The 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Title I) embodies a 35-year national commitment to help educate economically and educationally disadvantaged children. Enhanced achievement expectations and a resurgent child poverty rate should spur Congress to renew Title I funding by the end of 1999-2000. (14 references) (MLH)

An education professor whose father was a Holocaust survivor recounts a journey to visit World War II concentration camps in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Germany. He realized that Nazis were systematic exterminators, and cities had been sanitized to banish unseemly memories. Today vigilance and character education are essential. (MLH)

Explains how a powerful group of parents and mathematicians manipulated information and capitalized on the public's perception of California's "failing schools" to acquire political clout. In California, "teaching for understanding" is now a banished concept, and mastery of procedural skills ("parrot math") has scored a big victory. (Contains 34…

When mayors take over education systems (as in Chicago, Boston, and Cleveland), school boards are big losers, and problems may persist. Mayoral takeovers happen for various reasons: bureaucratic dysfunction, diminishing faith in existing government structures, new demands on city governments, and perceived need for mayoral involvement. (Contains…

Heather-Jane Robertson's "In Canada" column in the May 1999 "Kappan" demonstrated a wish to discredit an organization for ideological and personal reasons. Comments concerning the homogenization of curriculum and the impetus of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) to standardized curriculum are pure hyperbole. Further clarification is…

Fournier, coordinator of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP), claims that score differences are associated with linguistic and gender differences. These results have long been substantiated. The expectation-setting process has little reliability or validity. SAIP does not help teachers, and should not determine what students learn.…

Despite touted "best" scores, Singapore's education ministry goals are child-centered. A worldwide survey of 182 experts reached consensus on 20 global trends, including need for a multinational curriculum. A Center of Education Policy report finds that highly subsidized foreign private schools are subject to high regulation. (MLH)

Regarding Catholic parents' suit against a suburban New York district for promoting occult activities, a federal court ruled in May 1999 that parents had failed to prove existence of the so- called Bedford program. This Solomon-like ruling also rejected First Amendment religious claims and 14th Amendment privacy claims. (MLH)

In 1999, a coalition of child advocacy groups, the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth, and the Law, challenged Section 43 of Canada's criminal code, which permits "reasonable force" in disciplining children. The heavily debated issue turns on judges' varied interpretations. A court decision is expected by year's end. (MLH)

Articles in this special section by middle-school educators describe the multi-age team (MAT) experiment at a Georgia middle school from 1993 onward. In 1992, a project inspired by "Turning Points" recommendations addressing teacher and administrator empowerment was launched at another Georgia school. (MLH)

The multi-age teams (MATs) at one Georgia middle school fostered continuous, individual student progress unachievable in more conventional classrooms. In MAT groups, assignments to classes were based on students' interests, abilities, performance, and other maturational factors, regardless of chronological age. Opportunities for remediation and…

Two teacher participants in a Georgia multi-age project offer principles for effective middle-school practice. Teachers should include kinesthetic activities and the arts; believe in every student's learning potential; make learning fun and engaging; use interdisciplinary and thematic approaches; assess their progress; and create learning…

To serve early adolescents' needs, a Georgia middle school offers a comprehensive guidance program that includes individual and group counseling, transitional programs, tutoring and mentoring programs to improve academic skills, a conflict- management program to improve discipline, and an incentive program to recognize student accomplishments.…

An evaluation of a Georgia middle school's multi-age grouping program revealed significant progress regarding student self-esteem, achievement, community building, and teacher collaboration. The Crabapple experience illustrates how one model of student-centered, developmentally appropriate, and integrated learning can benefit middle-level…

A Georgia middle school's action-research project had three goals: understanding its students; improving the classroom curriculum and developing the requisite teaching skills; and examining the consequences of team or school policies and programs. Evaluations are discussed from varying staff perspectives. (MLH)