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School Board Journal
May / June, 1996

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Issues in education
A roundup of issues of concern to school leaders

It sounds like a playground game, or perhaps a new dance craze. But looping is neither: it's the practice of keeping a teacher and students together for at least two years. The practice is common in European, Japanese, and Montessori schools. The idea is that teachers and students form a bond over time that appears to provide several benefits. Teachers become significant figures in children's lives, providing a strong adult influence that is particularly important for those who don't get enough attention from parents. Less class time is spend on getting acquainted and review, allowing more teaching time. Teachers learn more about their students and are able to better tailor the curriculum to their needs. Attendance and discipline appear to improve.

The quality of teachers becomes more important than ever, as their influence increases, and care must be taken to integrate newcomers into the class. And the inevitable ultimate separation needs to be handled with care.

There is little formal research on looping, reports the National School Boards Association News Service, although there is anecdotal evidence that it is beneficial. On the other hand, it costs almost nothing to try and isn't likely to do any damage.

Source: National School Boards Association News Service

Competent kids

Are today's children more competent that is, more savvy and able to deal with the harsh realities of life than children used to be? That's a myth invented by adults who need children to be competent, says David Elkind. Elkind, professor of child study at Tufts University and author of Ties That Stress: The New Family Imbalance, says adults overestimate the ability of children to cope.

In an interview in Educational Leadership magazine, Elkind says: "As I travel and lecture across the country, teachers tell me routinely that they see much more aggressive behavior and much more hostility on the playgrounds. We see many more learning problems. We see much more depression in children. These are all the stress symptoms of kids who are expected to be more competent in handling all sorts of experiences than they really are."

What do children need? According to Elkind, the same thing they've always needed: to know that they are important to their parents. "We talk a lot about quality time, but it's not really the quality of the time that is important. What is critical is that the children feel that they are important enough in their parents' lives that the parents are going to sacrifice something for them. Real quality time is when parents say, `Look, I know I have this meeting but you are more important and I am going to come to your recital.'"

Source: Educational Leadership, April, 1996

Bill of rights for students, staff

Since the beginning of our nation, Americans have cherished the Bill of Rights that protects basic freedoms. Now, the American Federation of Teachers proposes a bill of rights for students and school staff. In brief, the ten-point document proclaims the rights of students and school staff to:

• Go to schools that are safe, orderly and drug free.
  
• Learn and work in an environment of "clear discipline codes with fair and consistently enforced consequences for misbehavior."
  
• Benefit from "alternative educational placement for violent or chronically disruptive students."
  
• "Be treated with courtesy and respect."
  
• Have "clearly stated and rigorous academic standards."
  
• Attend "well-equipped schools that have the instructional materials needed to carry out a rigorous academic program."
  
• Have a staff of teachers who "know their subject matter and how to teach it."
  
• Thrive in a school climate "where high grades stand for high achievement and promotion is earned."
  
• Live in a community where people believe "a high school diploma means having the knowledge and skills essential for college or a good job."
  
• "Be supported by parents, the community, public officials, and business in their efforts to uphold high standards of conduct with achievement."

Source: National School Boards Association News Service

Stiffer security is not the answer

Schools that rely on security measures such as metal detectors to calm student fears and prevent tragedies are deluding themselves, according to Peter Blauvelt, president of the National Alliance for Safe Schools. Speaking at a National School Boards Association Leadership Conference, Blauvelt told leaders of state school board associations that measures such as metal detectors in schools are as ineffective as efforts to stop the flow of drugs into the country. Instead, he told the audience to "take back the controls."

Educators must come up with a way to deal with students' fears before the students take matters into their own hands, Blauvelt said. "When a student is assaulted, spends time out of school, comes back to school, and no adult talks to him about what happened, the next time that student is bullied, you can bet he will protect himself."

Instead, Blauvelt recommends a program called Operation SAFE Schools Against Fearful Environments. The program calls for a team at each school to help students identify and discuss their fears. "The answer isn't more security at all," he stressed. "It's that educators need to be cheerleaders, they need to believe they are in control."

Source: National School Boards Association News Service

Principals' concerns

What concerns school principals? A poll of 802 elementary and middle school principals, conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), shows the following priorities:

• Motivating students (97 percent);
  
• Involving parents in their children's schoolwork (94 percent);
  
• Accommodating and paying for increasing numbers of special education children (93 percent);
  
• Keeping up with education technology (93 percent).
  
• Accepting, and getting staff to accept, additional social responsibilities that once belonged in the home, such as good manners, honesty, etc. (91 percent).

Source: Fax news service of the National School Public Relations Association, March 22, 1996.