Web Watch

Back in the days when 3x5 cards were the standard in research tools, the term paper was the core of secondary education. But now it may be facing the same fate as those index cards. Thanks to the Internet's facilitation of plagiarism, more and more high school teachers are cutting back or eliminating required research papers. Anti-cheating software such as TurnItIn.com finds that about one-third of all K-12 and college papers are at least partially plagiarized. Facing those odds, teachers are leaning toward in-class writing exercises and oral presentations to measure student learning. But these assignments tend to be much shorter than term papers and don't require the same depth of thinking, leading some educators to worry that the next generation of students will head to college lacking rigorous writing and research experience. Many teachers who do still assign term papers, such as Janet Groth of Clovis High School, near Fresno, California, now require elaborate documentation of each step of the research process. Others require companion essays explaining how the student accomplished each part of the assignment. "They knew I'd be checking and that they'd have to explain any wording," Groth said. But, she said, "It took forever to grade them."

Receiving any teaching award is a boost to a teacher's ego. And a surefire way to make that success even sweeter is to add award money. So things were looking very good this week for Linda Alston of Denver, whose receipt of the Kinder Excellence In Teaching Award came with $100,000— the most money ever awarded to a K-12 educator. The award, which seeks to recognize exceptional teachers in schools where at least half the students receive free or reduced-price meals, required a nominating essay from someone who knew the teacher well, and the award committee visited the 10 finalists in their classrooms. Alston, a 25-year teaching veteran who's spent most of her time teaching kindergarteners using facets of the Montessori method, said her teaching philosophy is simply "...try to create as much beauty, order, and dignity for the learning environment as I possibly can.” Last year, she switched schools, seeking to work with underserved students in full-day kindergarten. So that award money will come in handy in outfitting her classroom. But first, she's got some other ideas in mind: a vacation to Martha's Vineyard and some expensive orange geraniums for her flower garden.

These days, students are at least as likely to turn to the Internet as a library book when their science project or history report is due. But exactly what goes on inside kids' heads when they’re trolling the Web in search of information about magnetism or Frederick Douglass is still a mystery. Researchers at the University of Connecticut want to change that. In a $1.8 million, three-year study, Professor Donald J. Leu is leading a team that’s investigating exactly how kids learn online. In studying the “new literacies” needed to navigate the Internet, Leu’s team has found that most students have a tough time reading critically and distinguishing legitimate information from the Internet’s vast flotsam and jetsam. So researchers are carefully observing 7th-grader students in Norwich, Connecticut, as they work online to answer questions such as “Why do rainbows form?” The researchers track every keystroke and site visited, while the students verbally explain what they’re doing and why. “I’m still confused. What does ‘refracted’ mean?” one participant asked rhetorically as she worked through the science question. She used the Web site dictionary.com to answer that query before moving on to seek out more details about rainbows and light. Later, the research team will review her and other students’ sessions as they refine an Internet teaching model that will eventually help teachers train students in Internet literacy. “Not a single state evaluates students’ ability to read search engine results,” Leu said. But as the Internet’s reach steadily expands, online research may soon be the fourth R.

A high school math teacher in Florida has found that using a computerized random-name generator to call on students in class helps improve their preparation and focus. The finding came as part of a graduate school research project in which the teacher, Paige Allison, was originally looking for a way to make sure math teachers called on girls as often as boys. With the help of a programmer, she developed an Excel-based name-generation program that could be used on a handheld computer. She then compared 15 math classes in which the device was used against a control group of 11 classes in which teachers called on students by their own methods. At this particular school, Allison found little evidence of gender bias on the part of teachers in the control group. On the basis of subsequent focus-group discussions, however, she did find that the students whose teachers used the name generator were more likely to be prepared for class and to pay attention to their teachers. “They felt they had to tune in more, because they knew they had a chance of being called on for every question,” Allison said. She also believes the program could help harried educators engage students who might otherwise be overlooked: “It’s easier and faster to let the student who knows the answer respond to you,” she observed. “So the quiet person in the corner who doesn’t raise a hand doesn’t get called on much.”

From the questionable-career-moves department: Two middle school teachers in Hillsborough County, Florida, have resigned after a couple of students reported seeing them having sex inside a locked classroom. The students told school officials that they observed the educators, a Spanish teacher and a coach, through a hole in a piece of paper covering the classroom window. The teachers originally denied the allegation, but, according to a district report, later admitted that this wasn’t the first time. The district’s report also says that one of the teachers tried to keep the students from reporting the incident, pulling one of them out of her next class. The teachers, both in good standing at the time, resigned after they were interviewed “about unprofessional conduct on campus,” according to a school letter to parents. They now face a state inquiry that could result in their losing certification. “I’m embarrassed by the incident,” one of the teachers said. “Everything is not what it seems.”

