At the beginning of each school term, bulletin boards sport fresh ideas and desks glisten, but will students entering the classroom have their expectations met? Will they be engaged in the learning? How can teachers utilize resources and enlist others to provide an even stronger and more effective learning environment? In this article, the author…

Enough has been written about academic assessment to fill a library, but when one thinks about it, the whole enterprise really amounts to a straightforward two-step dance. Collect information about how students are doing, then share that information with the students and their parents. Gather and report--that's pretty much it. Collecting…

The school-to-prison pipeline doesn't just begin with cops in the hallways and zero tolerance discipline policies. It begins when teachers fail to create a curriculum and a pedagogy that connects with students, that takes them seriously as intellectuals, that lets students know teachers care about them, that gives them the chance to channel their…

A study of court cases dealing with church and state conflicts may explain why some teachers avoid teaching about religion rather than risk legal action or misinterpretation of their lessons. However, if students are to receive a complete education, educators must reach some reconciliation between church and state. Instead of skirting religious…

To ensure that more American students attend college and are prepared to participate in a global economy, secondary schools have increased academic rigor and raised standards. By emphasizing vertical alignment of courses from preschool through college, secondary schools can help close the expectation gap that exists between high school and college…

Over the years, American students consistently have ranked below those from Finland, Canada, Japan, and at least a dozen other industrialized nations on international tests of mathematics, science, and reading. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has done nothing to close this gap. And the authors suspect that the law may be making matters worse.…

Condensed from "The Center Forum, a publication of the Center for Urban Education, III (March 1, 1969), 1,4-5.

In this article, the author presents several questions that are central to the debate over what should be taught in social studies classes; however, few academic subjects evoke as much passion as history. The debate comes when educators worry that social studies is vanishing from the curriculum, and with schools scrambling to meet requirements of…

Teachers who attempt to make their courses meaningful to their students will communicate better with them. (CK)

Teaching language requires teachers to provide conditions that are conductive to encouraging children to talk. (CK)

An experimental high school program in Philadelphia, in which the students spend the day in various parts of the city and have an unusual curriculum, has met with a great deal of success and approval. (CK)

The preparation of teachers to teach art to elementary school children is discussed. (CK)