World News Center
D.C.'s Wilson High overcomes the poor urban school label
September 3, 2010 Why did Peter Cahall, principal of Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest Washington, give my colleague Michael Birnbaum a long interview last month after the carjacking of a Wilson teacher, allegedly by a Wilson student? Doesn't Cahall know that urban principals avoid even mentioning the word "crime" for fear of tarnishing their school's image?
Seniors should cap high school with projects
September 3, 2010If my campaign to require senior projects in Washington area public high schools was itself a senior project, I would be getting a C-minus. My inspiration, the long-standing senior project program at Wakefield High School in Arlington County, is still in good shape. But few other schools show any interest in trying it out, despite what seem to me obvious benefits.
How-to book whets appetite for no-nonsense teacher training
September 3, 2010A storm is brewing in American schools of education. It involves a generational change that we education writers don't deal with much, but it is more important than No Child Left Behind mandates or Race to the Top grants or other stuff we devote space to.
Foreign language emphasis is often just talk
September 3, 2010My online discussion group, Admissions 101, recently exchanged verbal blows over foreign language courses in high school. Most of us defended the conventional wisdom. Learning another language improves cognitive development, we said. It enhances academic skills, encourages a sense of the wider world and looks good to colleges.
Pr. George's principal succeeds with a startling shake-up
September 3, 2010 One of my education reporting maxims is that principals of schools in troubled districts never seek me out. Journalists are poison to them. We only want to write about bad stuff. Anything they say can be held against them.
Betts set a standard for learning that will live on
September 3, 2010It is difficult to adjust to any 6 a.m. phone call, but the one I received this morning was particularly jarring. Brian Betts, one of the most energetic and enthusiastic educators I have ever met, had been found dead in his home in Silver Spring, just months before what I expected would be good news about his relentless efforts to raise achievement for students at the Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson.
Washington area education bloggers wanted
September 3, 2010Several weeks ago, my blogging colleague Valerie Strauss (The Answer Sheet) and I announced our picks for best education blogs of this year. Our favorites were a diverse bunch, with many witty teachers, incisive journalists and droll experts of other kinds providing unusual perspectives.
High school teachers disagree on benefits of reading aloud
September 3, 2010Recently, I visited a history class at a local, low-performing high school, where students read in turn from the autobiography of a famous American. The teacher was bright and quick. He interrupted often with comments and questions. The 18 sophomores and juniors seemed to be into it, but it was such an old-fashioned -- and I suspect to some educators, elementary -- approach that I decided to see what others thought of it.
The Fixer: Former Wakefield High principal Marie Shiels Djouadi works to improve other schools
September 3, 2010 On the last day of school in 1987, Wakefield High School's brand-new principal, Marie Shiels Djouadi, was already in trouble. The school hallways appeared to have been hit by a hurricane, with papers, notebooks, gum wrappers, soft drink cans, magazines and she-did-not-want-to-guess-what-else at least six inches deep everywhere. The head janitor was seething. He and his staff were once again victims of what the students considered a lighthearted prank celebrating their freedom. As they did every year, they had dumped everything out of their lockers before they got on the last buses.
No news about a Washington area school can be great news
September 3, 2010Cedric Sheridan, a Prince George's County parent, worries about the high school where his son is a senior and his daughter a junior. He told me, "I fear that it started on a downward slide a few years ago."
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