This book contains hands-on science laboratory activities for grades 4 through 9 that use discrepant events to challenge students. All of the "puzzlers" are based upon science principles and include directions for building gadgets that explain the "puzzlers." Topics covered include: volume conservation, magnetic phenomena,…

This paper describes the problems and challenges faced by nontraditional magnet schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The first magnet schools that opened in 1986 and 1991 were based on the Paideia model proposed by Adler (1982). Due to a high level of parent demand, the school district closed three of the poorest performing schools and reopened them…

Opportunities to learn and discover surround a young child every day. The activities and ideas within this book have been formulated to encourage a child's natural curiosity and sense of wonder and to engage all the child's senses in learning and discovery. The activities focus on the child as a natural explorer and involve children in identifying…

This paper discusses magnet schools generally and evaluates the other papers included with it in a single volume. Magnet schools have been fairly successful in meeting their stated goals, and in some cities, such as New York, they are so popular that parents must compete to gain their children's entrance. Still, magnets have tended to rely more on…

The Chicago Careers for Youth Program facilitates visits by persons working in various career clusters to classrooms to explain their jobs and the qualifications for them. The visitors serve as role models for the youth with whom they interact. The program is based on 16 career clusters that were defined by several hundred persons with careers in…

In October of the years 1984 through 1987, as part of the Annual School Program Survey, and primarily at the request of the Office of Instruction of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), all elementary, secondary, and adult school principals were asked to provide information concerning computer usage at their schools. Results of the…

This report evaluates Chapter 636 programs in the Springfield (Massachusetts) Public Schools in 1984-85. The overall goal of these programs is to improve the quality of education in a desegregated setting. The report is divided into twelve sections. The first presents a general overview of all the programs' effectiveness in meeting five general…

This transcript of testimony concerns the reauthorization of the Magnet School Assistance Program and the Impact Aid Program. The proposed Magnet School Expansion Act of 1987 would increase aid to this program, which has been successful as a means of desegregating school systems across the nation. Witnesses, including members of Congress, school…

This booklet provides parents and students with information about individual schools and programs within the Boston Public School system. The first section answers common questions about enrollment procedures, school assignments, bilingual education programs, kindergarten, transportation eligibility, family changes of address, and parent…

This publication presents the background, support documents, and the accompanying 16 units needed to teach electricity and magnetism to fifth grade students. Included are materials lists, a discussion of the use of process skill terminology, a list of unit objectives, a vocabulary list, background information for teachers, and the 16 units. Topics…

Parent participation in the education of their disadvantaged children at Buffalo (New York) Public School 37 resulted in the development of an effective reading program. Desired competencies were delineated; carefully paced and sequenced teaching plans were prepared; and criterion referenced tests were used to measure the levels of mastery of each…

This 12-chapter book examines different phenomena as viewed by those trained in physics. These views (or vistas) are promulgated to demonstrate that the infinite variety of things seen in the material world can be reduced to a handful of general laws and to share with the public the richness of the scientist's world view. The phenomena examined…

In rulings between 1954 and 1971, the Supreme Court always emphasized that racially segregated schools were inherently unconstitutional, although it upheld a system of student assignments that was neutral toward race. But with the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Board of Education decision of 1971, the court embarked on a new remedial course. A…

This paper outlines an alternative desegregation plan that would replace the one implemented in the East Baton Rouge Parish (Louisiana) School District in 1981. Known as the Incentives Desegregation Plan, the alternative plan was designed to produce interracial contact comparable to the earlier plan, without incurring the attendant costs of…