The current canons of education are replete with suggestions for how to raise the achievement of Hispanic and Latino students. Absent from that discussion is what to teach them in a way that anchors them to their uniquely American culture and history. The author considers how Mexican-American history is often taught as if it were an offshoot of…

Students at Claremont Academy in Chicago and their scores have become a proof point in a broadening argument between adults and institutions over whether single-sex education does more good than harm, or whether it does any good at all. The battle pits the American Civil Liberties Union and women's groups against some who have been frequent allies…

How educators, school board members, taxpayers, voters, parents, and students design a school calendar, in terms of both process and product, should be a reflection of how we desire to accommodate and conform diverse faiths within our communities. If, according to Dewey, the school is a reflection of society, then what does the inability to…

Social networking sites are interactive websites designed to build online communities for individuals who have something in common--an interest in a hobby, a topic, or an organization--and a simple desire to communicate across physical boundaries with other interested people. These sites are not unlike the old-fashioned "party line" telephones,…

This past June, a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court declared integration plans in Louisville and Seattle unconstitutional because of their focus on race as one factor in assigning students to schools. The Court's ruling in the "Parents Involved in Community Schools" v. "Seattle School District No. 1" and "Meredith" v. "Jefferson County Board…

On 26 September 2001, the Chino Valley School District, which is approximately 30 miles east of Los Angeles, signed a negotiated agreement with the duly authorized union representing the certified employees, the Associated Chino Teachers (ACT). The agreement provided that every member of the represented unit would become either a member of the ACT…

In Physics "critical mass" refers to the minimum amount of fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction. The adoption of state education policy isn't often equated with this concept, but occasionally solutions and ideas seem to gather around a common problem. If the solution at hand is simple, easily understood, and strengthened with…

Prior to the mid-1970s, over one million children with disabilities were excluded from the nation's schools. In 1975, as a result of intense litigation and advocacy, Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA, P.L. 94-142), now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), mandating that public schools…

During the 2002-03 school year, Michael B., Rebecca D., and Aldo V. were eighth-graders at the Regional Gifted Center program at the Beaubien School in the Chicago school system. In February, the Beaubien School held an annual contest for eighth-graders to determine the design for the class T-shirt. Michael was disappointed that his design did not…

This analysis of a November 2001 case in Botetourt County, Virginia, looks at whether the Fourth Amendment right against an unreasonable "seizure" or the 14th Amendment "liberty" for parents to control the care and custody of their children requires a ban on, or at least immediate notification regarding, detentions of a certain length when public…

In this era of educational choice, school accountability, research-based practices, and commercial competition--illustrated by but not exclusive to No Child Left Behind--some schools, public and private, make claims that resemble false advertising and that some parents rely on, to their disappointment and even detriment. Moreover, the laudable…

This examination of a case that is seeking to determine whether a district in Tennessee met its obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Act to provide a "free appropriate public education" to a student with autism concludes that the courts' decisions to date are already literally remarkable for several reasons. These reasons include the…

The May 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision came in the midst of a national preoccupation with taking care of very young baby boomers. There was a focus on the cheapest way to staff classrooms; build schools; get textbooks and other resources to students and teachers. The desegregation of schools proceeded with about the same level of…

The good news is that the achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. are smaller than they were several decades ago. The bad news is that progress stopped around 1990. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) continues to show large differences between the average scores of blacks and Hispanics on the one hand and…

While Canadians tend to consider the American system to be overly litigious, they are catching up fast. Their own domestic set of plaintiffs is suing the agents of obesity and pollution, but actions pertaining to education seem to be spiking as well. A few of these cases are trivial. This morning's local newspaper reports that a judge has ruled…