Curriculum Administrator articles from September 2000

Curriculum Administrator archives from September 2000

HITTING HOME.(parents' role in education)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Educators have always known the most important factor in a child's school success rests with his or her parents. Simply put, the more parents are in their child's learning, the better the child is likely to do. This is one of the main...

SURVEY: VOTERS WANT MORE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Quick: What are your schools used for after classes end on any given day? Are the halls and rooms empty, awaiting the cleaning crews? Well, if the findings from a new survey prompt change, your building might be the future home of a new...

No Prayers, But What About Songs?(playing of religious music at public school events)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... After recently suffering one defeat at the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, some advocates of prayer in schools are looking to music to get their message across. Possibly finding a loophole in the court ruling that said prayers over public...

Kansas City Schools Are Requiring Uniforms.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In what is the beginning of a trend throughout its entire school system, the Kansas City, Mo., school district will require its 2,600 kindergartners to wear school uniforms this fall. The uniforms are blue or tan pants or shorts--no...

Columbine School Officials Named in Lawsuit.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... (AP) - Columbine High School officials have been named as defendants in lawsuits filed by the families of three victims. The three amended lawsuits filed in late July in Jefferson County District Court in Colorado allege principal Frank...

Riverdeep Plans to Buy Edmark Corp., IBM's Educational Software Division, for $85 Million.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In a move aimed at further expanding the company's reach in the U.S. K-8 market, Ireland-based Riverdeep Group plc recently agreed to buy the assets of Edmark Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM, in a deal valued at about $85 million. ...

"Creation" Slate Ousted in Kansas Primary, Virtually Ensuring Evolution will Return to Science Instruction.(pro-creation theory candidates defeated)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In early August, in a sweeping and decisive action, voters in a Kansas Republican primary defeated three conservative Board of Education candidates in favor of a more moderate slate that has vowed to repeal the state's decision to eliminate the...

LESS IS MORE (AND IF MORE IS MORE, APPLE'S GOT THAT COVERED, TOO).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Apple (apple.com) wowed its band of devotees again this summer with a series of new products unveiled at the MacWorld conference in New York. The big star? Its new Power Mac G4 Cube. The Cube is a supercomputer packaged in a eight-inch square,...

Edison Taps "Big Blue" As The Hardware Vendor Of Choice In All Its Schools.(International Business Machines to supply Edison Schools)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In a blow to Apple, Dell and other computer manufacturers, public school management company Edison Schools announced recently that it was picking IBM to be its exclusive hardware vendor, effective immediately. All new Edison schools will be...

Phone Company BellSouth Gives Out Cell Phones For Ads.(advertising on school buses in return for free phones)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In an attempt to expand its advertising reach, BellSouth Mobility, a division of the telephone giant BellSouth, is looking to plaster the sides of school buses in Opelousas, La., with ads in exchange for free cell phones the company would equip...

Plato Learning Acquires CyberEd.(educational software)(Business Brief)(Company Brief)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In a move to add high school science to its repertoire of products, educational software company Plato Learning, formerly TRO Learning, recently bought CyberEd for $4.8 million in cash. The deal marks a rare acquisition in the K-12 market...

Blackboard Teams With Dell and Coursemetric In School Internet Ventures.(Business Brief)(Company Brief)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Looking to boost the sale of its servers in the education market, computer manufacturer Dell will begin bundling its PowerEdge servers with Internet software by Washington, D.C.-based Blackboard. Dell servers will carry Blackboard's...

eChalk Gains E-Rate Designation.(funding eligibility)(Business Brief)(Company Brief)(Financing Business)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Internet communications provider eChalk was recently awarded E-rate status and will be eligible to receive federal funding under the E-rate program, one of the first application service provider companies to receive such a designation. ...

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush Wants To Bring Computers To More Students.(attempt to narrow the digital divide)(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... (AP) -- In an attempt to decrease the state's digital divide, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush is pushing an effort to bring computers to poor youths across the state. Companies will donate computers and wire them for online access at 50 churches...

New American Schools Adopts Art Education Reform Model.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... THE ARTS New American Schools adopted the Grammy Foundation's Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning as its first arts-based school reform model. The Bernstein model, known as Artful Learning, incorporates what good teachers already know:...

