Many practitioners and policy makers view personalized school environments as a means to promote student commitment to school and engagement in learning. Personalization also rewards teachers and encourages their commitment and accountability. A personalized environment is the product of deliberate, strategic choices about organizational…

Recounts a dinner conversation between 2 high school English teachers: a 30-year veteran, and a former protege planning to enter college teaching after 5 disappointing years pursuing a vision of classroom integrity. Both seem disillusioned by incessant daily interruptions and distractions beyond their control. Sadly the teacher attrition rate…

Though there has been increasing interest in character education among policy makers and education professionals, many schools hesitate to do anything that might detract from their focus on increasing academic performance. The authors present evidence indicating that this may be misguided. (Contains 13 endnotes.)

Describes an alternative, relaxed, discipline system with four simple rules: (1) use mild consequences initially, (2) enforce rules without anger, (3) track each student infraction, and (4) reward frequently but unpredictably. (MD)

An argument for genetic control in America. (RA)

The fostering and nurturing of caring values and attitudes among our youth should be one of the primary objectives of the schools. (Author/IRT)

Classic propaganda techniques (repetition, testimonials, transfers of one quality to another, and painstaking imagery) work best in "closed" environments--exactly the situation advertisers have in Channel-One classrooms. Private, vulnerable, and sacred, the human psyche is not a commodity to be sold. Yet, such commerce will continue…

Claims that multimedia publishing will become an important part of the 1990's classroom and that impersonal technology can create a rich, collaborative learning environment. The author's successful educational media workshops were based on cooperative and self-directed learning, pride of authorship, and a scavenging approach to assembling…

A civil engineer describes his first day as a substitute teacher. Despite detailed lesson plans and good intentions, maintaining an orderly class environment is far from a "piece of cake." Recess duty is an ordeal, and lunch in the shabby teacher's lounge is uninspiring. The biggest benefit is appreciation of what constitutes a full-time teacher's…

About half of all American marriages now end in divorce. Many divorces involve children whose parents remarry and create step-relationships. Educators should help normalize the idea of stepfamilies, send communications recognizing family diversity, train school personnel appropriately, enlist the school counselor's assistance, and provide…

The most emotionally absent students often come alive after school. Any extracurricular activity (even football) seems better than high school. In football, teenagers are important contributors, are encouraged to excel, and become team players; repetition is honorable; the unexpected happens; practices run longer than 50 minutes; emotions and…

Challenges Wilbur Brookover's response to the author's article "It's Time We Changed the Effective Schools Formula" appearing in the November 1987 issue of "Kappan." The author's Pennsylvania studies show that certain variables such as classroom climate, emphasis on basic skills, and time-on-task were inconsequential in predicting a school's…

Juxtaposes two concepts--the deep structure of schooling (based on controlling students) and schools' distinct personalities--to examine problems involving change and resistance to change in American education. Schools' custodial role influences restrictive classroom design and discipline policies. Genuine school improvement must happen at a deep…

Recounts the inception, philosophy, and successes of Cleveland Ohio's Major Work Program, a course of study founded in 1922 for gifted students. (JW)

A model of functional levels in diagnosis and intervention designed to return handicapped children to the mainstream. (Author)