Newsletter of Phi Delta Kappa International, the Professional
Education Fraternity
VOLUME 40, NUMBER 2, WINTER 1995 (ISSN 0028-923X)
THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SAYS At a recent meeting of the PDK Board of Directors, someone said that the "torch has been passed from Lowell Rose to Ron Joekel." That is not a bad image, but I prefer to see the transition as the passing of a baton in a great relay race. Each runner starts where the last has left off, building on the lead that the previous runner has gained. It is with a great deal of humility that I approach my new role in Phi Delta Kappa. It will be difficult to fill the shoes of Lowell Rose, who brought PDK so far in his quarter-century of leadership. But I am proud to have been selected as the next runner to carry the baton. Over the years, Phi Delta Kappa has earned a reputation for excellence. We must keep this characteristic at the forefront throughout our careers. People and programs come and go, but excellence must remain our priority. Many of you will remember that my theme during my term as president of PDK was: "Dream no small dreams; make no small plans." Yes, I am a dreamer and a doer. I am committed to education and have spent my entire career as an educator. I know of no more noble calling. I am honored to carry the baton as the executive director of Phi Delta Kappa. I am looking forward to both the opportunities and the challenges. I look forward to the challenges because I know we will be facing them together. I can say this because I know what a great organization this is. This is a time of collaboration. I am confident that together we are facing an exciting and most profitable period. And I am deeply grateful to all of you for giving me the opportunity to serve Phi Delta Kappa. I pledge to you my loyalty, skill, and fortitude; and I desire to work with you as we face the challenges ahead. About 1,300 delegates, alternates, and guests gathered in Detroit in late October for PDK's 45th Biennial Council, which was held at the Westin Hotel and the Cobo Convention Center. President Douglas Bedient presided at the business sessions of the council; and during the final session, he passed the presidential gavel to George Thomas, a professor at Mississippi State University-Meridian. In his address to the council, Bedient reviewed his two years as PDK International President, describing the many accomplishments of the fraternity at that time. He also described his concerns for the future of PDK. The fraternity is facing a period of great change, Bedient told Kappans. The fraternity must meet these challenges if it is to continue to be an influential force in education. George Thomas emphasized both tradition and transition in his first address as PDK International President. He stressed that the fraternity must maintain the excellent traditions that have helped to make it a leader in education, but it also must change and develop in order to meet the challenges of the future. Thomas announced his theme for his presidency, "PDK Can & Will." This year, for the first time, the council's opening ceremonies were broadcast live to chapters by satellite. Featured in that telecast were PDK President Douglas Bedient; Executive Director Lowell Rose, who retired at the end of November; and PDK Past President Ronald Joekel, who became PDK's new executive director on December 1. Delegates at the council participated in a variety of professional programs and conducted the business of the fraternity. Among the business items, the council acted on the following:
The other important business conducted at the council was the election of officers for the next biennium. Those elected or re-elected are:
The above officers, along with President George Thomas and Immediate Past President Douglas Bedient, constitute the Board of Directors for the next biennium. In addition to conducting the business of the fraternity, delegates and guests had opportunities to attend forums on a variety of education issues and on chapter operation. Among the sessions on issues in education were programs on responsible inclusion, using computers to create a global classroom, violence in schools, teaching diverse student populations, the purpose of public schools, public policies on education, and portfolio assessment. Major speakers at the council included John F. "Jack" Jennings, director of the Center on National Education Policy, which is co-sponsored by PDK and the Institute for Educational Leadership; PDK Senior Fellow Jack Frymier; Michael Fullan, dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto; and Dean Berkley, professor emeritus at Indiana University. Jennings called for a national effort to "reframe the basic dialogue" about education. "There's something seriously wrong with the perception of education in this country," Jennings said. He asked delegates to become "1,200 editors" to review the draft document, "Do We Still Need Public Schools?" which will be used to initiate wide-ranging discussions about the basic nature of public schools and how proposed reforms can be evaluated fairly. Frymier described the chapter-based PDK Study of Core Values, which he directed. A report of that study is presented on page 4. Fullan compared the change process in schools to chaos theory. While patterns can be seen, many problems will be unexpected, Fullan told the delegates. Thus educators should not try to plan for every problem that can arise. Instead, educators must combine a commitment to their students with knowledge of how the change process works. Berkley kept delegates in stitches during his speech, "Laugh for the Health of It." Educators, he reminded the audience, should take time