Opinion
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Bilingual Ed Beneficial in Early Grades
Opinion -Students with Limited-English Proficiency who are taught using at least some of their native language perform significantly better on English-language standardized tests than similar children taught in English-only programs, according to a new study -
Family Owes $35,000 for Attending Wrong NJ School
Opinion -An immigrant family from Afghanistan found that America's promise of a free public education for their children was a false one when an administrative judge ruled that they owed New Jersey's Belleville school district $35,466 for inadvertently living -
NY Schools Fail Racial, Ethnic Minorities
Opinion -A new study calls for more parental choice in schooling to address a widening and persistently large “literacy gap” that divides two “separate and unequal school systems” in New York state--a largely successful one serving mostly white pupils and -
Improving Math Education
Opinion -Responding to the recently released Third International Mathematics and Science Study, U.S. -
Tired of Illiteracy, States Prescribe Phonics
Opinion -Although a panel of national experts on reading recently called for "an end to the reading wars," their plea for a cease-fire came too late for many lawmakers, who had already concluded that the battle was over, with phonics triumphant and whole -
U.S. Twelfth-Graders Flunk International Math and Science Test
Opinion -While the accumulation of gold, silver, and bronze medals at the February Winter Olympic Games showed that U.S. -
Ridge Supports Local Scholarship Plan in Pennsylvania
Opinion -At a special meeting on March 18, the Southeast Delco school board thrust residents of four small Pennsylvania towns into the national educational choice debate by approving local tuition scholarships for district parents whose children attend public, -
Phonics vs. Whole Language
Opinion -The phonics-based approach to reading instruction starts with a child learning the sounds of letters and then using this explicitly learned decoding skill as a basis to progress to reading words on a page and understanding their meaning. -
Chicago Limits Bilingual Education to Three Years
Opinion -Concerned that the longer students remain in bilingual education the more they fall behind academically, the Chicago Board of Education on February 25 unanimously approved a new policy to limit bilingual classes to three years, with extra tutoring -
Public Schools Outsource Education of “Difficult” Students
Opinion -Although opponents of educational choice insist that public schools are required to take every student and that tax dollars must never flow to private or religious institutions, the actions of public schools in at least seven states seriously undermine -
‘Research’ Is Inconclusive on High Schoolers
Opinion -After three years of research and at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a major U.S. Department of Education study of how to teach Limited-English Proficient high school students fails to pass judgment on which programs work and which don’t. -
Scientists Dump Cold Water on Environmental, Health Scares
Opinion -It’s been a difficult couple of months for purveyors of junk science and others actively spreading scientific misinformation on environmental issues. -
Red Cavaney to Reinvent Petroleum Group
Opinion -Speaking at the Ninth Annual Petro-Safe Conference in Houston on January 28, newly installed American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Red Cavaney gave an impassioned plea for the oil and gas industry to “apply some of our world-renowned ingenuity -
White House Predicts Kyoto’s Price Will Be Modest
Opinion -After much delay and considerable prodding by Congress, the Clinton administration released on March 4 its long-anticipated analysis of the projected economic costs of the Kyoto global warming treaty. -
FCC Oversteps Authority on Schools Hookup
Opinion -A General Accounting Office study concluded in February that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the legal authority to establish a quasi-private, nonprofit corporation to partially reimburse local telephone companies for the cost of -
Kansas Considers Ban on Public School Tuition
Opinion -Kansas State Representative Kay O'Connor wants to abolish a tuition fee that she says discriminates against poor families who might want to change district schools but can't afford to. -
NY Choice Lifts Achievement in All Schools
Opinion -As if in response to a recent tirade against competition in education from a prominent teachers’ union official, New York researchers in February published evidence showing that a long-running public school choice experiment in East Harlem has not -
Illiterate U.S. Workers Drive Jobs Overseas
Opinion -Even after hiring some 12,100 workers to crank up output of aircraft on its assembly lines last year, the Boeing Company still found itself experiencing production delays that will cost an estimated $2.6 billion. The problem? -
Principles of Reading Instruction
Opinion -According to the University of Oregon's Bonnie Grossen, seven teaching principles summarize the findings from $200 million of research conducted over 30 years by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 1. -
Administration Attempts End-Run on Kyoto Protocol
Opinion -Two months after the Kyoto Protocol was declared “dead on arrival” by a chorus of Congressional critics, opponents of the controversial global warming treaty now fear the administration is implementing the accord by regulatory fiat. -
Greenhouse Fears vs. Science
Opinion -The Clinton administration contends that the science of global warming is “settled,” and dangerous climate change from carbon dioxide produced by burning coal and oil is no longer a theory but a “fact. -
Improving Science Education
Opinion -As part of an ongoing effort to increase science literacy, the Bayer Corporation has gathered views on science education from principals, business leaders, teachers, parents and students in the report What America Thinks About Science Education Reform. -
Little Diversity in Teacher Corps
Opinion -While the nation’s corporate suites and student bodies have become more diverse and integrated over the past forty years, the U.S. teaching profession has moved in the opposite direction. In 1996, 90.7 percent of U.S. teachers were white, up from 88. -
New ESA Plan Would Lock up Over a Million Acres of Private Property in Texas
Opinion -A proposed “habitat conservation plan” (HCP) for Central Texas will lock up over one million acres of private property, warns Ike Sugg, a fellow in wildlife and land-use policy at the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute.