A history of the Nobel prizes is given. (CK)

All of the ideas and advice you can get on research-based school improvement don't matter if your community does not address norms that discourage and dishonor academic achievement. Fortunately, here's a book with lots of successful examples from real schools that shows how educators can collaborate with others to reverse poor motivation, reward…

The Modern Music Masters Society had its origins during the Great Depression in the Maine Music Masters, formed to honor high school students who performed at school and on local church and civic programs. Incorporated in 1952, the society today has chapters in all states and in foreign countries. (RM)

Discusses why Phi Beta Kappa remains a remote influence at historically Black institutions and on Black students at predominantly White college campuses. (EV)

Profiles several African American men who were black electees to the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society in the 19th century (no women were elected during this period), including George Washington Henderson, a former slave, who was the first African American elected. A sidebar describes the first African American woman elected to Phi Beta Kappa in…

Explores why, although Golden Key has gained a large membership, many other honor societies question its mission. Its founder has been ousted amid charges of lax standards and improper encounters with students. (EV)

Article described three basic types of honor socities, with a few examples of each, and presented some general notions and practical suggestions for chapters based on the concept of intelligent partnership. (Author/RK)

The executive director of the Presidential Scholars program checked on the first three groups and identifies the paths they are following now. (Editor)

This volume is the first in a set of two to be published as the National Society for the Study of Education (NSSE) yearbook for 2008. Planning for the volumes began more than five years ago, when the Society's Board of Directors expressed an interest in taking steps to encourage a more expansive, robust, and inclusive dialogue about education in…

This article provides a brief history of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). The CIES, initially the Comparative Education Society (CES), evolved from annual conferences at New York University begun in 1954 by William W. Brickman. CES was founded at the close of a subsequent conference (April 27, 1956), with Brickman as…

Single-sex honor societies changed membership requirements to admit members of both sexes in response to Title IX of the 1972 Education amendments. A 1982 study examining the effect of this transition on the sex make-up of members, officers, and faculty advisers revealed that women students were competing equally with men students for leadership…

Characteristics of adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) among traditional-age college students were investigated. Personality characteristics were examined based on birth order, gender of alcoholic parent, and honor society membership. Differences between ACOAs and non-ACOAs are discussed. (Author)

In this article, the author talks about "honor" and describes how the word has been taken for granted in schools. He explains that "honor" traditionally, has had two meanings, and that the National Honor Society (NHS) reflects the most ancient of them. Like Aristotle, who described honor in his "Nicomachean Ethics" as "the prize of virtue and the…

Discusses the role of the honor fraternity, Phi Theta Kappa, in recognizing student achievement and motivating student leadership and service at Burlington County College. Reviews the relationship of the college to the society and student responses. (DMM)