every day to laugh in order to improve their health and their outlook on life. "Humor consumers do not have to be humor producers," he said, explaining that educators should pay attention to the funny things they encounter each day. PDK OFFERS "CHAPTER AID" At its summer meeting, the PDK Board of Directors directed the Headquarters staff to identify and provide appropriate assistance to chapters that are in danger of disbanding. PDK Executive Director Lowell Rose explained that an unprecedented number of chapters are at risk of losing their charters. While the number still is relatively small, the Board of Directors decided to take action before the trend becomes greater. Several chapters have been identified as needing immediate assistance to avoid problems with attendance and programs, recruitment of officers, and initiations. The new Chapter Assistance Committee will work with district representatives and area coordinators to help chapters before they decide to disband. The chair of the committee, PDK Director of Chapter Programs Howard Hill, explained that Phi Delta Kappa has a wealth of information from successful chapters and that the strategies learned from these chapters must be shared with those at risk. "Often we did not learn that a chapter was in trouble until it was too late to help," Hill said. "The new committee, working with district representatives and area coordinators, will be able to identify at-risk chapters and offer help before their problems become overwhelming." Hill explained that the committee will work only with chapters that are in danger of disbanding. However, many of the strategies that can help these chapters also can be used to make a strong chapter even more successful. "Phi Delta Kappa depends on its chapters," Hill said. "To be successful, we must make our chapter base as strong as possible." Five chapters in Area 2E (California) joined with chapters in Arizona to offer a weekend institute for high school juniors interested in teaching careers. In addition, chapters from Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah sponsored students for the institute, which was held on the California State University-Los Angeles campus in July. Area 2E Coordinator Daniel Towler, who directed the institute, reported that 51 students participated in the three-day event. All the students were supported by chapters, local universities, or individuals, Towler said; each student paid only $5 to register. The institute was designed to allow students who had completed their junior year of high school to explore teaching careers. Towler explained that the California program was adapted from the PDK International Summer Institutes for Prospective Educators, held each July in Bloomington. The chapters used the same system for selecting students and also used many of the same materials, adapting them to meet their local needs. One highlight of the institute was a trip to Dodgers Stadium to meet the baseball team and to watch the game. Each student also received a Dodgers baseball cap signed by the players. During the game, photographs of the students were put on the message board along with a statement about Phi Delta Kappa, the chapters, and the institute. "They never had an experience like this, where a stadium full of Dodgers fans saw these kids and showed their appreciation," Towler said. Students engaged in a variety of activities, including workshops and practice teaching sessions. The students also designed their own "dream schools," which encouraged them to work with others to turn limited resources into challenges to be overcome. Other activities included computer workshops, presentations, and an "Education Treasure Hunt." Several follow-up activities also are planned. One activity involves a letter that each student wrote to himself or herself, describing the student's plans and dreams for the coming year. Those letters will be mailed to those students at the end of the year so they can compare what they have accomplished with what they hoped to do. The only problem with the institute was that too much was packed into the weekend, Towler said. He explained that future institutes will include more free time for the students. Towler said that he hopes other chapters will establish their own future teacher institutes. He explained that the weekend format is one that many chapters can duplicate, and he is willing to provide information for chapters that wish to establish their own prospective educator institutes. Twenty chapters received Awards of Excellence in PDK's 1994-95 Chapter Newsletter Contest. The awards were announced at the Biennial Council in Detroit, where the winning newsletters were on display. The 20 award-winning newsletters were selected on the basis of their appearance, readability, content, layout, and design. The winning chapters received a $150 grant to enhance program activity during the 1995-96 year, and the newsletter editors received framed certificates. In addition, a special camera-ready logo, identifying the newsletter as a winner of the PDK award, was given to the editors to reproduce on their newsletters. The chapters receiving the Award of Excellence are: Calgary In addition to the 20 Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit were given to 37 chapters. These awards are given to recognize special features in a series of newsletters. Another 29 Special Citations were awarded to chapters to recognize single features in a newsletter. A booklet containing the names of the winning chapters was given to participants at the Biennial Council and will be sent to all chapter newsletter editors. That booklet includes reproductions of some of the best newsletters with a discussion