The Ford Foundation is funding “Difficult Dialogues” on race, sex and religion on college campuses. Charlotte Hayes, writing in Opinion Journal, is dubious:
What if a Difficult Dialogues participant says something like, “I haven’t noticed curbs on academic freedom”? Then the dialogue might really be difficult.
Who wants to discuss same-sex relationships or religious differences […]
Archive for May, 2008
Suspected of a lesbian friendship, two 16-year-old girls were expelled from a Lutheran high school in Riverside, California. They’ve sued the school for invasion of privacy and discrimination.
The lawsuit alleges that the school’s principal, Gregory Bork, called the girls into his office, grilled them on their sexual orientation and “coerced” one girl into […]
Nine percent of teenagers have experienced major depression, according to a government study.
Major depression was considered a period of at least two weeks that included a loss of interest, depressed mood and at least four other symptoms such as a change in sleeping, eating or concentration.
Depressed teens are much more likely to abuse drugs and […]
Military recruiters are having trouble getting names, addresses and phone numbers of students at some high schools as middle-class parents sign forms requesting confidentiality. The Dayton Daily News contrasts opt-outs at affluent, nearly all-white Beavercreek High, where 1,369 parents signed forms in 2005 compared to 2 in 2004. At some other area schools, opt-outs […]
In Miracle in South Central, Lance Izumi tells the story of the Watts Learning Center charter school.
From 2000 to 2005, the WLC rose from a low test-score ranking to a level near the state’s proficiency target score of 800. The K-5 charter school was able to defy low expectations and accomplish this […]
On the new Carnival of Education, Pig complains that students were allowed to create a “Kick the Teacher” class fair booth: Students paid to kick a soccer ball at a teacher’s photo. Rejecting suggestions to substitute a picture of the Grinch, Voldemort or Count Olaf (the villain of the Lemony Snicket books), the principal […]
College applicants are overwhelming admissions officers with too much information and too many balloons, reports the Indianapolis Star.
One student wrapped his University of Notre Dame application in a leprechaun made of balloons. Another sent Indiana University photographs of herself as a toddler in a crimson cheerleading skirt to show a lifelong passion for all things […]
Never Yet Melted links to the story of the substitute teacher in Pennsylvania who told first graders not to believe in Santa Claus.
LICKDALE — Jamey Schaeffer stretched her mouth open wide, showing off a pair of twin gaps in her smile. With a mouthful of fingers, she said she has no interest in two front […]
Gifted children are losing out as No Child Left Behind pushes schools to devote resources to struggling students, opines Susan Goodkin in the Washington Post.
Given the act’s incentives, teachers must contend with constant pressure to focus their attention simply on bringing all students to proficiency on grade-level standards. My district’s elementary school report card vividly […]
Educators are shocked by the declining literacy of college graduates, reports the Washington Post.
“It’s appalling — it’s really astounding,” said Michael Gorman, president of the American Library Association and a librarian at California State University at Fresno. “Only 31 percent of college graduates can read a complex book and extrapolate from it. That’s not saying […]
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