Volume 15, No.3
Spring 2001
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The Return to Separate and Unequal
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Listening to Children
The energy and unpredictability of the classroom are wonderful antidotes to weary policy debates
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Finding Signs of Hope
A veteran classroom teacher finds inspiration in the everyday work of committed coworkers
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A Lifetime of Lessons
A parent community activist reflects on more than 40 years of organizing for better schools
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On “Creative Extremism”
In order to fulfill our nation's promise of an equal and high quality education for all children, teachers need to be innovative yet bold as they counter the prevailing political climate.
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Standards, Markets, and Creating School Failure
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Bush Plan Fails Schools
Wrapped in compassionate rhetoric, the President's proposals center on mandatory testing voucher programs that would leave millions of children behind.
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Paige Leads Dubious Cast of Education Advisors
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Math, Maps, and Misrepresentation
A middle school teacher works with maps to help students use mathematics to "read the world"
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Real-World Projects
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Sharing the Movement
As part of Project HIP-HOP, Boston-area students embark on a 5,000-mile journey to meet with veterans of the civil rights movement.
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The Lives of Migrant Farmworkers
A teacher introduces his suburban students to the often-ignored issues of migrant farm labor.
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Looking For the Girls
An educator makes some disturbing discoveries when she watches a day of music videos.
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Challenging the Images
Following are some suggestions on how to foster conversations on the world that our young people encounter every day.
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Examining Media Violenced
How can we help students to think about the relationship between media images and violence?
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Videos on Sexism and Violence in the Media
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Decatur Revisited
Last spring, controversy in this Illinois city exposed the racial inequalities in zero tolerance policies. A year later, not much has changed.
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Suspensions Soar
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A high school senior asks, “Who makes our graduation gowns?”
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Rethinking the Basal Reader
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Looking Back, Moving Forward
Rethinking schools reflects on its first 15 years and on the struggle ahead
Volume 15, No.2
Winter 2000/2001
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Civil Rights and Testing
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Bilingual Education: Strike Two
Arizona voters follow California's lead and mandate English-only programs.
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Bilingual Education Works
Bilingual education is generally misunderstood - even though people appear to understand many of its underlying principles.
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Bilingual Education: A Goal for All Children
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Diversity Vs. White Privilege
Christine Sleeter explains why multiculturalsim, at it's core, is a struggle against racism, and must go beyond an appreciation of diversity.
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Michael’s Story
A third-grade teacher helps her students deal with anger and, in the process, learns a few lessons of her own.
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Vouchers Go Down to Defeat
Michigan and California voters squash initiatives allowing public dollars for private schools.
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Voucher Votes
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Oregon Rejects Anti-Gay Initiative
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Planting Seeds of Solidarity
In discussing global issues, how can a teacher nurture student empathy and caring, yet avoid the trap of an "us versus them" dichotomy?
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Books to Help Build Solidarity
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Songs with a Global Conscience
Using songs to build international understanding and solidarity.
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Teaching for Social Justice 15.2
A veteran educator offers pedagogical and personal suggestions learned over 30 years experience.
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The Story of Rachel and Sadie
A unique lesson on how teachers can help their students think about the obstacles to speaking up and standing together for social justice.
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Acting for Justice
Students sometimes have difficulty seeing how they can stand up against oppression. Here are some ways to help students to "practice" behaving as allies.
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On Cracking White City
The following oral history, told by James Farmer, explains how the Committee of Racial Equality successfully integrated the Jack Spratt Coffeehouse in Chicago in 1941.
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Subtractive Schooling
What happens when schools disrespect students' cultural heritage and when teacher fail to listen to the students?
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Manifest Destiny or Cultural Integrity?
I learned firsthand how standardized tests force students to accept a Eurocentric outlook.
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Romeo and Juliet Vs. Military Recruiters
How might teachers help expose the gulf between military recruitment promises of adventure and the reality of war?
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Democracy, Education, and the Media
The following is exerpted from the article "Journalism, Democracy, ...and Class Struggle" in the November 2000 issue of Monthly Review.