of the criteria used by the judges in selecting those newsletters as the best. A special committee appointed by PDK President Douglas Bedient met at PDK Headquarters in August to select the winning newsletters from the 152 chapters that entered the contest. The members of the committee and their chapters are: Greg Gibbs (State University of New York/Buffalo), Goni Michaeloff (Gateway East Illinois), Ray C. Newton (Northern Arizona University), Virginia Stackens (Jackson Area Tennessee), and Sheila Tripp (University of British Columbia). Members of the Metro Atlanta/Georgia State University Chapter have been researching a curious historical aspect of one of the local school systems. From 1902 to 1932, the schools in Decatur, Georgia, held classes on Saturday and had Monday off. Project director Tom Keating explained that the evidence suggests that the primary reason for Saturday classes was to discourage Jews from moving to the district. It was during this period that the Industrial Removal Office sent trainloads of Jewish immigrants from New York to the South, including to nearby Atlanta; and the Jewish population in Atlanta had grown from 1,500 to about 11,000 in the decade from 1916 to 1926. Keating pointed out that the Ku Klux Klan was rechartered in Atlanta in 1916, and there were many other incidences of anti-Semitism. Chapter members pored over the Georgia superintendents' annual reports from the period, which are kept at the Guttmann Library in Harvard. They also searched through old newspapers and interviewed older residents. "Another possible reason for the Saturday classes, which is mentioned in newspaper reports of the time, is that Monday classes would have forced students to study on Sunday," Keating said. While that reason is possible, there were no other school districts in conservative Christian communities that held school on Saturday, Keating said. Although residents who were alive during that period recalled that the reason for Saturday classes was to keep Jews out of the community, there is very little in the school board minutes and city commission records about the topic, Keating said. However, there were two school board votes on the topic. The two school board votes both resulted in ties. In 1927, the community voted on the policy for the first time. "What the records do show is a community divided," Keating said. Only "white heads of families" were permitted to vote on the topic, Keating reported. These people voted 413 to 197 to end Saturday classes. Currently, the chapter is working to disseminate what they have found. A documentary has been produced for an Atlanta television station. The history of Saturday classes is more than just an interesting story; it also has relevance for today, Keating explained. Schools currently are facing issues of diversity, and it is important to understand how policy, the community, and the school interact. And at a time when many school districts are asking an aging white population to pay for educating children who increasingly are different, a historical perspective is very important. The Broward County Florida Chapter and the Broward County Medical Association are collaborating to provide unusual inservice opportunities for teachers. Doctors from the medical association have developed a "mini- internship" for teachers. These internships include day-long experiences at both a large public hospital and a private hospital. Participating teachers will tour the hospitals and accompany doctors on their rounds. Special attention will be given to the advances in medical technology, including its use in research and administration. "Teachers will get to see how the whole medical field is set up in the county," chapter president Robert Schmidlin explained. "They will gain knowledge about health care, science, technology, and other topics that they can use in their classrooms." While the internships will be of interest particularly to health educators, all teachers will be encouraged to participate, Schmidlin said. He explained that modern hospitals include a complex web of services and professions, so that there will be information that every teacher can use. The mini-internships are one of several programs that have grown out of the chapter's very successful diabetes project, Schmidlin explained. That project provides diabetes screening, treatment, and counseling for students and inservice programs for educators. Chapters are encouraged to nominate student teachers for a new program from PDK. At its summer meeting, the PDK Board of Directors approved the Excellence in Student Teaching Awards to recognize exemplary talents among those who someday may be Kappans. Both undergraduate and graduate students will be eligible for the award. The students must be engaged in student teaching for a minimum of six weeks. Candidates must receive an application from a PDK chapter, and the application must be signed by the college or university official who oversees the teaching experience. In addition to the application, candidates for this award may supply up to three pieces of evidence to support their application. These may be brief videotapes, portfolios, letters of recommendation, demonstration projects, or other evidence of their teaching skills. Chapters will evaluate the applications and submit up to two applications to their area coordinator by March 21. The area coordinators will judge the applications from each chapter and submit one candidate to PDK Headquarters by April 15. There will be one recipient of this award from each coordinator area and one from among the international chapters. Each recipient will receive a certificate, a subscription to the "Kappan," a set of fastbacks, and