Students may never read another work of classical literature after they graduate, but they'll see things on social media every day. Few skills could be more important these days than knowing when the news they are consuming or producing is credible, and when it's fake.
School boards need to be allowed to punish students if their social media posts are harmful toward the school, students or faculty. A contract with each student should outline what they are allowed and not allowed to do according to their First Amendment rights, along with punishments for breaking the contract.
Can students pray inside their public school buildings? Can teachers say “Merry Christmas” to their students? Can religious music be played in public schools? Yes, yes and yes. Can students pray inside their public school buildings? Can teachers say “Merry Christmas” to their students? Can religious music be played in public schools? Yes, yes and yes. […]
Schools fail to adequately teach the history of American slavery, partly because teachers lack the preparation to cover it, according to a recent study from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Also, students have little basic knowledge about the role slavery played in shaping the nation: Only 8 percent of high school seniors surveyed could identify […]
Curious to know what you can and cannot teach in a religious studies class in primary, middle, and secondary schools? You can find a few resources below. The First Amendment Center offers an extensive collection of papers, books and other materials for educators to know what they can and cannot do, by law, in public […]
Teaching religion in public schools has been illegal for decades. Teaching about religion, however, is not only permissible, but is gaining traction as a way to promote greater understanding in a world of conflicting dogmas. The National Council for the Social Studies in June published guidelines on how to study religion "in ways that are […]
Neither Principal Mike Havener nor any of his administrators preview stories the students at Kirkwood High School produce for their TV broadcast, or for The Kirkwood Call newspaper or its website. Giving the high school journalists in the suburban-St. Louis district leeway to create stories that occasionally upset readers (even administrators) teaches them the full […]
The issue of fake news drew national attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, when fabricated stories were widely accepted as genuine. According to recent research, the problem extends to K12 classrooms, where students have trouble judging the credibility of online information. A national assessment of 203 middle school students by Stanford History Education Group at […]
An Ohio student's overdose in 2015 proved to be the final straw for Belpre School District Superintendent Tony Dunn. The communities surrounding the district had seen a high rate of opiate abuse over the past decade. As use trickled into schools, district leadership concluded that drug testing was necessary. Belpre High School enacted a mandatory […]
As of April, 31 states have introduced 94 different student data privacy bills, according to the nonprofit Data Quality Campaign. The governors of New Hampshire, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia approved the first student data privacy laws of 2016, with each law focusing on data governance, transparency and leadership: New Hampshire's HB 301 establishes a […]
