft voluntary standards for the teaching of U.S. history is on target and nearing completion, participants at a meeting convened here by the National Council for History Standards have agreed.
Education
Correction
An article in the May 25 issue of Education Week incorrectly cited the percentages of students whose text comprehension improved using an experimental technique called "Questioning the Author.'' Before the experiment, 30 percent of the students recognized when they did not understand a text passage. That figure increased to 80 percent after students had used the technique for several months.
Education
State Journal: Equity; Vox populi
Ten Minnesota school districts are facing fines of as much as $3.2 million each for failing to comply with the state's pay-equity law.
Education
Minn. District Scraps O.B.E. Experiment Seen as a Model
One of Minnesota's largest school districts has ended its three-year experiment with outcomes-based education, citing intense pressure from parents who criticized the schools' grading and testing practices.
Education
News Updates
Desegregation Settlement For Fort Wayne Approved: A U.S. District Court judge has given final approval to the settlement of a desegregation suit against the state of Indiana and the Fort Wayne school district.
Education
Define Telecommunications Agenda for Schools, E.D. Urged
Washington
The Education Department should define a national agenda that makes explicit the educational benefits of telecommunications for state and local authorities as they begin to connect schools to the "information highway,'' a report released last week by the National Academy of Sciences urges.
The Education Department should define a national agenda that makes explicit the educational benefits of telecommunications for state and local authorities as they begin to connect schools to the "information highway,'' a report released last week by the National Academy of Sciences urges.
Education
Partnerships Column
Teenagers volunteer at a higher rate than adults do, and their
involvement is on the rise, a new publication from Independent Sector
concludes.
Education
News In Brief
Gov. Steve Merrill of New Hampshire last week vetoed a $60 million school-aid bill that would have fully funded the state's nine-year-old school-aid formula for the first time since its inception.
Education
U.S. History: Sample Standard
What Students Should Know:
The causes of the American Revolution, the ideas and interests involved in forging the revolutionary movement, and the reasons for the American victory.
The causes of the American Revolution, the ideas and interests involved in forging the revolutionary movement, and the reasons for the American victory.
Education
Federal File: Memories; Reversal
In Standing Firm, his recently published political memoirs, former Vice President Dan Quayle calls former Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander "good,'' speaks fondly of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, and fails to mention former Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos at all.
Ed-Tech Policy
Virtual Reality Puts Disabled Students In Touch
Chris Dede envisions a future in which students will not study science in cluttered and potentially dangerous laboratories. Instead, they will learn in a limitless "virtual world.''
Education
Gov. Wilson Freezes Funds for Calif. Testing System
The innovative California assessment system that has been under siege from parents and conservative groups has encountered more trouble--this time from Gov. Pete Wilson.
Education
Opinion
Singapore-Style Discipline
Overlooked in the international brouhaha over the Singapore caning of the American teenager Michael Fay is the fact that corporal punishment continues as a disciplinary option in many American schools.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:
This is in response to the May 18, 1994, article "Chapter 2 Fate Is Subject of Hot Debate'' about the U.S. Education Department's study "How Chapter 2 Operates at the Federal, State, and Local Levels.'' The article inaccurately reports the date the Education Department sent the study to Congress, and falsely implies that the department withheld the report from Congress.
This is in response to the May 18, 1994, article "Chapter 2 Fate Is Subject of Hot Debate'' about the U.S. Education Department's study "How Chapter 2 Operates at the Federal, State, and Local Levels.'' The article inaccurately reports the date the Education Department sent the study to Congress, and falsely implies that the department withheld the report from Congress.
Education
Opinion
Official Portraits of Our Past
American-history textbooks raise unique content problems since they are official portraits of our country's past, purchased by governments and assigned to the students who will one day participate in government by consent.
Education
Opinion
Professionalization and Standards
Through the passage of the America Act, national education standards are here. To believers, they are an imperative-a lifeboat in a sea of mediocrity that has swept through our school system. To doubters, they are a reality to look upon with suspicion--a first step to a national curriculum and legislated learning. Whether viewed as hope or threat, they represent a new federalism in education.