"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

After a difficult year for colleges and universities in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, the enrollment outlook for this fall is a lot brighter. Tulane University reported last week that 1,375 high-school seniors had committed to attending, a 56-percent jump over last year's 882 new freshmen. Xavier University of Louisiana reported that it…

Understanding the post-storm landscape of education in New Orleans and the metro area requires a grasp of some of the pre-storm realities of New Orleans public schools. This article will provide a brief overview of three arenas important to understanding the educational landscape of New Orleans--parish governance, desegregation and private…

Disasters are becoming the key concern of many nations. The term disaster usually meant for natural calamities. There of course may be a human hand behind each of the disasters, whether its' impact is small or large. Disasters can be categorized into natural and man made. In the case of natural disasters there may be some natural indicators to…

""The Achiever" is a monthly newsletter designed expressly for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) $17 Million Awarded in Advanced Placement Grants; (2) After the Storm: New Orleans School Maintains High Standard…

The emotional trauma of recent events may never go away. A million people were uprooted by Hurricane Katrina, including an estimated 372,000 children of school age. Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas-Louisiana coastline, forcing thousands more to evacuate. Acute symptoms of trauma range from confusion, nightmares, and…

On December 26, 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake--the most powerful in more than 40 years--struck deep under the Indian Ocean. It was centered about 100 miles southwest off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia, and triggered massive tsunamis across the coasts of Asia and Africa. In Aceh province, located at the northwest tip of the island of Sumatra in…

Most colleges and universities are poorly prepared to efficiently address and manage crises. That is the finding of a survey, the results of which were in the January/February issue of the publication, "Change." The authors point to Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terrorist attacks as wake-up calls to higher education and maintain both that campus…

This article focuses on the experiences and survival of displaced children in four large migrations in U.S. history. The chaos and despair caused by Hurricane Katrina are reminders that the displacement and survival of children are timely and relevant topics for the social studies curriculum. Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in…

This essay is entitled "The 'I' of the Storm" in order to stress the very personal nature of teaching in the immediate, post-Katrina semester of Fall 2005. The University of New Orleans (UNO) was the only university in the city to open that semester, and many traumatized instructors, the author included, were serving the thousands of…

After the hurricanes, faculty asked the students to help with the relief efforts in different ways. Most students volunteered to work in shelters directly with individual or groups of children, youths, and adults. After their experiences, they wrote brief reflections about what they had done. Their comments show that they developed a better…

Describes a newly developed model of intervention that responds rapidly to natural disasters or political and social crises. The model focuses on community response to the event to identify a community of sufferers. Highlights the efficacy of service delivery wherein the relationships among social workers are egalitarian and cooperative.…

As American schools pitch in with an array of charitable projects in response to the tsunami in South Asia, experts say educators and students should consider carefully how they can most effectively support relief groups, avoid fund-raising scams, and incorporate their efforts into service-learning programs. When students returned to school after…

New Orleans, fondly known in better days for its spectacular cuisine, cool jazz, and good times, was the leading story on television news broadcasts the world over when a massive hurricane came. As Katrina took its destructive path, culminating in the devastating rupture of ill-prepared levee systems, the world was riveted by stories about the…

The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is coming back from Hurricane Katrina--thanks to the State Library of Louisiana, NOPL in mid-September set up a temporary web site (nutrias.org). Unfortunately like many libraries in the Gulf region, it sustained significant damage and retained hope for renewal. This article reports the extent of damage…