What Should Kids Learn?
A teacher looks at E. D. Hirsch’s work on “Cultural Literacy”
As a fifth-grade teacher I use a variety of resources to provide my students information that is hopefully comprehensible, yet challenging. I use anything — yellowed newspaper clippings, old textbooks, […]
Ban Handguns in Milwaukee
The murder of associate principal Dale Breitlow by a former student was Milwaukee’s most deeply disturbing reminder yet that our schools cannot be neatly cordoned off from the violence that […]
We Have Stories to Tell
A Case Study of Puerto Ricans in Children’s Books
Approximately 5,000 children’s books are published yearly in the United States.1 Of these, a tiny minority focus on Latino themes or characters, either in the United States or in their […]
Whole Language: What’s the Fuss?
The following is condensed from an interview with Harvey Daniels. Daniels teaches at National-Louis University in Evanston, Il, where he directs the Center for City Schools. He is the author […]
Integrated Learning Systems: The Educational Engineer Meets Wayne’s World
To paraphrase Alice in Wonderland, something very curious is going on. Why is Paramount Communications, the company that brings you Wayne’s World and the Addams Family, Arsenio Hall and the […]
State of U.S. Schools
Sandia Study Challenges Misconceptions
If you think that: documented declines in SAT scores mean American secondary school students are doing worse, American schools are among the worst in the world, students are dropping out […]
Bilingualism: Problem or Resource?
An eye-catching full-page advertisement appeared in the New York Timesfor July 25, 1989. “IF SOME N.Y. EDUCATORS GET THEIR WAY,” warned the 96-point headline, “THIS IS THE KIND OF FUTURE […]