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Resources on Military Recruitment
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Youth in Pursuit of the Dirty Truth
WIRETAP ( HTTP://WWW.ALTERNET.ORG/WIRETAPMAG/ )
Volume 15, No.1
Fall 2000
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No Comment 15.1
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About the Special Report
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Down But Not Out
White enthusiasm for multicultural, anti-racist education has waned, proponents faith in the movement's ability to endure and grow.
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Milwaukee: Will Top-Down or Community-Based Reform Prevail?
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Milwaukee: Who Won and Why
The school board elections garnered national attention as a vote on vouchers. But in the end, the results had more to do with issues of race and power, and poor campaign decisions.
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Embracing Cross-Racial Dialogue
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At Best, Silly, At Worst, Racist
The Massachusetts 10th-grade world history test is a Eurocentric exercise in travel pursuit.
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Pencils Out!
Here's a chance to see what's on the 10th-grade history and social sciences test in Massachusetts.
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Origins of Multiculturalism
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Rethinking Schools
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Creating A Vision of Possibility
How student writing can nurture reflection and hope.
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Saxophone
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Forward to the Past?
Issues of segregation, insufficient funding, and hurried decision-making envelop Milwaukee's proposal to return to neighborhood schools.
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Controversial Testing Plan Goes to Milwaukee School Board
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Value Added, Value Lost?
Value-added testing is enjoying increased popularity. But will this new approach help children learn better?
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Tax Dollars at Work
Georgia officers travel to Vermont to grill anti-testing advocate.
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Unsung Heroes
Why aren't people such as Daniel Shays, John Ross, or Fannie Lou Hamer held up as role models?
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Teaching Unsung Heroes
How might a teacher encourage students to appreciate those who fought for social justice?
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Racial/Gender Justice Project
Volume 14, No.4
Summer 2000
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Is There Value in Value-Added Testing?
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Teaching In Dangerous Times
In this era of demands for teacher quality, it is crucial to develop culturally relevant ways to assess teachers.
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MPS Parents Protest Budget Cuts
MPS faces $32 million deficit and School Board fails to aggressively fight for more money.
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Walk on the Child’s Side
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The Case for Smaller Classes
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Voucher Backers Illegally Funnel Money
A suit by the State Elections Board of Wisconsin has accused voucher supporters of illegally funneling money into the Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign of Justice Jon Wilcox.
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Voucher School CEO Sentenced To Jail
A Milwaukee judge issued a rebuke to the voucher program before sentencing the CEO of a voucher school - who is also a convicted rapist - to six months in jail for tax fraud on an unrelated matter.
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Raising Children’s Cultural Voices
A third-grade teacher describes how she uses children's writing to expand cultural awareness and teach Spanish and English in a two-way bilingual program.
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Learning in Four Languages
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Kids Protest Tax on Books
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Students Protest Tests
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The Educational Costs of Standardization
More testing might sound nice as a policy soundbite. But as Texas shows, the move toward high-stakes tests shortchanges learning in the classroom.
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Dangers of Early Childhood Testing
As early as 1976 the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) called for a moratorium on standardized testing in the early schools years. A decade later, it strengthened its positions, saying: "We now believe firmly that no standardized testing should occur in preschool and K-2 years. Further we question the need to test every child in the remaining elementary years."
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Operation Bearlift
An elementary teacher, weary of gimmicks such as Gum Day and Hat Day, turns to social action to build classroom community.
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The Tea Party
A high school English teacher uses a "tea party" - in which students give brief previews of good books - to entice reluctant readers to read.
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When Schools Compete
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A Journey to Openness
An elementary principal tells of his journey from closeted teacher to openly gay administrator.
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Fed Up with Gay-Bashing
An 11-year-old student takes a stand against homophobic slurs.
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Defending Freedom of the Press
A middle school student organizes to defend a student newspaper.
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Students’ Rights
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Please – No More Magic Bullets!
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A Vision of School Reform
School reform debates are often long on rhetoric and short on substance, dominated by 30-second soundbites rather than thoughtful conversations.
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Shorts 14.4
