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News & Views - Dec,
2000 Issue (page 2)
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Page 2 of 3 - Previous | Next
NO EXCUSES VS. DEFICIT
(November 9, 2000) Grace Cureton Stanford of Pennsylvania State University reports her conclusions, found at regarding
the reform efforts of two comparable schools. She found that the school that used a “no excuses” attitude had much better results
than the school that adopted a “deficit” attitude, in which teachers attributed student obstacles as deficits in the students’ language
and culture for which they needed to compensate.
STUDENT JOBS HURT MATH, SCIENCE SCORES
(November 15, 2000) A study reported in the November/December issue of The
Journal of Educational Research, shows that students who work more than 20 hours a week had lower grades. “The more hours students
logged at their jobs, the less likely they were to take courses and perform well in those subjects”.
ANEOREXIA AND PERFECTIONISM GO TOGETHER
(November 17, 2000) A study
of 322 women in the US and Europe led by Dr. Katherine Halmi of the Eating Disorders Program of New York Presbyterian Hospital
in Manhattan confirmed what often has been suspected, “the extent of perfectionism was directly associated with the severity of victims’
anorexia nervosa.”
HOME SCHOOLERS COLLEGE
(November 18, 2000) Mike Farris, general counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association, opened the Patrick
Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia. Most of the 90 inaugural students were home-schooled from kindergarten through high school.
Currently their only offering is a degree in government; the school plans to expand in both numbers and course offerings.
CO-ED SLUMBER PARTIES
(November 19, 2000) The Houston Chronicle reports the increasing popularity of co-ed adolescent sleepovers around the
country. One Maryland mother was quoted approving of this activity saying “I just feel it’s definitely better than going to hotels;
this way you know all the kids who are coming over and know who they are with.”
SAVE HISTORIC SCHOOLS
(November 22, 2000) Richard Moe, president of The National Trust for Historic Preservation stated, “Historic neighborhood
schools should be renovated and savored, not closed or replaced by edge-of-town schools that have little character.” Lakis Polycarpou,
a New York writer and a 1990 graduate of Columbine High School in Colorado, said “modern schools often are designed without much personality,
which sends a harmful message for students who lack a sense of community and identity.” He said when he moved to Columbine High School,
it looked exactly like his previous school, “physically indistinguishable from a prison or a mall.”
PARENT REPORT CARDS
(November 24, 2000) Chicago schools are instituting report cards that also mark parents on involvement, according the
New York Times. Some parents have become comfortable with the idea; others are
outraged and “deeply insulted.”
PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN BRITAIN
(November 27, 2000) BBC NEWS announced a prediction that “The regulatory,
legislative and political environment is conductive to the growth of private sector companies in education.”
Copyright © 2000, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without prior
approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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