Education Next articles from September 2004

Education Next archives from September 2004

The Brown irony: racial progress eventually came to pass--everywhere but in public schools.(From the Editors)
September 22, 2004... Oliver Brown, on behalf of his daughter, Linda, sued a school board, not a public park commission or state-run railroad, though throughout the South these public facilities were no less segregated than schools. Within the private sector as...

How many intelligences?(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2004... Daniel Willingham's critique of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences ("Reframing the Mind," Check the Facts, Summer 2004) is yet another attempt by a psychometric supremacist to quash other views of intelligence. Psychometric...

Abolish school boards?(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2004... The continuing battle for control of the New York City schools shows why school boards are a valuable part of public education (see "The Future of School Boards," Forum, Summer 2004). In 2002, the state legislature eliminated the school board...

Reform in Britain.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2004... No doubt readers of Christopher Woodhead's article ("The British Experience," Feature, Summer 2004) will have figured out that this is a polemic rather than a balanced discussion of the pros and cons of recent education reforms in England. For...

Consequences of Brown.(Correspondence)(Letter to the Editor)
September 22, 2004... Thomas Dee's finding ("The Race Connection," Research, Spring 2004) that both white and black students learned more when taught by teachers of the same race has implications that go far beyond his discussion. One of the unfortunate results...

Technology in education: will the reality ever match the lofty promises of reformers?(Forum)(preview of essays in the issue)
September 22, 2004... Over the past decade, school districts across the country have invested billions in creating wired classrooms and schools, with significant financial and moral support from government at all levels. At the same time, the rush to infuse schools...

The human touch: in the rush to place a computer on every desk, schools are neglecting intellectual creativity and personal growth.(Forum)
September 22, 2004... In 1922 Thomas Edison proclaimed, "I believe the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Thus began a long string of...

Technical difficulties: information technology could help schools do more with less. If only educators knew how to use it.(Forum)
September 22, 2004... In 2000, at the height of the technology boom, Maine governor Angus King made a splash by proposing to give laptops to all of the state's 7th graders. His stated purpose was to "do something different from what everybody else is doing." Missing...

A stranger in two worlds: moving from segregated to integrated schools proved to be a mixed blessing.(Feature)
September 22, 2004... In 1960 my world changed radically when, as a 2nd grader at P.S. 121 in East Harlem, I learned that I was among a group of students who would help fulfill the integration mandate of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. My principal and...

The struggle continues: Brown v. Board of Education ended legally sanctioned segregation, but the decision's promise awaits fulfillment.(Feature)
September 22, 2004... Relatively few people, black or white, who know anything about the reality of race relations in America during the 1950s would contest the revolutionary nature of the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. However, 50...

Selling supplemental services: can school districts regulate the growing tutoring industry while also serving as a major provider?(Feature)
September 22, 2004... During the summer of 2002, Martha Fritchley was leafing through the Yellow Pages in search of tutoring firms. As an assistant superintendent of the Hall County school system in Georgia, Fritchley needed to enlist firms to tutor children in four...

Netting an elusive breed: disadvantaged schools need better teachers. Here's how to attract and retain them.(Feature)
September 22, 2004... If there is one lesson I learned before being elected governor of Virginia in 2001, it is that the most important asset of any enterprise is the talent and enthusiasm of its workforce. In operating a successful business, there is no greater...

How vouchers came to D.C.: the inside story of the Bush administration's successful effort to bring school choice to the nation's capital.(Feature)
September 22, 2004... "We walk away from these kids in every regard. We never fix these schools," said a disgusted Rep. Richard K. Armey (R-Texas). The date was May 23, 2001, and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had rejected a proposal to fund a...

Will vouchers arrive in Colorado? The legislature enacts a new voucher law--and the courts say, not so fast.(Feature)
September 22, 2004... In April 2003 the Colorado legislature created a school voucher program that has the potential to become one of the largest in the nation. Initially the number of children eligible for vouchers will be limited to 1 percent of the student...

School inflation: the dramatic growth in school size during the 20th century yields evidence that bigger is not necessarily better.(Research)(Cover Story)
September 22, 2004... "How much of our academic talent can we afford to waste? If the answer is 'none,' then... the elimination of the small high school through district reorganization and consolidation should have top priority." --James Conant, president of...

Fallin behind: as children move through school, the black-white achievement gap expands.(Research)
September 22, 2004... On average, black students typically score one standard deviation below white students on standardized tests--roughly the difference in performance between the average 4th grader and the average 8th grader. Historically, what has come to be...

The detracking movement: despite the efforts of the educational progressives, tracking remains standard practice.(Whatever Happened to ...?)
September 22, 2004... The practice that has come to be known as "tracking" began as a response to the influx of immigrant children into America's schools during the early 20th century. To educate this newly diverse student population, school officials thought it...

Selective memory: textbooks whitewash the '60s.(Book Review)(Family Circle: The Boudins and the Aristocracy of the Left)(Book Review)
September 22, 2004... Family Circle: The Boudins and the Aristocracy of the Left By Susan Braudy Knopf, 2003, $27.95; 460 pages. While reviewing several American history textbooks, I was taken aback by the descriptions of the late 1960s. It is of course...

The newest Americans: integrating the great Hispanic migration.(Book Review)(Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity)(Book Review)
September 22, 2004... Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity By Samuel P. Huntington Simon & Schuster, 2004, $27; 428 pages. Samuel P. Huntington's earlier, prescient work, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,...

Book alert.(Book Review)(Book Review)
September 22, 2004... Battling Corruption in America's Public Schools, by Lydia G. Segal (Northeastern). This worthy book by Segal, an attorney and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, is a companion to Making...

The days before Brown: growing up in segregated schools.(School Life)
September 22, 2004... During the early 1950s, in the era before Brown v. Board of Education, I attended W. S. Creecy High School in Rich Square, North Carolina. Because of the state's segregated school system, W. S. Creecy's students were all black. W. S....