a $100 cash award. Wilmer K. Bugher, former associate executive secretary of Phi Delta Kappa, died on 20 August 1995. Initiated into the Indiana University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa on 18 January 1962, Bugher joined the staff at PDK Headquarters in September 1973. On 30 January 1975, he was named associate executive secretary, a position he held until his retirement in November 1985. Bugher also served as director of the Center for the Dissemination of Innovative Programs. After his retirement, he continued to serve Phi Delta Kappa on special projects and directed the tallying of ballots for the PDK elections at biennial councils. Born on 7 January 1920, Bugher began his career as a teacher in 1947. Before joining the PDK staff, he had served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in Indiana. More than 10,000 people participated in the PDK Study of Core Values. The report of the study was presented at the 45th Biennial Council in Detroit. The PDK Study of Core Values was directed by PDK Senior Fellow Jack Frymier. The study used a variety of methods for collecting data, including chapter-based research, surveys, and community meetings. Researchers from 36 chapters administered questionnaires to teachers, administrators, and school board members; conducted case studies of programs that teach students about values; and conducted studies to meet the needs and interests in their areas. Participating chapters also conducted meetings for members of the community to explore questions of values, discuss values issues, and collect data for the study. In addition, 127 chapters participated in a special values teleconference in November 1994 to discuss values in education. "The Study of Core Values was really a number of simultaneous studies," Frymier said. In addition to the chapter research and community meetings, the study also included a questionnaire in the Kappan, a survey of a random sample of Kappans, and surveys of high school teachers and students. Frymier, who also conducted the chapter-based study of at-risk students, explained that one impetus for this study came from a review of responses to the PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. Respondents to that poll over the years indicated that they believe there is a set of core values that public schools can teach. Frymier said that the purpose of the chapter-based study was to determine if there are such agreed-on values and whether public schools should teach those values. The major part of the study was based on a publication by the Educational Policies Commission in 1938, Frymier explained. "We were trying to look at values with which people agreed 60 years ago to see if they still agreed with those values. Overwhelmingly, they did." Frymier said, "There is a perception that the values of the schools have changed; but in fact, they have not." As part of the study, high school teachers were asked to predict how their students would respond to questions about values. In addition, high school students were asked to respond to the same questions. "While high school teachers were reasonably accurate in predicting some of the values of students, in most cases the teachers saw the kids as worse than they really are," Frymier said. One advantage in conducting a number of simultaneous studies is that the researchers were able to look at people in many types of communities and to use a variety of instruments to see how they agreed. There was strong agreement among different populations. For example, students in the Catholic high schools of a small Midwestern city were compared with inner- city high school students in a large urban public school, and there was very little difference in values, Frymier reported. In addition to collecting data about agreed-on values, participating chapters also collected materials, activities, and programs that have been used in schools to teach values. A discussion of the findings from this study will be published in January. In addition, PDK plans to develop a kit for chapters that can be used for staff development activities. The members of the coordinating committee for this study are Frymier; Luvern Cunningham, the Novice G. Fawcett Professor of Educational Administration Emeritus at Ohio State University; Frances Link, from Curriculum Development Associates; Father James Schol, a parish priest in Omaha, Nebraska; June Rimmer, principal of Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis; Bruce Gansneder, professor at the University of Virginia; and Willard Duckett, assistant director of PDK's Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research. "The topic of core values and education is very controversial," Frymier said. "However, this is a question that comes up repeatedly over the years. Schools need to have some empirical information to help them cope with this question when it arises, as it surely will." Phi Delta Kappa and the International Renewal Institute are sponsoring a three-day conference on Instrumental Enrichment this spring. The major presenter at that conference is Reuven Feuerstein, who developed the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) program while working with low- functioning and autistic children. Feuerstein rejected the idea that intelligence is fixed and designed a curriculum to build the cognitive function of children. The IE program provides students with the concepts, skills, and techniques to become independent learners. The "Teaching for Intelligence" conference meets on March 19-21 at the Westin Hotel in the Renaissance Center in Detroit. During the conference, Feuerstein will demonstrate IE with students from the Detroit Public Schools. In addition, participants will visit local schools to see IE used with students in real classrooms. Other sessions will include using IE with special education students, in bilingual programs, and for adult education. All participants also will participate in mediated learning lessons with a demonstration team from the Detroit Public Schools Mediated Learning Center. To register for the conference or for more information, call the International Renewal Institute at 1-800-348-4474. Application forms for the 1996 Scholarship Grants for Prospective Educators have been sent to chapter foundation representatives. Sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa and the PDK Educational Foundation, these scholarships are designed to encourage outstanding high school seniors to pursue careers in education. This program depends on the local chapters for its success. Applications are distributed only through chapters. The chapters are responsible for collecting the applications from their service area, screening the applicants, and forwarding up to two applications to PDK Headquarters for consideration as International Scholarship winners. In addition to the applications sent to PDK Headquarters for the international competition, chapters are encouraged to award their own scholarships. Applications were mailed to chapters in October. The completed applications are to be received by chapters by 31 January 1996. The deadline for chapters to forward their selected applications to PDK Headquarters is 22 February 1996. The recipients of the international scholarships will be chosen in March. Applications for the Howard M. Soule Graduate Fellowships in Educational Leadership will be sent to chapter foundation representatives and Kappan graduate students in January. They must be returned to PDK Headquarters by 1 May 1996 in order to be considered for the program. These fellowships were established to promote education leadership by providing financial aid to worthy Kappan graduate students working on master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees. Candidates must be full-time students during the year of the award and must be members in good standing of Phi Delta Kappa. Five fellowships will be awarded in three categories. Two $1,500 fellowships will be awarded to doctoral students. One $750 fellowship will be awarded to a student working on a master's or specialist degree. And two $500 fellowships will be awarded for research on a dissertation or thesis. For more information about the Soule Fellowships, contact: Phi Delta Kappa P.O. Box 789 Bloomington, IN 47402-0789
By 1 November 1995, 7,002 individuals had contributed $125,630 to the 1995- 96 Annual Fund campaign for the PDK Educational Foundation. In addition, more than 1,800 Kappans have pledged $6,109 to the Educational Foundation. Many Kappans have benefited directly from Foundation programs. About 180 chapters each year take advantage of the Foundation Author Seminar/Lecture Series, which provides authors of fastbacks and PDK monographs for chapter meetings, community programs, and other activities. In addition, more than 30 chapters each year sponsor Leadership Skill Institutes, which are designed to help educators learn the skills and strategies for dealing with professional issues. Among the other programs sponsored by the PDK Educational Foundation are the Scholarships for Prospective Educators, the Summer Institutes for Prospective Educators, the Gabbard Institutes, the Gerald Read International Seminar Scholarships, and the Victoria C.T. Read Adopt-a-Scholar Program. At the 45th Biennial Council in Detroit, awards were presented to the chapters, areas, and district with the best giving records in last year's Annual Fund campaign. The St. Joseph Missouri and Northern Virginia Chapters were given awards as the outstanding chapters in PDK. The Loudoun- Northern Virginia Chapter was the outstanding new chapter among those installed in the last biennium. District VIII was the outstanding district. And Area 7K and Area 8E were the outstanding coordinator areas in the fraternity. In addition, five chapters received "Sweepstakes Awards," which are given to the chapters with the highest combined rankings based on the percentage and number of good-standing members contributing and the average gift per good-standing member. Those chapters were: Beaver College, Greater Cleveland Ohio Inter-University, Kern California, Milwaukee, and Southwest Florida. As part of the Annual Fund campaign, chapters are recognized for their contributions to the Foundation. By October 1995, 21 chapters qualified for membership in the 1995-96 20/20 Club. To qualify for membership, either 20% of a chapter's members in good standing or 20 members, whichever is greater, must contribute at least $5 to the Annual Fund. The chapters in the 1995-96 20/20 Club so far are listed below. The number in parentheses after the name of the chapter indicates the number of consecutive years that chapter has qualified for membership. 