FORUM invited Melissa Benn and Jane Martin to interview Clyde Chitty, a brilliant and effective classroom and university teacher, one of the most well-known advocates of comprehensive education, a long-standing member of FORUM's editorial board, and for two decades co-editor of the publication. It was Michael Armstrong who called him 'the patron…

Known for his work with the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Atlas Project, Sizer is a modest but brilliant administrator who is knowledgeable about education and thoughtful about what works in schools under varying circumstances. The coalition counteracts high schools'"intellectual shabbiness" and curricular superficiality by…

Reviews eight new adult books of interest to high school readers. The books reviewed include two novels, an anthology of selections about cats, an autobiography by a physicist, and books about Patricia Hearst, the abdication of King Edward VIII of England, naive painting, and American astronauts. (GT)

Reviews eight new adult books of interest to high school readers. The books include biographies, works of fiction, and books about dragons, Cubism and Futurism in art, and designing, knitting, and crocheting clothes. (GT)

Although Thomas Jefferson's view of freedom was the cornerstone of the Declaration of Independence, this founding father owned 170 slaves to run his 5,000 acre plantation. This article describes a unit developed by the Monticello (Virginia) Education Department that teaches secondary students about slave Isaac Jefferson while exposing them to…

Annotates one nature book, two novels, and one biography written for adults but of interest to young adult readers. (FL)

Stories consume lives and lives become stories. A unit of study examines the creation of self in autobiographies and biographies looking closely at how we construct a life from the fragments of human experience and memory. This paper looks briefly at the different theoretical perspectives about biography and autobiography, following closely the…

Gives a brief biography of Will Weaver, author of young adult fiction, and a detailed review of Weaver's "Striking Out" and its sequel "Farm Team." Explains that the two novels focus on a young adult's family life and his aspiration to excel as a baseball player on the middle school team. (TB)

A teacher discusses how she used criticism of "The Scarlet Letter," when studying the book, in her honors class. The students were also intrigued by the biographical information they learned about Hawthorne, and eager to use it in interpreting his novel. (SRT)

An excellent way to teach history is by focusing on the lives of individual historical figures. History is the story of living persons, who for good or ill have made history as it is. To understand history, students must learn about the men and women who shaped events. (RM)

The life of the sculptor Henry Moore is briefly discussed and characteristics of his sculpture are described. Also included are lists of recommended films and books dealing with Moore, a student's guide to looking at sculpture, and sculpture activities for secondary students. (RM)

One task facing persons who would employ oral sources for writing and teaching the history of the Pacific is the use of testimonies from Pacific Islanders. Discusses issues that should be taken into consideration: memory, testimony as performance, teller as hero, and testimony as conversational narrative. (RM)

Reviews the life and work of the famous invertebrate zoologist Libbie Henrietta Hyman. Focuses on her work at the American Museum of History and her role as informal mentor and valued colleague and collaborator to zoologists all over the world. Contains 17 references. (DDR)

Presents an interview with Debra W. Fritts, a ceramic artist who created handbuilt terra-cotta sculptures. Focuses on topics, such as her childhood, her beginning interests in art, her teaching, her growth as an artist, and the techniques she uses when creating her sculptures. Includes directions for a rattle project. (CMK)

Claudio Sanchez, education correspondent for National Public Radio, grew up in two cultures, saw his parents' marriage dissolve, and watched his mother toil to keep family together and get her children educated. Sanchez spends working hours searching for stories illustrating that kind of travail. Focusing on issues of abandonment and neglect, he…