This article features an interview with Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings. In this interview, Hastings relates that he told the "Wall Street Journal" in 2008 that he started looking at education--trying to figure out why our education is lagging when our technology is increasing at great rates and there's great innovation in so many other areas…

The governor of Tennessee describes five major ruts educators can fall into that prevent the possibility for educational reform. He points out that a few common-sense goals and a willingness to try something new can improve anything, even education. (MD)

This paper redefines and clarifies the standpoints of environmental attitudes (EA), knowledge scales (EK), and affiliated studies. Considering the quality of environmental education studies, this paper tries to give a sharp and concrete message to environmental science educators and researchers and strengthen the paths of environmental education…

Teachers' concerns regarding Tennessee's Comprehensive Education Reform Act focus on effects of career ladder program on professionalism, faculty camaraderie, and parent attitudes; continued governmental support; and potential curriculum abuse. Points of optimism include salary provisions, teacher education program improvements, educator conducted…

Provides background, including Tennessee Education Association involvement, and current status of Tennessee's Comprehensive Education Reform Act. Summarizes national career ladder plans. Identifies key issues: fair evaluation of teachers by statewide process; appropriate state and local roles for teacher evaluation and employment; workability of…

Raises philosophical and technical questions about the Tennessee minimum competency testing program, including: what subject and skills are basic; who determines what competencies are minimal; what should be the consequences of failure; who is responsible for remediation of failing students; do or should skills being taught match skills being…

The Supreme Court of Tennessee, in "Tennessee Small School Systems, Inc. v. McWherter," declared that Tennessee's method of financing its public schools violated the state constitution. The court's mode of analysis relies on the state equal protection clause rather than the state education clause. Examines implications for school finance…

Tennessee's Better Schools Program includes a Master Teacher Program that has three components: teacher education, clinical supervision of beginning teachers, and a career ladder based on performance. In conjunction with the establishment of the Master Teacher Program, 23 master teacher competencies for teacher evaluation have been defined.…

During the last 12 months, the highest courts in 5 states have issued opinions on the constitutionality of their public school funding systems. Briefly reviews decisions and discusses possible future directions of this litigation based on an analysis of the 3 decades of litigation since "Serrano v. Priest" (1971). (Contains 11…

Describes the strategies employed by the Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee, to alleviate its teacher shortage, including: (1) starting a teacher Recruitment and Retention Leadership Team; and (2) creating a Web site, radio spots, display booths at job fairs, and a teacher recruitment video that was sent to religious communities. States that, for the…

This study compares teacher attitudes in the Cumberland County and Putnam County, Tennessee, public school systems before and after professional negotiations. The researchers attempted to gauge teachers' feelings about job satisfaction, interpersonal trust, organizational commitment, and career satisfaction. A 16-item questionnaire was…

Discusses two reasons why the state of writing performance may worsen when, beginning in 1983, Tennessee high school students must pass a proficiency test as a condition for graduation; reasons are the objective nature of the test and the language performance objectives which the test proposes to measure. (NEC)

Summarizes factors within the state and school systems which may change with the implementation of Tennessee's Comprehensive Education Reform Act and identifies seven potential problems to full implementation. Concludes that, because of too many unknown variables, it is too early to predict the feasibility and success of full implementation. (NEC)

Recent court decisions in Tennessee and Alabama requiring the teaching of "creationism" and the banning of "secular humanism" challenge educators to listen to the critics and present a wider curriculum including the role of religion in human affairs while protecting our heritage of intellectual freedom. (MD)

A parent and communications professor describes his family's long-standing participation in home schooling, highlighting efforts to provide socialization and service education, uphold academic standards, and integrate learning activities into everyday life. Home schooling is a labor of love. Children benefit from experiencing the focused attention…