1995-96 20/20 Club Central Indiana (7) At the Biennial Council in Detroit, a special scholarship drive was announced to honor former PDK Executive Director Lowell Rose, who retired in December, and his wife, Mary. Rose had been PDK's executive director since 1971. In his quarter-century of service, he supervised the remarkable growth of the fraternity. He also supervised such major changes in the fraternity as the admission of women in 1974 and the expansion of PDK's professional development services. Rose also was influential in the growth of the PDK Educational Foundation, which supports much of the program activity of the fraternity. Last summer, Lowell and Mary Rose established a $10,000 scholarship fund in the PDK Educational Foundation to provide scholarships for prospective educators. Within weeks, contributions from PDK's Board of Directors, the Foundation Board of Governors, area coordinators, and Headquarters staff more than doubled the endowment. Further contributions from chapters increased the endowment to more than $57,000 before Rose retired. These contributions were the start of an effort that will be carried out as part of the 1995-96 Annual Fund campaign and that will involve individual Kappans as well as chapters. The formal effort to honor Lowell and Mary Rose began at the Foundation Banquet at the 45th Biennial Council in October. The Lowell C. and Mary J. Rose Scholarships are administered as part of the Prospective Educator Scholarship Program. However, the Rose Scholarships are special because they are the only scholarships in that program that can be renewed by qualified recipients for all four years of their undergraduate career. The first recipients of the Lowell C. and Mary J. Rose Scholarship will be chosen in spring 1996. For more information about the Lowell C. and Mary J. Rose Scholarship, see the flyer enclosed with this issue of "NN&Q." Thirteen chapters are sponsoring PDK Leadership Skill Institutes on the topic, "Family Involvement in Education." The Leadership Skill Institutes, a program of Phi Delta Kappa and the PDK Educational Foundation, are designed to help educators learn skills and strategies for dealing with professional issues. The institutes are planned and conducted by local chapters with cooperation and financial assistance from PDK. The chapters, sites, and dates for these institutes are: Lake Charles Louisiana Chapter St. Vrain Valley Colorado Chapter University of Southern Maine Chapter Trabuco California Chapter Utah State University Chapter Louisiana Bayou Chapter Osceola County Florida Chapter Georgia Southern University Chapter University of Wisconsin/River Falls Chapter Ozark Mountain Arkansas Chapter Wayne State University Chapter Central Massachusetts Chapter Great River Iowa Chapter The topic for the fall 1996 series will be "Self-Directed Learning." For more information about the above Leadership Skill Institutes, or for information about sponsoring a future institute, contact: Director of Chapter Programs Phi Delta Kappa P.O. Box 789 Bloomington, IN 47402-0789
Ronald G. Joekel became the executive director of Phi Delta Kappa on December 1, following the retirement of Lowell C. Rose. "I am excited about joining the staff at PDK," Joekel said. "Phi Delta Kappa is a great organization with a tradition of quality and excellence. We need to build on that tradition as we look to the future." Joekel is only the fourth executive to lead PDK in its 90-year history, following Paul M. Cook (1928-56), Maynard Bemis (1956-70), and Lowell Rose (1971-95). The position of executive secretary, later executive director, did not exist prior to 1928. Joekel, who was PDK International President from 1985 to 1987, has been an active Kappan for 35 years. He served in a variety of chapter offices before becoming Area 4A Coordinator in 1972, and he served as the District IV Representative and as a vice president before being elected president. Before joining the PDK staff, Joekel was chairman of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He also has been a social studies teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent. Among Joekel's first tasks will be to meet with Headquarters staff, members of the Board of Directors, and other Kappans to plan the future directions for the fraternity. "It will take all of us working together to take the organization to its next level," Joekel said. "It is the people in an organization who shape where it is headed, and Kappans have the vision and the dreams to enlarge our prominent reputation around the world." Retired PDK Executive Director Lowell Rose remarked that Joekel's vision already has shaped Phi Delta Kappa. "His theme during his presidency, "Dream No Small Dreams, Make No Small Plans," set the tone for Phi Delta Kappa's development over the next 10 years," Rose said. It was during Joekel's presidency that the Futures Committee, on which Joekel served, made the recommendations that shaped PDK's program directions. The Mid-Florida Chapter was presented with the Membership Development Premier Award at the 45th Biennial Council in Detroit. The chapter was recognized as having the most innovative and effective membership activities. The Membership Development Committee met at PDK Headquarters in September to select the award winners from the 47 chapters that entered the contest. The committee members and their chapters are: Lois Neuman (Jersey City State College), Eddie White (Metro Atlanta/Georgia State University), and Jean P. Wren (University of Houston/Clear Lake City). In addition to the Premier Award, four chapters were awarded certificates of Meritorious Achievement. Those chapters are: Indiana University, Midland Texas, Sioux Falls South Dakota, and Taiwan. Six chapters received Achievement Awards: Arecibo Puerto Rico, Buffalo South, Decatur Illinois, Guam, Long Island University, and University of Kansas. Five chapters received special recognition: High Point University/Central Carolina, Sinnissippi Illinois, Southern New Jersey/Richard Stockton College, University of Nebraska/Lincoln, and University of Pittsburgh- Three Rivers. In addition, eight chapters received honorable mention: Central Savannah River Area Georgia, Governors State University, Marquette University, Meridian Area Mississippi, Northeast Georgia, Plattsburgh New York, University of Houston-University Park, and Tampa Florida. Neville Robertson, former