Describes a social studies teacher's efforts to help junior high students deal with perceived problems of sexual harassment in the classroom. With a social worker's assistance, students learned to recognize personal and gender power issues and to distinguish between flirtatious behavior and genuine harassment (MLH)

An American Association of University Women study indicates that 85% of girls and 76% of boys in grades 8-11 have experienced some form of sexual harassment. Recent court decisions underline schools' responsibility for ensuring a safe school environment. Administrators should act to eliminate sexual harassment, educate students, involve parents,…

The industrial age, by mechanizing production and reorganizing the workplace into large factory units, destroyed a pattern of life that saw living, working, and learning as a single interconnected entity. Conventional schooling, stressing abstract knowledge, has separated learning from the community and world of work. The new, higher order…

Each year, about 57 ninth graders cooperate with the managers of Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge, an eastern deciduous forest near the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in northern Virginia. Pursuing integrated studies in English, biology and technology, the students have inventoried a pond's biota, collected deer browse data, and…

Describes a traditional Yaqui garden created by 13 at-risk teens participating in Arizona's innovative Pascua Yaqui Educational Group Effort, combining basic skills and pre-employment skills instruction. Participants are from an Indian reservation, nearly one-third of whose students drop out of Tucson high schools yearly. Students' attitudes…

A Wisconsin school district has strengthened community education by developing animal welfare and entrepreneurial programs. These and other programs are part of School-Connections, a project of the Institute for Responsive Education. Students work with adult advisers on individually tailored projects, gain real-world experience, and make genuine…

From leading garden tours to planning a visit for Japanese teachers and participating in community theater, middle schoolers at Fort Worth's Applied Learning Academy learn academic content by working on community projects. Students' writing skills soared as they developed, edited, and field-tested brochures and trail-guide maps for their botanical…

To help the community encourage reading, a Texas elementary school's community involvement committee established a children's lending library in a nearby rent-subsidized apartment complex. Several thousand books were donated over a two-week period, hours have been extended, and teachers and staff generously donate time and expertise to manage the…

Inspired by Miep Gies's selfless hiding of Anne Frank, a class of urban middle schoolers came up with definitions and characteristics of "ordinary," nonglitzy heroes. One student suggested that the school create its own ordinary hero hall of fame; students then researched possible nominees and held an induction ceremony for those nominated. (MLH)

Learning relevance is the guiding principle behind the Real World Connections activities in the Texas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's K-12 curriculum guides. The goal of the innovative Alternative Blueprint for Curriculum Development Project (Project ABCD) is to develop activity-based curricula that successfully blend…

When the manager of Santa Clarita (California) Valley's local radio station phoned the author to invite fourth through sixth graders to do book reports on the air, teachers enthusiastically agreed. The result is a Tuesday morning program (sponsored by a bookstore) featuring student panels that critically evaluate children's literature. (MLH)

Work-based learning is essential to career-related education models. Committed to developing work-related programs for all interested students, teachers in California health career academies have created a curriculum sequence meeting all University of California admission requirements while stressing practical work skills. They are also developing…

Washington is one of several states adopting the Certificate of Initial Mastery, certifying that high school students have attained a high standard of achievement in core academic subjects and applied learning. The New Standards Partnership, comprising 17 member states and 6 school districts, has been developing the certificate system. State…

Unskilled and low-level jobs are rapidly disappearing, partly through technological advances. High school graduates are functionally illiterate. The college prep curriculum is too theoretical; the vocational curriculum is more relevant, but its watered-down academics attract less capable students. To enter today's competitive job market, students…

Through a formal program offering in-school jobs to students who want or need them, kids at a small-town Oregon middle school can experience various work conditions and apply abstract knowledge to practical problems. As science aides, playground assistants, and groundskeepers, students earn tokens that can be spent for parties, field trips, school…