Now’s your chance to finally get that smaller class—and maybe a sweet location to work in, too. In an upmarket twist on home schooling, a growing number of families are hiring teachers to work privately with their children in their own homes. The trend seems to stem mainly from a pair of factors: Parents’ desire for a more individualized form of education for their children and jet-setting lifestyles that make traditional schooling impractical (or, in some cases, just rather inconvenient). Bob Harraka, president of Professional Tutors of America, says he has to turn down many requests for in-home educators each year because they are simply too far afield: “Sailing comes up at least or twice a year,” he notes. While some observers fear the domestic teaching arrangements may undermine the social goals of education—and while even some home schooling advocates say they aren’t “pure” examples of the form—the teachers themselves don’t seem to be complaining. “I love it; it’s a dream come true,” said Rob Cox, a certified teacher who sometimes gives poolside lessons to his private pupil in Marina del Rey, California. “It’s your own individual school that operates according to your needs.”

International Baccalaureate—or IB—academic programs are gaining recognition nationwide for their rigorous curricular standards and the high-achieving students the classes draw. The program was created in Switzerland in 1968 to provide a common educational framework that would be recognized worldwide, with a focus on putting learning into an international context and encouraging students to develop their own projects. But in Minnesota, there's a growing furor about the IB program. Last month, two separate congressional district Republican conventions approved resolutions denouncing IB, and the classes were also a divisive issue in last fall's school board race in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Opponents charge that the IB curriculum "teaches global citizenship as a priority over American citizenship," in the words of one detractor. But supporters argue that IB imbues education with creativity. "It's giving big ideas to chew on for an extended period of time...not just jumping from one thing to the next," said Paula Palmer, the Minneapolis coordinator of IB programs. Part of the reason IB is so contentious is the cost: While states chip in a portion of IB funding (about $1 million in Minnesota), schools still cover much of the tab, to the tune of more than $100,000 per year in at least one case. With 519 IB schools already recognized in the United States and other schools lining up to apply, the community-support issue will likely come into sharper focus as planning for the next school year intensifies.

In 1948, when a teacher and part-time art critic encouraged his employer, New Trier Township High School, to buy “Still Life with Flowers” by a then-relatively-unknown artist, it seemed like a good idea. The teacher, Frank Holland, planned to use it in class as a prime example of American modernism. Plus, it was going for just $62.50. Turns out Holland’s was a great idea: Christie’s auction house recently sold the school’s painting for $3.1 million to an anonymous bidder. The art classes at New Trier got a lot of use out of “Still Life” over the years, but, starting in the 1970s, it ended up in storage, then in a bank vault, and was finally loaned to the Art Institute of Chicago, after another art teacher recognized its importance. When New Trier originally acquired the piece, its creator, Stuart Davis, was labeled a “lefty” artist, so his work was easily dismissed. Today it’s highly sought-after. New Trier, however, has never been short on cash. Located in a tony Chicago suburb, the 105-year-old elite high school boasts notable alumni such as Donald Rumsfeld, Charlton Heston, and Ann-Margret. “It’s ironic that’s where the work of a communist painter was found and will enrich the budget of one of the wealthiest school districts in the country,” comments one art historian. It appears, at least, that most of the money will go toward enriching the school’s art department.

A group of Latino students at Steele Canyon High School in Rancho San Diego, California, had planned to skip classes to attend pro-immigrant rallies this spring. But English teacher Kim Dickinson found that, while the students had strong feelings about the topic, they didn't really know much about the immigration legislation being protested. She challenged them to do more than just add a few more bodies to the protesting crowd. She invited the students back to her classroom and encouraged them to research the issues behind the rallies. Their discussion grew to include dozens of other students and now, two months later, the result is a 50-page book of family histories, narratives and illustrations about immigration and immigrant families' experiences. Most of the essays were written by students who don't speak English as their primary language. Some had only been in the United States for a few years; some didn't use their real names with their writing because of their immigration status. One student's illustration for the volume showed a man separated from a gravesite in Mexico by a border fence. It was meant to highlight the fact that illegal immigrants can't return home to attend relatives' funerals. The original group of students who had been planning to walk out for the rallies said they were glad to have an alternative outlet for their opinions. "I seriously wanted to be with them (the students who walked out)," said Maricruz Pulido. "But I thought if I miss out on school, I'm not doing what I came here for, to get a better education."