director of PDK's Center for the Dissemination of Innovative Programs, died on 2 October 1995. Born on 11 April 1926 in Harare, Zimbabwe, Robertson's professional career included teaching and administration in five countries. He also worked for 10 years as a human resources researcher for industry in Africa. Initiated into the Indiana University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa on 2 August 1967, Robertson first joined the staff at PDK Headquarters in 1968. He served first as a research assistant and then as an assistant to the executive director until 1974. In 1985, Robertson returned to the United States to become the director of the Center for the Dissemination of Innovative Programs. When that center merged with the Professional Development Center in January 1995, Robertson was named Special Assistant to the Executive Director with responsibility for computer technology. Phi Delta Kappa is co-sponsoring two school networks designed to promote school reform throughout the nation. These networks offer staff development workshops, PDK seminars, and a variety of other services that will help schools work together for change. The Network of Mindful Schools is an intense restructuring project based on the concept of "the school as a home for the mind," developed by Art Costa. Schools in this network believe that the school should stimulate the cooperative, cognitive growth of everyone involved. Each participating school designs pilot projects to meet its own needs; and teams of consultants help each site with training, implementation, and assessment. Schools in the Multiple Intelligences Network build their restructuring efforts on the theory of multiple intelligences developed by cognitive psychologist Howard Gardner. A team of consultants helps each school to develop a school-community tactical plan and to integrate the theory with daily practice. These networks are co-sponsored by PDK and the International Renewal Institute. Phillip Harris, director of PDK's Center for Professional Development and Services, explained that the networks provide each school with the support and information they need to overcome problems and to implement their reforms successfully. And prominent researchers and consultants meet with the school leadership teams to provide practical support. For more information about these networks or to join your school with others that are implementing similar reforms, call the network coordinators at IRI/Skylight, 1-800-348-4474. Phi Delta Kappa and the Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT) have produced a series of audiotapes featuring many of the leaders in education. This series, called the "AIT School Leadership Institute," contains thought-provoking interviews with Gerald Bracey, Marie Carbo, Howard Gardner, John Goodlad, Alfie Kohn, Theodore Sizer, David Lazear, and others. The interviews are conducted by Phillip Harris, director of Phi Delta Kappa's Center for Professional Development and Services. These tapes offer a convenient way for educators to learn about such important issues as curriculum development, assessment and testing, school reorganization, and other topics. They can turn a routine commute to work into a professional development session. In addition, selected PDK fastbacks that deal with the topics discussed in the interviews will be included with the tapes. To order the "AIT School Leadership Institute" or for more information, call the Agency for Instructional Technology, 1-800-457-4509. Available in February The title of this book was inspired by the Wannsee Conference, in which the "learned men" of Nazi Germany in 1942 convened for the purpose of working out the Final Solution to the Jewish "problem." Scholar David Patterson asks the question: What had gone wrong with the education system that conferred its highest degrees on these men? In seven essays, Patterson pursues this question in relation to today's colleges and universities. Also available in February "Open Lives, Safe Schools" is written for educators and others concerned about schooling, because anti-gay discrimination affects everyone in schools. The central premise of this wide-ranging collection of 21 essays is that allowing students, parents, educators, and others who are part of the school community -- from kindergarten through graduate school -- to live openly in terms of sexual orientation is healthy for everyone. "At the Threshold of the Millennium" This volume was developed to honor Phi Delta Kappa Executive Director Lowell C. Rose on the occasion of his retirement. The authors of these 14 essays look back at their many and varied experiences in education and then cast their eyes forward to speculate about the future of education. "The Revolution Revisited: Effective Schools and Systemic Reform" A basic tenet of the Effective Schools movement is that all children can master the basic skills needed to be successful in school. "The Revolution Revisited" examines the Effective Schools movement as a school reform philosophy and renewal process for today and for the coming years. "A Digest of Supreme Court Decisions Affecting Education, Third Edition" Designed as a ready reference, this new edition of "A Digest of Supreme Court Decisions Affecting education" provides a comprehensive, current, and concise set of individual case summaries of U.S. Supreme Court cases decided as of December 1994. "Anatomy of a Book Controversy" In "Anatomy of a Book Controversy," writer, teacher, and researcher Wayne Homstad describes one school district's attempt to answer two basic questions: What should students read? Who should decide what students read? ORDER THESE BOOKS DIRECT BY CALLING 1-800-766-1156. |