--- Wednesday --- October 16, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 74 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
STILL NUMERO UNO | SPOTLIGHT |
Spanish remains the number | |
one language studied on college | DAMNED IF YOU DO, |
campuses nationwide, according | DAMNED IF YOU DON'T |
to a survey of foreign language | |
enrollments between 1990 and | School officials nation- |
1995 by the Modern Language | wide are bombarded with |
Association of America. | demands to keep schools |
Chinese and Arabic are the | drug free. But when |
fastest-growing foreign | students were suspended for |
languages: Chinese enrollments | bringing over-the-counter |
rose by 36%, while Arabic | drugs to school, adminis- |
increased by 28%. However, | trators were criticized for |
overall enrollment in foreign | overreacting to a minor |
languages dropped nearly 4% | infraction. |
during the same period | |
(AP/Chicago SUN-TIMES, 10/9). | School officials say they |
| fear lawsuits if a student |
STILL NUMBER ONE, TOO | becomes ill from medication |
The U of Pennsylvania's | given to him by another |
Wharton School is rated by | student. Others claim you |
BUSINESS WEEK as the number one | cannot distinguish between |
B-school for the second year in | which drugs are allowed and |
a row (Byrne and Leonhardt, | which are not. |
10/21). Questionnaires were | |
sent to 7,235 MBAs at 51 | Is a four-month |
schools and 326 companies that | suspension for passing out |
actively recruit at the top | Midol going too far, ask |
schools. The U of Michigan | some. One Va. parent: "We |
came in second, followed by | blame [schools] when there |
Northwestern, Harvard and the U | are drugs in the schools, |
of Virginia. Related articles | and then we condemn them |
include: MBA Application | when they take action to |
Software and how to tap into | keep them out." (#3) |
on-line campus tours. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"If I made the mistake of sending [my children] to school with
Advil and forgot a note and they got suspended for four months
... we'd be in court."
John Taylor, a Loudoun County, Va., parent. (#3)
_______________________________________________________________
| A service of the National Education Goals Panel |
| Published by the Education Policy Network |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Wash, D.C.; 20037; 202/632-0952 |
| The DRC hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
"POP OPEN A BOOK:" Calif. reading campaign. (#1)
FUTURE LEARNING PLAN: A requirement at Goochland schools. (#2)
GOAL SEVEN: SAFE SCHOOLS
OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS: Crackdown at schools. (#3)
PASS!: Second-chance program for Dallas students. (#4)
PARTNERS IN EDUCATION
INTERGENERATION LEARNING: Seniors & students in St. Louis.(#5)
THE BIG PICTURE
GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION: They don't mix. (#6)
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 "POP OPEN A BOOK:" CALIF. READING CAMPAIGN
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine
Eastin recently called on students across the state to
participate in a statewide reading initiative, the "Pop Open a
Book" campaign (Calif. DoEd press release, 9/30). "Reading is
the quintessential academic skill, and the foundation for all
schooling," explained Eastin.
The campaign is part of the national "Count on Reading"
program sponsored by the American Association of School
Librarians. Its purpose is to encourage children to read and
become library users.
According to the release, Calif. students are joining
students nationwide to set a goal of reading one billion books by
April 1997. Calif.'s share of this goal is 120 million books.
So far, more than 5 million books have been read in the state,
and 25 million have been read nationwide since the campaign was
launched last April.
Each state developed its own unique theme for the reading
campaign. Calif.'s theme, "Pop Open A Book," highlights the
state's golden poppy, writes the release.
The celebration of the final count will take place at the
AASL 8th national Conference in April 1997 in Portland, Ore.
Follette Software Company is sponsoring the campaign, along with
the AASL.
*2 FUTURE LEARNING PLAN: A REQUIREMENT AT GOOCHLAND SCHOOLS
Dr. Warren Stewart, school superintendent for Goochland
County (Va.) public schools, created the Future Learning Plan to
help students choose a career and set goals to achieve their
dreams (Woodlley, Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH, 10/15).
Under the program, students choose their career in fifth
grade. They then meet one-on-one with Stewart and commit their
choices to writing. Throughout their years at school, the
students will assemble portfolios focusing on their career
choice. "Of course, the kids will change," said Stewart. "At
least this starts the thinking process."
Linda Davidson, a Goochland Middle School guidance
counselor, noted that many children do not realize the many
career possibilities outside of teaching and whatever their
parents do for a living. Davidson also said that since the
children have been writing of their interests, it has been easier
for her to select professionals to speak at career day.
