Educators have long agreed that parents have a role to play in furthering their children's education, but they have not always agreed about what the nature of that role should be or about how schools can develop more productive relationships with parents. In this monthly column, Teresa Preston traces how that debate has played out in Kappan.…

It's understandable that federal education leaders, like Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, tend to focus on areas of broad agreement within education. But Joshua Starr suggests that they're neglecting important stories that need to be told. In particular, education leaders need to create a new narrative that recognizes society's collective…

Results-based school accountability has been the linchpin of education reform in the United States for at least two decades. But the COVID-19 pandemic led many schools, states, and districts to put their testing and accountability programs on hold. Chester E. Finn, Jr., argues that it is time for the accountability holiday to end and makes…

The most efficient and effective framework for organizing mental health services in schools is through a multitiered system of support. This framework typically features three increasingly intense tiers intervention providing a continuum of care for all students in the school, not simply those identified as having a disability. Tier 1 universal…

The United States Supreme Court requires school districts to provide catheterization services for handicapped students, in accordance with Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. (DCS)

About half of all American marriages now end in divorce. Many divorces involve children whose parents remarry and create step-relationships. Educators should help normalize the idea of stepfamilies, send communications recognizing family diversity, train school personnel appropriately, enlist the school counselor's assistance, and provide…

The Council for Basic Education reviews briefly the history of educational change in the U.S. since the 1950's and examines the attitudes underlying these changes. Suggests that alternative schools are good insofar as they represent alternatives to conventional arrangements rather than to the historic function of schools. (Author/DN)

Focuses on the wider meaning of the growth of alternative schooling in our society. Suggests that the survival of society depends on the widespread existence of decisionmaking powers, that such power is learned by making decisions, and that alternatives are needed in order that decisions may be made. (Author/DN)

A generation after President Lyndon Johnson declared an official War on Poverty, nearly one-fifth of America's youngest citizens still grow up poor. The younger the child, the greater the chances of its being poor. Congress, the states, and local communities must rewrite the options of opportunity for these children. A resource list is provided.…

Introduces a special "Kappan" issue on caring as an identifiable factor in youngsters' environments and interpersonal relationships. Outlines trends and research concerning the caring concept, the family's role, caring's protective dimensions (to combat obstacles such as poverty and family problems), caring environments, and youth…

In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision interpreting federal law as requiring school districts to provide educational services for every handicapped child. This article reviews legal developments pertaining to severely handicapped children's educational needs, analyzes the "Timothy W."…

In a suit involving an assaulted Native American middle school student, a federal court judge granted the Philadelphia Public Schools' motion for summary judgment. Even in this post-Columbine era, senseless on-campus, student-to-student violence is generally not considered a civil-rights issue. Exceptions are noted. (MLH)

Uses the experience of one school district to indicate the number of noneducational services the schools are expected to offer students. Argues that the schools must either be given more resources or asked to do less. (IRT)

When homeless students attend school, the school must establish a climate of sharing, caring, and learning. One Dallas elementary school helps by referring parents to appropriate agencies, carefully orienting students, keeping a clothes closet, offering before- and after-school tutoring, mainstreaming homeless students, and adhering to effective…