To help beginning teachers succeed, principals should identify individual teachers' strengths and weaknesses during the interviewing/hiring stage, balance neophytes' workloads, limit their extracurricular activities, establish expectations, select veteran mentors, offer informal formative assessment, be specific about classroom observations, and…

Under a bill amending Ontario, Canada's Educational Accountability Act, teachers were expected to resume formerly "voluntary" extracurricular duties they resigned when ordered to teach an extra class. The government's strategy to recast these activities as "co-instructional" did not fly. However, the education minister is…

Moshing (intense crowd dancing) and other physical activities common at youth and rock concerts are discussed from the perspectives of safety and of the responsibility of sponsoring organizations, especially colleges and universities. Considerations in creating a safe environment at student events, planning the logistics of such an event, and…

Two brief stories about attitudes toward higher education in North America are presented. One notes criticisms of college faculty as underproductive and overpaid and of distorted values in academe. The second focuses on two trends: cheerleading scholarships and endorsement income for athletic coaches. (MSE)

"Rosenberger" revises Establishment Clause jurisprudence in several aspects: (1) ends "Lemon versus Kurtzman" as a main precedent; (2) alters First Amendment law by holding that government efforts to treat religious speech differently amounts to discrimination against people based on their "viewpoint"; and (3)…

Two studies of gifted high school dropouts (n=3,854) found many dropouts were from low socioeconomic-status families and racial minority groups, had parents with low levels of education, and participated less in extracurricular activities. Dropout behavior was related to student's educational aspiration, pregnancy or child-rearing, gender, and…

Discusses several state and federal court cases testing the limits of school district efforts to expand the scope of random student drug-testing since the Supreme Court's 1995 decision in "Vernonia School District 47J v. Action," wherein the Court approved random drug-testing of student athletes in public high schools. (Contains 113…

This article provides a systematic synthesis of the agency and court rulings that apply Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to interscholastic athletics. The resulting framework also offers insight into how these federal statutes may pertain to…

Highlights the value of resilience as a key concept in work with young people in need and considers implications of a resilience-led approach for policy and practice. Discusses social and developmental factors influencing a child or young person's degree of resilience, with particular reference to the resilience enhancing potential of school…

Surveys of 2,621 Anglo and Mexican-American secondary school students and dropouts in the Southwest found that individuals participating in extracurricular activities were 2.3 times more likely to remain in school than nonparticipants. For Mexican Americans, high levels of Anglo ethnic identity were related to being in school and having positive…

Used data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to examine "shadow education" (structured outside-school activities that mimic formal education) as a macro-phenomenon of modern schooling. Findings show shadow education to be prevalent worldwide, but generally remedial in nature, and usually driven by institutional…

This article discusses how a lifetime of research has led Edmund W. Gordon to the conviction that it is the out-of-school extras that nurture children's intellect. A half-century ago, the noted psychologist Edmund W. Gordon and his physician wife, Susan, opened a children's health clinic here in central Harlem. For as little as a quarter, poor…

When asked to reflect on what they learned in college, the twenty-four recent college graduates who were interviewed did not mention specific information from the courses they attended. Instead, their responses fell into one of four categories: critical thinking and problem solving, outside activities, holding a part-time job, and experiences…

The decrease in urban green spaces limits the opportunities for adults and children to experience nature and learn about the environment. Yet, it is only when children experience nature in the outdoors that they can learn best to love it and strive to preserve it. As such, the need to include biodiversity studies in the curriculum becomes a…

The Chemistry/Physics Program at Evanston Township High School was designed to provide an environment for the rigorous teaching of advanced science and mathematics to accelerated students. This type of student makes up the bulk of students in the Advanced Placement Chemistry and Physics classes. However, there is a small number of students who…