English Group Supports Anti-Censorship of Harry Potter.(Muggles for Harry Potter gets support from)(National Council of Teachers of English)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... LANGUAGE ARTS The National Council of Teachers of English endorse Muggles for Harry Potter, a national organization to fight efforts to restrict access to J. K. Rowling's bestselling Harry Potter books. NCTE supports students' right to...

NSTA Publishes Design-and-Build High School Curriculum.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... SCIENCE The National Science Teachers Association published an award-winning four-volume curriculum series for ninth to 12th grade students that applies hands-on design-and-build classroom challenges through the integration of technology,...

How to Design and Implement Effective Professional Development Programs.(Ideas that Work: Mathematics Profissional Development)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... MATHEMATICS The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse has released a book called Ideas that Work: Mathematics Profissional Development that suggests new ways of designing and implementing effective professional development programs. It...

RECENT TRENDS IN SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM.(Educational Resources Information Center report)(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... SOCIAL STUDIES According to the Educational Resources Information Center, there are 10 positive trends taking place in social studies education today. Here's the list: 1 Trend One: Every major curriculum report in recent years called...

Video Has Helped Boost This District's Star.(school district invests in networking system)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... One of the most progressive video conferencing networks in the country has this superintendent talking "convergence." Four years ago, Joe Kitchens and school officials in the Western Heights school district in Oklahoma City, Okla., looked...

For K-12 Success, North Carolina District Starts Early.(Bright Beginnings improves reading skills)
September 1, 2000... The Bright Beginnings program helps boost reading skills for the county's pre-kindergarten population. Most school systems operate from kindergarten through high school, but all educators know that the years before kindergarten play a large...

The Power in Small Places and Open Spaces.(rural communities keep up with educational technology)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Statistics say rural communities are behind in the digital divide, but times are a-changing. I had one of those moments today, the kind when everything seems suddenly clear. I was driving down a highway in Vermont, on the way back from...

Is Your Acceptable Use Policy Acceptable?(planning policies for school Internet use)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Make sure your Internet guidelines are updated, clear and read by both students and parents. It is difficult to believe in this Web-centered world that, at the start of this era in the early 1990s, a school administrator cancelled one of...

JONATHAN KOZOL SPEAKS OUT.(educator calls for evry child to be given the right to an education)
September 1, 2000... The acclaimed author addresses how churches can help public schools, the need to expand the country's Headstart programs, and the myth of high-stakes testing's popularity with educators. For the past 30 years, former teacher, acclaimed...

The School-to-Home Link.(using the Internet to keep in touch with schools)
September 1, 2000... Web-based student information systems can bring real-time grades and attendance updates to parents' desktops. School Web sites are, of course, nothing new. The Internet was born out of a need for schools to be able to share information....

Moving the Classroom Into the Living Room.(school uses web site to connect teachers, parents and students)
September 1, 2000... Schools that post student information on Web sites help boost accountability for pupils, parents and even teachers SOMETIMES THE FUTURE CREEPS UP ON YOU, other times it arrives with an audible thud. One day last year, a student from the...

CURRICULUM HOT SPOTS ON THE WEB 2001.(curriculum resources online)(Directory)
September 1, 2000... CA's Internet columnist shares an updated and fully verified guide to the best K-12 curriculum resources on the Web. IN SPITE OF THE GROWTH OF THE WEB TO MORE THAN 1.4 BILLION PAGES, almost half of the nation's 1.34 million teachers...

A CHANGING OF THE GUARD?
September 1, 2000... Internet-delivered software is gaining converts, but it hasn't supplanted CD-ROMs yet. Are CD-ROMS going to be pushed out of future classrooms by Net-based delivery of educational software? Corporate online learning earned $1.1 billion in...

LEARNING BY DOING.
September 1, 2000... An innovative teacher gives students high-tech skills by keeping pace with today's potent software. A small town in Idaho may not seem like the ideal place to prove the power technology can have in today's classrooms, but don't tell that...