The Future Learning Plan also incorporates technology to
help students understand more about careers. For example,
mentors are available via modem to share everyday problems with
students. One doctor sent children a problem: What should a
doctor do who has four patients and only one hour. According to
the paper, the students suggested several solutions during a
class discussion the following day.
Goochland schools invested heavily in technology, notes the
paper. Every classroom has at least three computers, and each of
Goochland's five schools has its own e-mail system, writes the
paper. All the schools and the administrative office are linked.
"We don't just have the technology, we get the training," said
Shirley Osborne, principal at Goochland Elementary School.
===== GOAL SEVEN: SAFE SCHOOLS =====
*3 OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS: CRACKDOWN AT SCHOOLS
Parents expect students caught with marijuana or other
illegal drugs to be suspended or counseled. However, some
parents are shocked to hear that the same zero-tolerance policy
is in effect for students bringing to school and dispensing to
classmates over-the-counter medications.
According to the WASH POST, the get-tough policies for over-
the-counter medications are in place to protect students from
allergic reactions and the school district from potential
lawsuits (Sanchez and Benning, 10/16). The paper reported on the
legal drug issue after two girls -- one in Ohio, the other in
Texas -- were suspended from school, one for possessing Advil and
the other for giving a classmate Midol. Brooke Olson, a
Riverwood Middle School student, was suspended from her suburban
Houston school after a drug-sniffing dog located a bottle of
Advil in her backpack. A junior high student in Ohio was
suspended for four months for giving a friend some Midol. The
BOSTON GLOBE reports that a 10-year-old boy with epliepsy
recently was suspended from school when an anti-seizure
prescription pill was found in the locker of another student
(AP/10/13).
Some parents complain that the punishments are a "ridiculous
overreaction to minor offenses," reports the paper. "The problem
here doesn't have anything to do with drugs," said John Taylor, a
Loudoun County, Va., parent. "The problem is we're living in a
society where everything is reduced to a rule or regulation and
there's no common sense. If I made the mistake of sending [my
children] to school with Advil and forgot a note and they got
suspended for four months ... we'd be in court."
Other parents are more understanding of the schools' rules.
"Schools are in a real hard position," said Nancy Wilson, a
Fairfax County, Va., parent. "We blame them when there are drugs
in the schools, and then we condemn them when they take action to
keep them out."
The POST notes that schools nationwide are implementing get-
tough policies regarding weapons and violence. Most districts
automatically expel students who are caught with a weapon in
school. Schools' policies on drugs are more diverse, according
to the paper. Typically, students are required to hand any
prescription or legal non-prescription drug over to the school
nurse. The divergence is over how to handle students who come to
school with a bottle of legal drugs, and what to do if that
student dispenses the drug to a classmate.
Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School
Boards Association, commented that in order to have strong drug-
free policies, "we can't start quibbling over which drugs we're
going to count, and which ones we aren't. ... Even something like
Advil: What if a student gave it to another student who had a
serious allergic reaction to it? What would parents say or do
then?" According to the POST, "they might file suit." "We're in
such a litigious society, and schools are under serious pressure
to do much more on issues like violence, or drugs, or sexual
harassment," said Robert Mahaffey, a spokesman for the National
Association of Secondary School Principals.
Yet, some district officials contend that suspension should
not be the first step taken to enforce a no drug, including over-
the-counter medication, policy. "We're being asked to address
some of the most complicated issues facing society," said Steven
Seleznow, an associate school superintendent in Montgomery
County, Md. "Unfortunately, when you try to respond to those
problems using a systemwide approach, sometimes there is a
tendency to overreact."
*4 PASS!: SECOND-CHANCE PROGRAM FOR DALLAS STUDENTS
Some students who are expelled from school are offered a
second chance at the Positive Alternative for Student Success
(PASS!) alternative program (Everbach, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
9/25). The program is run by the Dallas County government, its
first venture at educating students, writes the paper.
PASS! opened this year after the Legislature passed a bill
that requires county juvenile justice departments to create
programs for youth offenders who are expelled from their regular
schools. "We want this to be a fresh new approach," said DR.
Arzell Ball of the Texas Education Agency's Region 10 Service
Center, which helps run the school. The Highland Park
Independent School District contributed $4M to help with start-up
costs, and the county also plans to get $600,000 from the state.
