|
News & Views - November, 2001 Issue (page
2)
|
Page 2 of 3 - Previous | Next
CORE CONFERENCE: A RENAISSANCE OF RESIDENTIAL
EDUCATION
(Sept 21, 2001) The Conference Summary from “Learning to Live Living to Learn: First National Conference on Residential
Education for Disadvantaged Children and Youth (CORE),” Washington,
DC, 202.469.9189, hosted by Girard College in Philadelphia, PA in October of 2000, “marked the renaissance of residential education
in the US. The conference summary states: “the effectiveness of residential education programs is heavily dependent on the quality
of the residential staff residential staff…One of the central aspects of the residential staff’s role is creating a psychologically
safe, stable, and supportive environment in which the child can form healthy attachments…Some elements, personal characteristics and
actions involved in creating a “comfort zone” for children include: Understanding, compassion, love for children, patience, communication
of expectations, empathy, remembering each child’s history and experiences, fairness, consistency, fun, respect, personal space, and
cooperation.” The Conference Summary also describes five new residential schools that are funded by public and private sources, and
describes the most important issues to consider when starting a new school.
CHARTERS RESEMBLE PRIVATE SCHOOLS
(Sept. 26, 2001) The Washington Times reported a study by economists Michael Podgursky and Dale Ballou, sponsored
by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation that “when it comes to hiring, paying, and firing teachers, charter schools are more like private
schools than traditional public ones....In effect, both charter and private schools ‘trade off’ experience for smaller average class
size.”
SURVEY FINDS SUPPORT OF EDUCATION REFORM DESPITE DIFFERING VIEWS OF SCHOOL QUALITY (October
25, 2001) Lu Leon, 202.828.9100, luleon@starpower.net, of the Fordham
Foundation, Washington, D.C., 202.223.5452, reported in a press release that although parents express varying degrees of satisfaction
with their child’s school, whether public, private or charter, all support bold education reforms. “Those include school vouchers,
more charter schools, higher academic standards for students, stronger school discipline, and school-level flexibility in teacher
hiring.” Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Fordham foundation said of the random-sample survey of 1, 500 Dayton adults, conducted
in August by Paragon Opinion Research, “this is the first time we can see clear comparisons of public school parents, charter school
parents, private school parents and non-parents on any array of issues. Private school parents gave their child’s school the highest
grades and reported the most satisfaction with the overall quality of their school’s academic quality.
|