 |
 |
 |
|
|
NWPE News Notes
The Online Communiqué of Northwest Professional Educators
December 14, 2003
IS CHRISTMAS ILLEGAL???
HIGH SCHOOL POSTER CONTEST ON MAKING A DIFFERENCE
NWPE NEW MEMBER ENROLLMENT DISCOUNT EXTENDED!
NEWS:
What Bullies Want
Student's "Politically Incorrect" Free Speech is Upheld
IS CHRISTMAS ILLEGAL???
Many have the mistaken view that Christianity is a forbidden topic in public schools. The Tacoma News Tribune recently reported on a Bethel School District teacher revising the lyrics of Dale Wood's "Carol from an Irish Cabin" to read: "The harsh wind blows down from the mountains and blows a white winter to me," substituting the word "winter" for "Christmas." This action has caused unnecessary negative publicity for Bethel School District and has outraged some parents at the apparent discrimination and censorship. (See http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/4484517p-4463057c.html.) Teachers in another Washington school district have been told that they can't wear any symbols of Christmas including Christmas tree pins or Santa Claus!
In too many cases, teachers have been misled or even bullied into cleansing their curriculum of all Christian references while references to Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and other religions escape a similar fate. Rather than purifying education in the name of sensitivity, this religious cleansing process actually makes education sterile, lacking in depth, fullness, and diversity. It is neither appropriate nor legal for the public schools to promote a religion nor to create schools that are religion-free, or Christian-free, zones. Teachers CAN include references to and the symbols of Christmas (such as Christmas trees, religious songs, and nativity scenes) and Christianity in their classrooms if they are aware of and implement guidelines for appropriate instruction.
For more information on this topic and references to the US Department of Education's resource, A Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools, please see the Northwest Professional Educators website at http://www.nwpe.org/PDF_Files/Teaching%20the%20Reason%20for%20the%20Season.pdf. The teachers' union also supports objective inclusion of religion in classroom instruction. NEA's 2000-2001 Resolution E-7, "Religious Heritage in Instructional Materials," states, "The National Education Association believes that educational materials should accurately portray the influence of religion in our nation and throughout the world."
The American School Board Journal also recently published an article written by a staff attorney for the National School Boards Association that gives helpful information for those who still hold to the myth that Christmas must be banned from public schools. See http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory2.html.
HIGH SCHOOL POSTER CONTEST ON MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Christophers invite all high school students to share their unique ideas and creative talent by entering the Fourteenth Annual Christopher Poster Contest for High School Students. Students are asked to interpret the theme "You can make a difference" in an original poster. Last year's contest drew a record-breaking 2,297 entries from public, private and parochial schools across the country and around the world, including Colombia, Nigeria and the Philippines. Winning posters included paintings, photographs and computer-generated artwork. Posters are judged on their overall impact, communication of theme, originality and artistic merit.
For information, please visit The Christophers' web site at http://www.christophers.org/04post_con.html. Prizes range from $100 to $1,000. A non-profit organization founded in 1945, The Christophers uses mass media to encourage all individuals to raise the standards of public life. Positive, constructive action is essential as expressed in the Christopher motto: "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
NWPE NEW MEMBER ENROLLMENT DISCOUNT EXTENDED!
NWPE's new member enrollment discount of $25 has proven so popular that NWPE is extending the discount! Educators who have considered joining Northwest Professional Educators for its job protection benefits, $2 million liability insurance policy, legal services, professional development resources, and constructive education ideas, but who missed enrollment by the November 30th deadline, may still join and benefit from the new member discount. This makes the first year's dues only $144. NWPE also offers a five month payment plan making payment of dues very affordable.
