NEXUS
NEXUS magazine and video, Jesse Bryant Wilder Publisher/Editor, Carolyn Jack, Managing Editor.
Middle and high school students can read the play or other literary work that is featured in each issue of this magazine, then learn about the culture and history of that era. The premiere issue (Spring 1995) looked at James Goldman's The Lion in Winter and the Middle Ages, exploring the Crusades, feudalism, Gothic architecture, courtly love, and so on. The January 1996 issue uses Romeo and Juliet as a vehicle for exploring the Renaissance, and the April 1996 issue will focus on the Harlem Renaissance. Articles are beautifully illustrated, many with color plates. The videos take students on tours of historical sites, with actors/teachers performing scenes and relating the playwrights' insights to students' lives. Includes teacher support materials.
Available from NEXUS, Pallas Communications, Inc., 5017 Archmere Ave., Cleveland, OH 44144. (216) 661-6548. 1995/1996. 32 pp. Paperbound, $12.75 for 20 or more annual subscriptions (3 issues), $25 for 1-19 subscriptions, $9 a copy. Annual video subscriptions are $89.85 with 60 or more magazine subscriptions, $105.95 for fewer than 60, and $39.95 for each video.
Turning Potential School Dropouts Into Graduates
Turning Potential School Dropouts Into Graduates: The Case for School-Based One-to-One Tutoring, Robert Ainsworth, Associate Director, The National Commission for Employment Policy.
This report's major message is that a structured tutoring program available to all students can have an extraordinary payoff in improved learning—including reading ability, and in improved odds that kids will stay in school and graduate. The sub-message is that block scheduling facilitates such tutoring during the regular school day, particularly when a block of time is devoted to a quality tutoring program.
The 13-member advisory commission, composed of prominent labor leaders, educators, foundation heads, and university presidents, reported to President Clinton and Congress until it was disbanded as part of the 1995 federal budget rescissions.
Available free of charge from Robert Ainsworth, P.O. Box 938, 3939 Third Street, North Beach, MD 20714. (301) 855-4923. September 1995. 34 pp. Paperbound.
Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
Teacher Supervision and Evaluation: A Process for School District Self-Assessment and Improvement, Pennsylvania ASCD Supervisory Practices Committee, Jim Nolan, co-chair.
This self-study document covers four dimensions of supervising and evaluating teachers: leadership; consistency across buildings and among the various supervisors and evaluators; the extent to which a district's policy conforms to current knowledge; and philosophies of teachers, supervisors, evaluators, central office personnel, and board members. Blank tables and graphs allow for tabulating the responses of these various stakeholders, and there is an extensive bibliography.
Available from Pennsylvania ASCD, Box 7603, Lancaster, PA 17604. (717) 464-3263. 1994. 106 pp. Paperbound, $8.
Skipping Stones
Skipping Stones: A Multicultural Children's Magazine, edited by Arun N. Toke.
This bimonthly magazine, a winner of the EdPress 1995 Golden Shoestring Award, offers a playful forum for children from different lands and backgrounds to share experiences. Readers may find Native American folktales, photos by kids in India and the Ukraine, letters and drawings from South Africa and Lithuania, cartoons from China, and a list of international pen pals. There's also a guide for parents and teachers. The September/October 1995 issue highlighted the writing and art of the magazine's 10 Youth Honor Award winners for 1995.
Available from Skipping Stones, P.O. Box 3939, Eugene, OR 97403-0939. (503) 342-4956. 36 pp. Paperbound. Subscriptions are $20 for individuals, $30 for institutions ($28 airmail); single issues are $5 ($6 airmail); 50 percent discount for low-income subscribers.
Educator's Internet Companion
Educator's Internet Companion, Gregory Giagnocabo, Tim McLain, Vince DiStefano, and Chris Noonan Sturm (editor).
This practical guide features 30 reproducible K–12 lesson plans. They integrate use of the Internet into subject areas ranging from Colonial American history, creative writing, and plant anatomy to endangered species, global warming, and earthquakes. A World Wide Web chapter takes teachers on a virtual tour of 50 education-specific sites—Scholastic via gopher, ERIC via gopher and World Wide Web, and The Froggy Page and FedWorld via World Wide Web, to name a few. There's also an overview of all K–12 resources on the Internet, a list of funding sources, tutorials for new users, and a glossary. A NASA K–12 Internet Project diskette and an introductory video, Global Quest: Internet in the Classroom, are included with the book.
Available from Wentworth Worldwide Media, Inc., 1866 Colonial Village Lane, P.O. Box 10488, Lancaster, PA 17605. (800) 638-1639. (e-mail: connect@wentworth.com). 1995. 300 pp. Paperbound, $39.99.
Why Give 'Gifts' to the Gifted?
Why Give 'Gifts' to the Gifted? Lita Linzer Schwartz.
This book explores the types and characteristics of gifted youth, including their personal qualities and “the special case” of gifted females. Schwartz goes on to present nine categories of educational options for this “national resource,” along with modifications to meet the needs of specific schools or districts, whatever their budget. She also talks about fostering giftedness and presents follow-up studies.
Available from Corwin Press, Inc., P.O. Box 5084, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. (805) 499-9734. 1995. 160 pp. Hardcover. $38.00, Paperback $18.00.
