School shootings are one symptom of a larger problem: the breakdown of community, mutual caring, and moral orientation. For many students, character and virtues will be acquired only in school. Curricular and instructional approaches to character education vary, along with strategies to encourage student discussion. (Contains 9 references.) (MLH)

Allowing students one hour of classroom time daily to explore their interests complements the curriculum and creates lifelong learners, though benefits may not show up on test scores. Discovery learning nurtures creativity and love for learning, creates a community of learners, develops self-esteem, teaches skills, and uses real-world resources.…

A math and science teacher who surveyed former students about their most vivid memories in her class got some surprising replies. The subject matter (or comprehension thereof) mattered more than how she taught and treated her students. Compassion, encouragement, and effort were important take-home lessons. (MLH)

Although band, chorus, and orchestra are still mainstays of most school music programs, many schools are incorporating technology, multicultural music, composition, and improvisation into the course offerings. Music teachers must balance tradition and innovation. Many advocate higher standards, multicultural and interdisciplinary connections, and…

Integrating the arts into daily instruction can enhance at-risk students' learning of academic subjects. To overcome learning barriers, students need a talent or skill (like role playing) that takes them to a new environment, and they need a dedicated mentor to provide emotional support while they are still learning. (MLH)

The two students who won commercial sponsorship for their college education embody entrepreneurialism's darker side-the growing commercialism of schools and conscious targeting of students as lifelong consumers. This update discusses developments in program, activity, and materials sponsorships; exclusive agreements; electronic marketing;…

Suicide among U.S. youth has quadrupled during the past 50 years; each year 2 percent of girls and 1 percent of boys attempt suicide. The most common precipitant is an interpersonal conflict or loss. Suicidal comments and other perceived risks should be treated as an emergency. (MLH)

U.S. high-school students' enrollment in arts classes is at an 18-year peak. In 1998, 52.7 percent of high-school graduates earned credits in visual arts classes, compared with 44 percent in 1982. For various reasons, technology course enrollments have not kept pace with society's technological transformation. (MLH)

When they are well-devised and implemented, academic standards, tests, and associated accountability provisions can change the nature of teaching and learning. They can lead to a richer, more challenging curriculum, foster teacher collaboration, create a more productive teacher/parent dialogue, and focus attention on student achievement. (MLH)

According to advocate Robert J. Marzano, standards are the only policy mandate that can significantly improve student achievement. The standards identification process was clumsy, but started a national conversation about desirable subject-area knowledge requirements. Standards content should be cut by two-thirds; teacher-made tests can be…

Educators can develop fair and accurate standards-based grading/reporting by switching to criterion-referenced grading practices; using differentiated criteria (denoting product, process, and progress); clarifying the purpose of each reporting tool; and developing a reporting form that identifies standards, facilitates interpretation, and…

Since 1998, Florida's harsh A+ Program has graded each public school. School leaders have responded by setting urgent goals, engaging school personnel, using school achievement data, strengthening professional development, aligning curricula, increasing time for academics, choosing supportive instructional materials, building interdisciplinary…

The Central Valley (California) Educational Research Consortium asked 118 area principals what they were doing to improve their lowest achieving students' education. Respondents are focusing on individualizing instruction, aligning curricula to standards, advocating teaching to standards and tests, promoting new curriculum methodologies, and…

Standards can help integrate a curriculum, as a fourth-grade teacher discovered when implementing a unit on the Middle Ages. Students created a medieval fair that demonstrated their learning in medieval history (social studies), pulleys and gears (science and technology), story telling (language arts), and costume and dance (fine arts). (MLH)

To make standards inclusive for today's diverse student populations, educators must support and cultivate five conditions. Standards should be developmental and flexible, employ varied assessment tools, allow equitable access to meaningful content, involve the entire community in their implementation, and serve as a catalyst for other reforms.…