Analyzes Indiana case involving a school district's efforts to obtain a limited education guardianship and the medical records for a 16-year-old special-education student whose mother refused to cooperate in the development of an IEP. The state appellate court reversed the trail court's decision granting the district's requests. Discusses…

Formerly National Education Association president, Mary Futrell got NEA to support the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and helped shift NEA's focus to professional development and human-rights issues. She believes teachers must help state and district entities set academic and professional-development standards. (MLH)

The 21st-century superintendent faces several challenges: changing demographics (growing diversity), the divide between haves and have-nots, devaluation of children (reliance on remediation over prevention), de-emphasis on education for citizenship, deregulation, devolution of power, "demassification" (fewer common information sources), and…

The secondary school principal, as "artist in residence," establishes a climate for excellence, promotes a vision of continuous improvement, and must confront numerous challenges, including students' earlier puberty and growing diversity. The principalship has acquired more responsibilities without needed incentives to attract high-quality…

The 21st-century elementary principalship demands more than a compendium of skills. Qualified individuals are not applying, due to inadequate compensation, job-related stress, and time fragmentation issues. Meeting state-mandated standards while addressing child-welfare problems requires that schools regain importance as hubs of communities. (MLH)

Outlines 10 areas requiring teacher leadership in schools; discusses benefits for students, teachers, the school, and the principal; and lists impediments (workload, time, testing constraints, colleagues' disapprobation, and unsupportive principals). Determined, goal-driven teachers have the power to unlock one another's leadership potential and…

The voucher "air war" is a conflict between two longstanding elements of the American political tradition: a time-honored commitment to maximum personal choice and individual freedom versus an equally compelling belief in need for a common civil infrastructure and communitarian interests. Will embracing vouchers further erode the public interest?…

An education major enrolled in a mathematics education course ponders confusing definitions of "multiplication" functions in dictionaries and in a handout on Euclid. This student teacher wants to teach elementary students what multiplication really is, not just impart an algorithmic skill. (MLH)

Teachers, principals, school systems, parents, and textbook publishers have been blamed for students' failure to meet tougher standards. Instead, expectations for achieving unreasonable state and Goals 2000 standards should be critically examined. Testing state legislators, school board members, administrators, and teachers might illuminate the…

Practical schooling realities defy grand designs for change, including imposing tougher standards. Standards will not work because U.S. schools are complex systems; educators do not understand, accept, or "enforce" state standards; teachers have too many kids and not enough time; student problems predominate; and publicly embarrassing educators is…

Inquiry-based teaching and assessment approaches are superior to standardized tests for measuring students' progress. Historical thinking skills employed in Leopold von Ranke's 19th-century seminars have been refined to consider point of view, credibility of evidence, historical context, causality, and multiple perspectives--benchmarks of…

Students with behavioral or learning disabilities are important resources for their community. Through two service-learning projects (reading to elementary-school students and interviewing senior citizens), special-needs students at one New Jersey middle school gained confidence in their skills and developed a sense of pride and community…

Two researchers who re-examined a North Carolina district's exemplary SAT performance discovered that this district's gains paralleled those in the rest of the state. The dropout rate also remained high. Most investigations of music, art, and academic learning show positive correlations, but no causal effects. (MLH)

In reversing an expulsion order for a high-school student suffering from (undiagnosed) ADD, a federal district court judge has limited schools' ability to punish students with disabilities for serious offenses like vandalism. Nondisabled culprits escaped expulsion by withdrawing from school. All three boys were criminally prosecuted. (MLH)

Describes findings and recommendations of the first annual report of the Massachusetts Education Reform Review Commission, which focused on standards and assessments, accountability, district and teacher capacity, and funding. (PKP)