WHAT BULLIES WANT
"Bullies are popular and their classmates think they're cool, according to new research from UCLA, which points to the need for a new approach to addressing the problem in schools. Many of the existing programs in schools still operate under the assumption that kids bully their peers because they feel bad about themselves," said Jaana Juvonen, PhD, UCLA professor of psychology and the lead researcher on the study. 'Our findings show quite the contrary. Bullies do not need ego boosters.' Observational studies have found that children who watch bullying spend most of their time watching the bully, not the child being harmed. In effect, they support the bullying. . . When a child intervenes to stop the bullying, the bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time, says Dr. Pepler. 'There's tremendous potential to engage children in addressing these problems.'
__________________________
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=446ab081-37b7-45c6-8304-408b26d05f35
STUDENT'S "POLITICALLY INCORRECT" FREE SPEECH IS UPHELD
"In a strongly worded opinion issued late Friday, Detroit Federal Judge Gerald Rosen upheld the right of a Christian student to express her religious beliefs in opposition to homosexuality during her high school's 'Diversity Week' program that was designed to promote the homosexual agenda. The case involved a federal lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, on behalf of student Betsy Hansen whose religious views against homosexuality were censored and excluded from the 2002 "Diversity Week" program held at Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School."
__________________________
IS THE CURRICULUM BIASED - A STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS
"American higher education is facing widespread demands to eliminate the allegedly "Eurocentric" and "patriarchal" bias of the curriculum. While the details vary from campus to campus, these demands tend to focus on four objectives: . . . "
_______________________________
EDUCATORS USE WEB SOFTWARE TO CATCH PLAGIARIZING STUDENTS
"The scourge of cheating that has frustrated university professors for years is now just as much a concern with younger students. More than half of high-schoolers admitted plagiarizing from the Internet in a 2001 national survey of 4,500 students conducted by Donald McCabe, a Rutgers University professor. Teachers such as Malone have been saddened by the deception and grown weary from the hours they spend fighting it -- reading everything with a cynical eye, using Google to hunt for suspect phrases, negotiating with students who deny wrongdoing. So they have turned in large numbers to computerized sleuthing tools. . . Last year, after Malone caught the identical papers and initiated an ethics committee, Wootton began using software called turnitin.com, a plagiarism detection device invented for universities but now licensed to 12 percent of U.S. high schools. . . "
____________________________
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16624-2003Nov26.html
THANKS, BUT NO THANKS
Northwest Professional Educators extends a very Merry Christmas to all educators. We wish you a well deserved vacation filled with joy, peace, and wonder. May you return to your classes renewed in mind, body, and spirit to continue the good works you do for your students and communities!
Happy Holidays!
Cindy Omlin
Executive Director
|
NWPE News Notes
The Online Communiqué of Northwest Professional Educators
NCLB UPDATE: Flexibility for Demonstrating Highly Qualified Teacher
The Arts and NCLB
Flexibility for Highly Qualified Teachers
Secretary Paige has announced three new policies to give certain teachers greater flexibility in demonstrating that they are "highly qualified" under the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the US Department of Education:
-
Teachers in rural school districts who are "highly qualified" in at least one subject will have three years to become "highly qualified" in the additional subjects they teach. They must also be provided professional development, intense supervision, or structured mentoring to become competent in those other areas.
Approximately 5,000, or one-third of all school districts in the U.S., are considered rural, and, frequently, teachers in these areas are required to teach more than one subject. Existing teachers will have until the end of the 2006-07 school year; new teachers will have three years from their hiring date.
-
Based on their current certification requirements, states may permit science teachers to demonstrate that they are "highly qualified" either in "broad field" science or individual fields of science (biology, chemistry, physics).
-
States may streamline their High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) by developing a single process for current, multi-subject teachers to demonstrate that they are "highly qualified" in each of their subjects. HOUSSE recognizes, among other things, experience, expertise, and professional training garnered over time.
The Arts and NCLB
A new publication by the Arts Education Partnership, titled "No Subject Left Behind," serves as a guide for arts education leaders seeking to learn more about No Child Left Behind and the multiple opportunities for arts education. It offers an overview of the legislation, with specific references to the arts; a description of individual programs, with arts-specific examples that have received funding; and links to web sites for additional facts.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/NoSubjectLeftBehind.pdf.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
