March/April 2001

Abstracts

The New Face of Homeschooling
By Peggy J. Farber

Not so long ago, homeschooling families were entirely on their own to find curricula, provide opportunities for socializing, and monitor academic growth. Today, an increasing number of school districts are offering homeschooling parents a rich array of benefits such as part-time classes, access to extracurricular services, and online learning plans in the hopes of attracting homeschoolers. One reason is financial: some districts are losing so many students to homeschooling that their per-pupil state and federal subsidies are declining-money they get if they provide assistance to those kids. Another is academic: helping homeschoolers ensures that districts can aid and monitor students' academic performance. This article explores current innovations in homeschooling practices and the changing relationship between homeschooling families and their school districts.

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Collateral Damage
By Lisa Birk

Social justice education has been credited with reducing violence in schools, combating prejudices, and making students more responsible citizens. But faced with increased pressure to raise standardized test scores, many teachers have been forced to relegate social justice learning to the academic periphery by shortening their units or-in some cases-abandoning them altogether. Lisa Birk reports on the dilemmas teachers of social justice curricula experience in an education climate dominated by high-stakes testing. She also cites several studies that document the benefits of social justice programs. One group of researchers, for example, found a lower incidence of racism among participating students, and another showed that students were less inclined toward violence-and even did better academically-after a social justice curriculum. Birk's analysis raises important questions about what gets lost when educators are forced to "teach to the test."

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Turning Obstacles into Opportunity
By Judith A. Langer

Why are some schools and districts more successful than others in raising academic achievement? Judith A. Langer, director of the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA) reports on a series of research projects conducted over a five-year period. CELA researchers found that three attitudes and practices were the most common obstacles to success: 1) teaching to standardized tests; 2) an overemphasis on "the right answer" in teaching at the expense of deeper "generative learning," and; 3) the perception that student diversity is a liability. Langer says that by turning these three factors around, educators can transform accountability from a threat into an opportunity.

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