Senate votes to establish nation academies to teach history, civics
Boys' violent tastes harmless: psychologist
What Makes A Good Teacher?
New Law May Leave Many Rural Teachers Behind
Can Johnny Read Yet?
Senate votes to establish nation academies to teach history, civics
Quick, what does the Senate do? It passes legislation, as it did Friday to set up academies for improving students' knowledge of American history and civics and honing educators' skills in teaching the subjects. The measure, the American History and Civics Education Act, also has wide support in the House. It was prompted by growing concerns about students' spotty understanding of history and civics. "We need this legislation because our children are not learning what it means to be an American," said the bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former secretary of education. The measure was approved unanimously.
Boys' violent tastes harmless: psychologist
'They need to fantasize': Comics, battle games help young males 'reorganize their lives'
Ann Marie Owens
The author who raised the first alarm about boys and violence in North America says we should stop worrying about boys indulging in war games, wrestling and fantasy play and begin embracing their low-brow tastes. Michael Thompson, the psychologist who wrote the groundbreaking book Raising Cain and several other best-selling books about boys, told a gathering of librarians from across North America that ''snobbery and elitism'' are too much a part of the prevailing attitudes toward boys.
What Makes A Good Teacher?
An ongoing debate surrounds the preparation and qualifications that characterize high-quality teachers. Relative to other fields, disputes regarding the knowledge and competency that should be required of teachers are particularly striking. Many agree that teachers should possess a strong basic knowledge of the subjects they teach, but does that knowledge necessarily translate into effective teaching? Over time, teachers' education levels have increased, while student achievement rankings have not.
New Law May Leave Many Rural Teachers Behind
By Sam Dillon
New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/23/education/
23RURA.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnl=0&adxnnlx=1056384540-JEOMluitEZuiUbttIqHhEg
"No Child Left Behind" says all teachers must have a separate college degree in the field of each major course they teach, or prove through an exam that they are "highly qualified" in that area of study. Educators in rural areas say the law is forcing thousands of rural teachers to consider returning to school or moving elsewhere. They warn that among other pernicious effects, it is likely to accelerate the migration of teachers to urban districts out of struggling communities from Maine to Alaska. They also say the NCLB school choice provision requiring districts to allow students from schools with low test scores to transfer to better schools, at the district's expense is unreasonable for rural districts. Republican Governors of rural states are speaking out against certain provisions in what they call one-size-fits-all legislation.
Can Johnny Read Yet?
By Marjorie Coeyman
Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0624/p13s01-lepr.html
Once again US students have taken a reading test, and once again the results of that test are being called "mixed," with some pundits identifying them as proof of failure, and others insisting they demonstrate limited progress.
