In this excerpt from How to educate an American: The conservative vision for tomorrow's schools, William J. Bennett argues that instilling knowledge, not just skills, is an important element of good schooling. In fact, developing certain skills actually requires a considerable amount of background knowledge. He offers examples of states that have…

Public funding of private K-12 schooling through vouchers continues to be a contentious issue across the U.S., even though a solid majority of Americans continues to oppose them. The voucher plans run the risk of legal challenge for how they handle the rights of students with disabilities and whether they violate state constitutional provisions…

One education reform that has the potential to leave its mark on education for many years is the P-16 initiative. The name refers to the range of "grades" included, beginning with preschool and running through the postsecondary undergraduate years. Though such efforts are most commonly called P-16, they are in some cases referred to as…

Finalists for the Broad Prize for Urban Education demonstrate that identifying strategies that fit the local context is essential in creating success for students. Long Beach Unified School District in California and Broward County Public Schools in Florida demonstrate how districts can use different strategies to achieve the same goals.

Teachers in Dade County, Florida, voted to eliminate tenure in favor of a negotiated labor contract emphasizing a diagnostic-prescriptive approach to improving teacher performance and due process safeguards. (Author/IRT)

Discusses schools that have successfully accepted students with AIDS, describes recent court cases involving suits against schools refusing admittance to students with AIDS, and reviews school policies about AIDS cases in the schools. Includes discussion of the Center for Disease Control's AIDS guidelines as well as sidebars with the incidence of…

Reply to an article printed in the April issue. (IRT)

Reveals strong teacher dissatisfaction with the 45-15 plan adopted in Pasco County, Florida, public schools and suggests increased teacher involvement in planning processes. (DW)

Outlines U.S. District Court Judge Kovachevich's decision to return the Ray boys in Desoto County, Florida, to the classroom. These three children, Randy, Richard, and Robert, are hemophiliacs who have been exposed to the disease Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. They had been excluded from the classrooms and came to national attention as a…

Compares the results of the first and second years of testing in the Florida minimum competency program to show that the program is working. (IRT)

Suggests that Florida's finance formula to relieve interdistrict cost-of-living differences fails to equalize school district attractiveness. (DW)

Rebuts the article on minimum competency testing by Diana Pullin in the September 1981 "Kappan." Argues that the competency testing program in Florida is a powerful force for motivating improvement. (Author/WD)

Outlines a successful reading program developed in Wakulla County, Florida, schools where the adult illiteracy rate was seriously high. The success of this program emphasizes three points: begin with detailed needs assessment, establish clear program goals, and provide continuous evaluation.(MD)

Although adolescents face many potentially life-threatening choices, schools are ill equipped to offer comprehensive guidance for developing personal survival skills. This article outlines four conditions militating against schools' acceptance of this role, advocates collaboration between schools and community-based youth organizations, and…

A study finds that American students are engaged with lessons only 54 percent of the time, due to external preoccupations and uninspired instruction. The Heritage Foundation's "No Excuses" report makes misleading correlations between scores, phonics, and socioeconomic variables. Florida housing prices reflect letter grades assigned to…