PASS! students adhere to an "extremely structured" agenda,
reports the paper. Classes begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 5:30
p.m. They wear uniforms of T-shirts with different colors
denoting different levels of behavior. For example, all students
begin the program with yellow shirts, if they earn enough points,
the progress to brown shirts, and eventually green ones. The
student-teacher ratio is 8-to-1, and the staff includes
counselors, a social worker and Juvenile Department youth
workers, writes the paper. "We're of the opinion that if you can
change attitudes and modify behavior, learning will follow," said
Dr. Juan Sanchez, the school's principal.
Students must remain in the PASS! program for at least one
semester. Parents also must attend an initial screening "in
which school officials determine each child's level in school,
discuss family and personal problems and come up with possible
solutions," writes the paper.
Sanchez reported that the attendance rate so far is about
75%, a strong record for an alternative school.
===== PARTNERS IN EDUCATION =====
*5 INTERGENERATION LEARNING: SENIORS AND STUDENTS IN ST. LOUIS
A program that uses retired people to volunteer as tutors
for St. Louis, Mo., elementary school children is ready to expand
to a middle school (Jarrett, St. Louis POST-DISPATCH, 10/10).
The Older Adult Service Information System (OASIS) is a
nationwide program that began in 1982 when Marilyn Mann
recognized the need for retired people to become more involved in
activities.
"This program makes these retirees feel so good," said Phyl
Coffel, a coordinator for OASIS. "I've had them say it gives
them a reason to get up in the morning. ... It's a ripple effect.
The tutor feels good, the child feels good, and it spreads to the
classroom," she added
OASIS began in Parkway elementary schools in 1989, and
currently boasts 140 tutors. The senior citizens are trained by
OASIS to serve as tutors. "We pair them [tutor and student] one-
on-one in a private place," said Coffel. "The children respond
to the grandparent figure, and they eventually participate more
in class because of that on-on-one experience of being valued and
listened to."
Two years ago, several middle school principals approached
Coffel to ascertain OASIS' interest in tutoring in middle
schools. Parkway South Middle School counselor Shari Sieve and a
group of sixth-grade teachers developed the SMART program --
Successful Mentor Adolescent Reading Teams. "We plan for the
SMART program to fill the needs of middle school children much
the same way that OASIS does for the kindergarten-through-third-
garde student: one child at a time," said Coffel.
Currently, OASIS works with 14 St. Louis area school
districts and several Catholic and Luthern schools, noted Pat
Gilbert, OASIS intergeneration program director. "Nationwide, we
work with 60 school districts in 16 cities," she added.
The May Department Stores Co. sponsors OASIS nationally.
Famous-Barr and BJC Health Systems as sponsors in the St. Louis
area. Anheuser Busch also provides money for the tutoring
program, writes the paper.
===== THE BIG PICTURE =====
*6 GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION: THEY DON'T MIX
Members of the nonprofit Separation of School & State
Alliance advocate the elimination of any government role in K-12
education. "Government-run schools are built on forced
attendance and tax-financing," said Marshall Fritz, former
private school principal who founded the group in 1994. "These
coercion-steeped schools are now producing the most violent,
illiterate and ignorant generation this nation has ever known.
Only when we end state coercion can educators and families be
free enough to improve education."
He added: "Americans don't use government to run churches,
publish magazines or operate restaurants. Now we must de-
politicize schools by ending tax-financing, compulsory attendance
and government-mandated curriculum."
The Separation Alliance plans to hold its second annual
conference 24-26 November in Arlington, Va. According to the
group's press release, more than 50 presenters will "probe the
failure of government-run public schools." This year's
conference debate pits Notre Dame law professor Charles Rice
against Council for Basic Education President Chris Cross, who
will address the following statement: "Resolved: Government at
any level should not set academic standards."
Other topics to be discussed at the conference include:
"Will We Still Be Americans Without Melting Pot Schooling," Can
Character Education Without God Ever Satisfy Religious Families,"
and "Drugging Children for Peace and Quiet: ADD & Ritalin
Reconsidered."
The Separation Alliance has no political or religious
affiliations and is "strictly educational, leaving to others any
ballot initiatives, lobbying or electioneering needed to
accomplish Separation," write the release.
For more information contact the Separation Alliance at 4578
N First, #310; Fresno, Calif.; 93726; 202/292-1776;
www.sepschool.org.
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John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org