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News
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Mar, 2001 Issue (page 2)
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Page 2 of 3 -
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NO EXCUSES SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY
(February 12, 2001) A New Zealand publication, http://www.theschooldaily.com/articleView.asp?
articlePK=5412, reports what they see as a growing international movement based on “the growing sophistication of parents who want their children to be educated in high performing schools.” Calling it the No Excuses Philosophy, the article points to its start in America’s Black community. It features “extended days; enrichment programmes; extended years; catch-up programmes; after school homework programmes; weekend programmes; frequent contacts between home and school, with social promotion effectively eliminated.”
NO MORE SCHOOL BOARDS?
(February 13, 2001) Author Jay Mathews, in his Washington Post Column, points out that in many areas of the country, the city, state and counties are taking over the function of public school boards, which he sees as an improvement.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/education/A64082-2001Feb13.html.
FOUNDATION PULLS OUT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
(February 14, 2001) The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, which has been contributing toward systemic school reform for three decades, “will phase out its work in public schools.” Foundation officials said one of the reasons for this decision was, “the profoundly difficult task of forging lasting improvement in a system resistant to change.” The foundation “will focus their $20 million in annual grants solely on youth development.”
http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=22clark.h20.
DARE CHANGES STRATEGY
(February 15, 2001) DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), is a program used in 75% of school districts in the USA and in 54 other countries to discourage drug use among school children. Responding to the growing body of research that their lecture approach is ineffective, they are developing a new strategy, aimed at older students. It will “rely more on having them question their assumptions about drug use than on listening to lectures on the subject.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/15/national/15DARE.html.
SCHOOL HARASSMENT RULES REVERSED
(February 15, 2001) The Boston Globe, http: //www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/046/nation/School
_harassment_rules_re versed-.shtml, reported a federal appeals court ruled that a Pennsylvania school district’s anti-harassment policy was “overly broad.” This was explained as a “decision that could affect public schools throughout the country.” The decision was that the “policy violates the free-speech right of Christian students to speak out against homosexuality.”
NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL MODEL
(February 15, 2001) The WorldNet Daily reported a policy paper by Maurice P. McTigue, former New Zealand ambassador to Canada, http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?
ARTICLE_ID=21725, explaining how New Zealand’s shift in their education system from a centralized to a decentralized system increased the percentage of money going into the classroom and increased parent participation in their children’s education. The article pointed out “The New Zealand model has striking similarities to a plan proposed by President George W. Bush within weeks of his inauguration Jan. 20.”
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