Alexandria, Va. (December 1, 2010) — In its December issue, American School Board Journal (ASBJ) examines two high schools in Camden, N.J.—one a charter, one a traditional public school—to see how school choice has impacted the high-poverty community. "A Tale of Two Schools" goes inside Woodrow Wilson High School, where 30 percent of students are classified as needing special education services, to look at ways the school is trying to personalize its instruction to better reach its diverse, highly mobile, and extremely underprivileged student population. At nearby LEAP Academy University Charter School, which has a waitlist of nearly 600 students, there is a selection enrollment processes and the school has far fewer special-needs students.
"This is a fascinating look at the challenges schools face as to improve their students’ educations and lives," said ASBJ’s Editor-in-Chief Glenn Cook. "ASBJ’s review brings much-needed insight to the current and often simplistic debate over charters versus traditional public schools."
While a charter school or school choice policy takes years to create, an inappropriate Facebook posting or Twitter tweet can cause a major headache for school leaders in a matter of minutes. ASBJ examines social networking policies, as many school board members and administrators are looking to rewrite their policies to guide teachers and other district employees as they use the increasingly popular tools.
And with an unusually large number of suicides linked to school bullying, particularly of gay and lesbian students, ASBJ looks at ways school officials can prevent the torment and build educational environments that are accepting of all students.
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American School Board Journal (www.asbj.com), published monthly by the National School Boards Association, serves almost 40,000 school board members and top-level administrators from districts across the nation. The K-12 magazine, published continuously since 1891, has won 17 national honors for education reporting and design since 2006.
NOTE TO REPORTERS: Some articles on ASBJ’s website require a subscription or payment to view. To receive complimentary online access, please contact NSBA’s Communications Office.
ASBJ's links:
"A Tale of Two Cities"
http://www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2010/December/School-Choice-Who-Gets-Left-Behind.aspx
"Network Connections"
http://www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2010/December/Teachers-and-Social-Networks.aspx
"Stop the Harassment"
http://www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2010/December/Stop-Bullying-Now.aspx