Peace Education

There is a website dedicated to compiling sites related to Montessori Peace Education. Being an early childhood Montessori teacher, it is very relevant to me, however, it is also a relevant site generally to anyone interested in peace education.

The book we read and discussed for week 3, The Soul of Education by Rachael Kessler mentions Montessorian Aline Wolf concerning responding to children involving spirituality in schools. In the list of Montessori sites on peace education, Aline Wolf's website is listed. I often read her book The Peaceful Classroom in my classroom and find it especially helpful at the beginning of the school year, however, I make a point to keep referring to it throughout the year. The children relate to the illustrations that are done by Montessori children all over the world. They are excited to know that there are classrooms so much like theirs across the country as well as in other countries on other continents.

Another book by Aline Wolf that is relevant to our topic of "soul in education" is Nurturing the Spirit in Non-Sectarian Classrooms. In Part 3 of this book she discusses a variety of ideas for "nurturing the spirit" of children in classrooms, such as cultivating stillness, wonder, cosmic education, care of the earth, and peace education. She also discusses explaining spiritual nurture to parents.

The website listing Montessori Peace Education sites is http://www.peace.ca/montessorisites.htm

Aline Wolf's website is www.parentchildpress.com

A Useful Website Focusing on Education Reform

The Center for Education Reform hosts a website dedicated to the topic of education reform. Included are news, issues, fast facts, resources, and commentary. It looks like a good source of information.

The CER started in 1993 in the District of Columbia. They describe themselves as "the leading national organization for necessary structural change in American education." It looks like they are a grassroots advocacy group that provides information and support to communities, families, schools, and states.

In the Ed Reform Fast Facts is an overview of school choice and charter programs. States are listed under such headings as Public School Choice Permitted Throughout the State (there are 9 states listed); Charter School States That Have Strong to Medium Strength Laws (Grades A - B), Charter School States That Have Weak Laws (Grades C - F); Publicly-Sponsored Full School Choice (Cleveland, OH; District of Columbia; Milwaukee, WI; Florida); Publicly-Sponsored Secular School Choice (Maine, Vermont).

CER's State-by-State Scorecard compiled April 2006 rates states in a number of categories including their improvement over pre-NCLB performance. It is interesting to see the amount of money per child each state spends. Mississippi spends the least ($5,890 per child) while District of Columbia spends the most ($15,489 per child!)

To explore this website your self, go to http://www.edreform.com/

Governer of Ohio Takes Leadership in Education Reform

The author of the article in the Beacon Journal titled, "Strickland says task is to build a consensus", reports, "Unlike his predecessors, Bob Taft and George Voinovich, Strickland believes the leadership on education reform must come from the governor's office and he will not convene a commission or create a task force to study the issue." This stand keeps the governer imtimately involved with the state education reform issue since he believes, "It may be the most important issue in terms of the long-term well-being of our state, and I don't think it is something that can be delegated to an external group." The author of the article explains that "Strickland said he plans to meet with interested parties, find a common ground and try to reach a consensus."

The journalist, Dennis J. Willard, also reports Governer Strickland's criticism of the state board of education for trying "to include intelligent design in the statewide science curriculum" and for recently adopting "an anti-bullying policy that failed to include taunting for sexual orientation." I agree with the governer's positions on those issues.

In conclusion, the article reports on Governer Strickland's friendly sense of humor in dealing with Republican opposition to "his concerns about the control of charter schools." He plans to give two Ohio Republican leaders, the House Speaker, and the Senate President, softball tee-shirts with relevant symbols on them (when the time is right), using the metaphore of playing softball in government.

The article can be read at: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/17495241.htm

A Case for Reforming the NCLB Act

Realistically, to work with the NCLB law, the points made in the LA Times article "Don't leave this law behind" on July 11th seem helpful. The author, Ronald Brownstein, proposes reforms of NCLB that focus on targeting high-poverty schools "as the law intended" and reforms that refocus on funding transfers and after-school tutoring "as the law requires."

To read the article, the link is:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brownstein11jul11,0,1454677.column?coll=la-opinion-center