Legoland.(Evaluation)
September 1, 2000... Legoland **** LEGO MEDIA INTERNATIONAL 860-763-6899, www.legomedia.com GRADE: 1 through 6 Teaches: creativity Win 98 (CD-ROM), $29.95 If your kids have the patience to complete the lengthy tutorial, they'll have lots of success and...

The Writing Trek.(Review)(Evaluation)
September 1, 2000... The Writing Trek **** SUNBURST COMMUNICATIONS INC. 800-338-3457, www.sunburst.com GRADE: 4 to 6. Teaches: writing, creativity Win 95, 98; Mac OS (CD-ROM), $79.95 If you're looking for a nice collection of lessons dealing with a variety...

The Ellis Island Experience.(Evaluation)
September 1, 2000... The Ellis Island Experience **** SOUTHPEAK INTERACTIVE 800-774-6183, www.eiexperience.com GRADE: 6 through 12. Teaches: the history of the United States (1892 to 1954) and immigration Win 95, 98 (CD-ROM), $39.95 You can only imagine...

Awards, Grants and Scholarships in Mathematics.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has a number of awards available through its Mathematics Education Trust. Here's a list of these awards: * Clarence Olander Grants for In-Service Training for Elementary Schools Elementary...

Pre-service Grant.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... ThinkQuest has joined a new program aimed at educating K-12, pre-service teachers in using technology as a teaching tool. The three-year program is part of the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology Grants, a consortium of...

$15,000 for Math & Science Teams.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Secondary science and math teachers can send in their applications to win a $15,000 grant from the 2001 Growth Initiatives For Teachers program. Through the program, sponsored by the Verizon Foundation and established by the GTE foundation,...

CCC TAKES SUCCESSMAKER ONLINE.(Evaluation)
September 1, 2000... Company claims it is the first complete curriculum package available on the Web. CCC's new product, SuccessMaker Internet, will use the Internet to deliver and manage the company's curriculum. According to the company, SMi is the only...

NEW PRODUCTS.
September 1, 2000... HARRY POTTER'S LATEST RIDE Scholastic Inc., www.scholastic.com, $25.95. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter broke all publishing records when it hit the bookstores at midnight on July 8. An estimated three...

PRODUCT literature.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... THE FEMINIST PRESS The Feminist Press celebrates 30 years of feminist writing with its catalog that features new and backlisted books. It showcases books that address social issues such as apartheid, family, religion, childlessness and more....

New Year Deserves New Technology Ideas.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Individualized education plans for each student aren't out of reach. It's the day of shiny floors and clean desks. When the wads of gum have been scraped from the undersides of the tables in the cafeteria, and even the portable classrooms...

ON A ROAD TO SUCCESS.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Technology is not the solution, it is a tool. And when used to its fullest potential, it can produce amazing results. Educators have known this for some time now and it is becoming more apparent everyday. Routinely, new thin-client devices are...

DEER PARK DISTRICT LEVELS ITS PLAYING FIELD.
September 1, 2000... Portal links students, administrators, faculty and parents -- and settles disputes The Deer Park Union Free School District is trying to come to consensus with its technology. "Not about our technological direction," says Enrico...

SITTING DOWN WITH LINDA ROBERTS.(education advisor)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 1, 2000... Linda Roberts is special advisor to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and serves as director of the department's Office of Educational Technology. She is also a veteran teacher and university professor She recently participated...

THE POWER OF PORTAL COMPUTING.
September 1, 2000... Imagine, for a moment, that your school has suddenly become a model of cutting-edge technology. And this remarkable development involved no purchases of hardware or software, no new tech professionals on your payroll, no new network...

MAKING SENSE OF TECHNOLOGY.
September 1, 2000... John Kuglin is passionate about using technology to its fullest potential. As director of educational outreach at the University of Montana-Missoula and executive director for NASA's Earth Observing System, Kuglin has taken on the quest of...

TOP 10 COOL SCHOOL WEB SITES.
September 1, 2000... SCHOOL WEB SITES USED TO LACK IN EXCITEMENT AND CREATIVITY. BUT A NEW ENERGY IN TODAY'S CLASSROOMS HAVE CHANGED ALL THAT. Many educators have created school Web pages that rival those of professional Web page developers. School Web sites...