Documentary - "Paper Clips"

When we were discussing the Holocaust example, I remembered a documentary I saw a few years ago, but I was unsure of the title. It’s called “Paper Clips” – an excellent film.

Here’s a synopsis: “Whitwell, TN is a small, rural community of less than two thousand people nestled in the mountains of Tennessee. Its citizens are almost exclusively white and Christian. In 1998, the children of Whitwell Middle School took on an inspiring project, launched out of their principal's desire to help her students open their eyes to the diversity of the world beyond their insulated valley. What happened would change the students, their teachers, their families and the entire town forever… and eventually open hearts and minds around the world.”

One minute clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDJ70lp0SmA

Creation-Science Textbooks Right or Wrong?

June 19th, 1987 Supreme Court Decision declaring it unconstitional for creationism to be taught in science classes (in public schools) in regards to whether Louisiana's "Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction" Act was constitutional. That decision states that no school is required to teach evolution or creation science. If either is taught, however, the other must also be taught.

Current Textbook Debate in Texas:

Recent discussion on On Point - NPR show out of Boston:

Questions and article for 03/31

Hi all,

Here are the questions for Dewey and Strike as well as the article.

Article link:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/26/hamilton.pledge/index.html?iref=allsearch

Questions for Dewey:
Education in Relation to Form

1. On page 275, Dewey says one school of thought is that "the mind is so illogical in its processes that logical form must be impressed upon it from without." Do you think schools impose their views to the point of stifling the intellecutal growth of students by not allowing them to form their own opinions?

2. The second school of thought is total self-discovery and direction with little or no structured learning. Because we will be teaching the early childhood years, by using this method, what impact would it have on our students?

Science, Belief and the Public

1. Because the curriculum taught is chosen by a few, Is science (or any other subject) already predisposed to bias?

2. Does religion have a place in science?

Questions for Stike?

1. If evolution is taught in school, should creation be taught also in order to gain balance? Why or Why not?

2. Dr. Jones wants the Iroquois to see themselves as Americans and not focus on their past. Does that mean they have to forget their past in order to be American?

3. Because we are a multicultural nation, there will be differences in our values, beliefs, and cultural history than some students who will enter our classroom. How would you address tolerance should this become an issue in your classroom?

A nice video that explains the problems with merit pay

Not that I agree with all of this, but:

What is the best solution to better education for the children?

Above is a video clip from a local Raleigh news station, with coverage on the Wake County School Board meeting and their decision to end Diversity busing.

Busing to end in Wake County, NC...Goodbye, Diversity!

In the photo above, police officers try to quell chanters shouting, "No resegregation in our town. Shut it down!" during a meeting of the Wake County School Board Tuesday, March 23.

I was getting ready for work this morning, and while watching the Today show (my morning ritual) a familiar conversation came across the news. They were discussing busing, and the fact that the school board in Wake County, North Carolina voted 5-to-4, this week to abandon its income-diversity goal in favor of a return to neighborhood schools. They want to develop attendance zones closer to students' homes. Advocates say the new plan in development will spare children long bus rides, while opponents claim it will lead to racial "resegregation" and more concentrated poverty in certain schools.

This decision to reverse their income-based integration plan, which had been serving as a national model for a decade as school systems sough alternatives to traditional racial-balancing plans, and an active attempt to bring about diversity.

I did some research and found another article from 2002, about opinions on Wake County bussing that said many parents were choosing magnet or year-round schools to gain stability in Wake County's rapidly growing schools, but parents said they were frustrated by forced moves that claim to imporve diversity and test scores.

"The longer we go with the reassignment plan and the pain it creates without understanding what the gain is, you're going to find an erosion of support for the public school system," said Harvey Schmidtt, director of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. "A very healthy school system works very well in recruiting new companies and new people into the community."

In an article I found in the Christian Science Observer written this week, the head of the state NAACP, William Barber, was quoted writing in a blog that “when children are packed into the most underfunded, most segregated, most high-poverty schools, it is nothing but a form of institutionalized child abuse.”

Below is a link I found from CBS news on the issue. I will try and keep an eye out from the video clip I saw on the Today show this morning, because I think you all would enjoy it. Just something to think about, that is taking place in our own backyard.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/24/national/main6328396.shtml

*I keep trying to make it a hyperlink, however it will never show up for me, any suggestions?