Articles (General Education) « Education – General

Articles About General Education Issues

• 50 Essential Links for the Parents of Gifted Children (Online Education Database)
  Every parent hopes for their child to be smart and to excel in school, but sometimes parents just don't know what to do with a child who is especially exceptional. Keeping him or her challenged, interested, and engaged can be tough, as can dealing with an educational system that doesn't always focus on helping out bright students.
• ACLU Sues School in Online Photo Controversy: Female Students Punished for Racy MySpace Pictures
  In Indianapolis, Indiana, two sophomore girls at Churubusco High School were punished by the school district for posting sexually suggestive photos on their MySpace pages.  
• DEALING WITH ANXIETY IN COLLEGE – What Every College Student Needs to Know (Buckey Recovery Network)
  College is a time of major changes, so it’s no wonder it is also a time when many students experience anxiety. When you know what you’re dealing with, know how to cope and can find the right help, you can manage anxiety.
• COPPA and Schools: The (Other) Federal Student Privacy Law, Explained (7/28/17)
  When it comes to federal protections for students’ sensitive personal information, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, tends to get most of the attention. But schools also need to be familiar with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, commonly known as COPPA.
• Feds Add New Categories for Civil Rights Reporting
  The U.S. Department of Education has announced that for the 2009-10 school year, school districts will have to collect data in a number of new categories that relate to students' civil rights. What's more, the data for many of the new categories must be disaggregated to show how it applies to students of different races and ethnic backgrounds, students with disabilities, male and female students, and English-language learners.
• Graphic Organizers (the Teacher Tool Kit)
  Graphic Organizers are useful educational tools in any subject area. They help students organize their thoughts and ideas for answering questions, function as a pre-writing tool for essays, and provide a visual display of information. They can be an easy way to differentiate instruction for a variety of learning styles as well.
• Homebound Instruction vs. Instruction in the Home (Sarah Davis)
  Though it may seem that "homebound instruction" and "instruction conducted in the home" should be virtual synonyms, to the contrary, they each describe entirely different educational circumstances.
• Learning to Move and Moving to Learn (Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University)
  Teachers, administrators, and parents usually recognize the physical benefits of motor play. What is less obvious is the way that active play promotes learning. In this story, Mr. Smith is supporting his children’s academic success through play. Engaging his children in movement promotes attention, memory, and overall brain development. The activity also teaches an important mathematical ability—recognizing numerals.  Link to related videos
• Must Police Obtain a Warrant or Consent Before Interviewing Child at School? (Wrightslaw Way – 10/13/10)
  On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether police and social workers must obtain a warrant, court order, or parental consent before interviewing children at school about claims of sexual abuse.
  Patti's Comment:  This is a very important case. Families should be aware of it!
• Position Statement: Grade Retention and Social Promotion  
  From National Assn. of School Psychologists: The highest retention rates are found among poor, minority, inner-city youth. Research indicates that neither grade retention nor social promotion is an effective strategy for improving educational success.
• Researchers Study Motivation in Class (USC News – 3/17/09)
  What factors prompt young students to learn? That question has been addressed over the past two years by members of a group formed by two USC Rossier faculty members.
• Secrecy 101 (The Columbus Dispatch)
  Patti's Comments: This article won a journalism prize – exposed misuse of FERPA to cover up wrongdoings by institutions. I hear about FERPA abuses by schools, districts, state ed. depts. just about daily. I personally experienced a problem with this in my home district of Birmingham, Michigan. The reading recovery teacher refused to give me my daughter's test scores and record. It was amazing to me how angry she even got that I had the nerve to ask for the records. The principal was present and did not correct her. I then followed up in writing, and had an hour long call from a professional in the district trying to "explain" the records to me, because otherwise the information would be meaningless to me. I explained that my husband is a special education teacher, my sister is a special education teacher, my mom a retired teacher, and that I was an attorney with a pretty good knowledge of educational law. That did not matter – I was still apparently not smart enough to understand my daughter's records….and in this case they were not attempting to hide anything… they just did not like that I wanted to exercise my FERPA rights….Geesh!  
• Social Media in the Classroom – Creative Teaching Methods for Engaging Students Through Social Media
  Educators are finding ways to use social media in their lessons, teaching students to think critically and creatively about the world and their place in it.
• Walking to School with Education Secretary Arne Duncan (School Transportation News – 8/24/10)
  Michelle Rhee and U.S. Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez walked with Duncan and the students along a two-block route from Lincoln Park to Maury Elementary. The "Walking School Bus" event was intended to promote the importance of safe, healthy lifestyles, as well as welcoming students back to school, according to a Department of Education spokesperson.
• When Schools Punish Sick Children Who Miss School: A Game Plan (Wright's Law)
  The purpose of laws that require children to attend a certain number of school days is to deter truancy. A law that is intended to deter truancy must include exemptions for children who have chronic illnesses or who are injured, not truant.