News for Week of July 18, 1999
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Every School in Kosovo Needs Repairs
A preliminary survey by the United Nations indicates that virtually every primary school in Kosovo needs repairs. Half are severely damaged or destroyed. Unicef has stated that it is determined to have all children back to full-time education by the fall.
More than sixteeen city/state Starting Point projects are in action as a result of grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. These community programs are based on the recommendations in a Carnegie task force report, Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children. The report highlighted the critical importance of the first three years of life for subsequent healthy development. An abridged version of the report and links to the specific programs are available at the Carnegie web site.
Looping: Teachers and Students Progressing Together
Looping, when a teacher moves with his or her students to the next grade level, is still uncommon in United States and Canada. Austrian educator Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf Education) advocated looping earlier in the 20th century and the system has been used in European school systems for years. An Education World article cites advantages and disadvantages gleaned from several reports on schools using looping in the US. Links to resources and information about looping, such as an ERIC Digest, are also provided.
School for Dyslexics Wins Newspaper Competition
Nunnykirk School in Morpeth, Northumberland, England, a school in which all the students are dyslexic, beat rivals from the mainstream education system with its school magazine in an open competition run by The Journal newspaper in Newcastle. Over 100 schools entered. The edition included interviews with ex-beatle Sir Paul McCartney and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Updated July 18, 1999