He’s a baseball coach who finds inspiration in photographs of Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. That’s because 44-year-old Steve DeCaro is also a physics teacher at Mattituck High School on Long Island. For four years, in fact, he’s fused physics and America’s pastime in a way that’s raised achievement levels both in the classroom and on the field. It took a while. For years, the ex-jock who fell in love with physics as a high-schooler (and subsequently earned a master’s degree in the subject) lived two lives, unable to interest his students in the science of baseball or his ballplayers in the practical applications of physics. Then, after joining the Mattituck staff, he demanded that all players take physics and encouraged non-jocks to join the team. Enrollment in physics classes at Mattituck has gone from 17 to 70 since 2002, and the once-ignored AP Physics B exam now has 20 annual takers. The team ain’t too shabby either: 43 wins and 16 losses over three seasons. The ways in which DeCaro combines physics and baseball are best exemplified by Keith Connell. As a junior last year, he joined the team and sat bench mostly because he had a terrible swing. DeCaro soon taught him, however, that one must anchor the back foot, then step forward at just the right time, so as to maximize the energy moving through the bat and into the ball. Keith’s a good student: He’s team captain this year, and batting .337.

Most graduating seniors at the top of their class get up in front of peers and parents to make a speech. Gallatin High School valedictorian Chris Linzy did just that, but now the Tennessee teen faces disorderly conduct charges carrying a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail for his attempt to speak—plus the possibility he won’t receive his diploma. “This is blown so far out of proportion,” said the boy’s father, David Linzy. “This wasn't an incident where he vandalized something, streaked across the stage, or set off fireworks." He did break the rules, however. At Gallatin High, the student body president addresses the graduates, but not the valedictorian—a policy Chris wanted to question in his speech. However, after grabbing the microphone away from the teacher who read off students’ names, Chris was only able to get a few sentences out before the power to the amplifier was cut. He’s since apologized to principal Rufus Lassiter, but the administrator still isn’t saying whether he’ll get to officially graduate. Moreover, Lassiter is upset by all the media attention the valedictorian’s interruption has drawn at the expense of the other seniors: “The good kids that wanted to do right and obey the rules, they're being left out."

Middle school language arts teacher Janice Ramsey has hit upon a paradox: Many kids say they hate writing, but, what with e-mail and instant messaging, they’re virtually doing it in their sleep. Building on that opening, Ramsey, who teaches at Booth Middle School in Woodstock, Georgia, has developed a writing curriculum that’s oriented around e-mail composition. Instead of blaming e-mail for the world’s grammatical ills, that is, she uses it to teach kids about structure, style, and voice. “What’s associated with e-mail? Plain old letter-writing,” she reasons. Who knew? Ramsey says working in the electronic medium gives her students a greater sense of engagement, which has shown in their grades. She plans to present her findings this summer as part of a university professional-development program. In the meantime, the idea of adapting student writing to new modes of communication is already being welcomed. “Literacy instruction and written instruction tend to be quite old-fashioned; we’re still working from a 1950s model,” observed Jennifer Stone, a professor at the University of Washington.

It's not just gas prices that are up these days. For students at Basha High School in Chandler, Arizona, the cost of ketchup has gone through the roof. Enterprising senior Kirk Alvers has calculated that while gas prices are hovering at $3 per gallon, the cost of ketchup in the school cafeteria is $18 for 36 ounces. The price spike is connected to a new cafeteria policy under which students ordering burgers and fries must purchase, at 25 cents for two, any ketchup packets they want beyond the three that come with the meal. Principal Kristine Marchiando explained the new policy this way: "If you have unrestricted access to things that explode, things will happen." Apparently, students stomping on ketchup packets necessitated expensive clean-up in the outdoor lunch area. Alvers and other students argued that a few freshmen were behind the ketchup misuse and it was unfair to punish (and charge) the entire student body. They recently wore "Free Heinz" T-shirts and hung posters protesting the ketchup policy. Principal Marchiando said the school had bigger issues to deal with, including construction, overcrowding, and a black widow spider infestation. At least the spiders aren't ketchup fans.

Recess is on the chopping block, and its supporters are stamping their feet, complaining loudly, and talking to anyone who will listen. And that's just the parents. Kids are getting involved, too, through a massive "Rescuing Recess" letter-writing campaign spearheaded by the National PTA and the Cartoon Network. New government study results show that the percentage of schools that don't have recess is on the rise. And while the recess-less schools are still in the minority—only 7 percent of 1st graders and 13 percent of 6th graders have no recess—many parents sense that school-sanctioned playtime is under attack, and they're ready to put up a racket to save it. Parents in Tacoma, Washington, want the school to mandate separate recess periods each day, rather than just designating lunch as the time for students to kick back. While school officials blame academic pressure and increased testing when cutting recess time, some parents are adamant that playtime is non-negotiable. "It's a time for children to be imaginative, to show innovation on the playground," said parent Diane Larson.