links 4-7-11

When Police Interrogate Children | The Freeman   "On its surface, a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court may seem to be legally trivial; it’s about a juvenile who stole from neighborhood houses. But J.D.B. v. North Carolina could redefine both the law’s “reasonable person” standard and what it means to be in custody. The case is a bellwether on the status of children’s rights and how far America has slid into a police state."


We Designed a 3-Year Degree ... and Survived - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education   "Well, I can tell you from here, that's not the half of it. Over the past three years, my college has reshaped itself from a traditional two-semester college to a full-on, year-round, residential college, teaching three semesters in a 12-month period, with three- to five-week breaks between them. And it was not "simple." It was nerve-racking for everyone, and there was—and still is—a level of risk that small, tuition-driven colleges normally avoid. (With 117 students, my institution, Sterling College, may well be the smallest residential liberal-arts college in the nation.)"

Educating for Peace | Tikkun Magazine   "Yet in defining education in this limited way, something very important is being lost. This is a larger vision of education that speaks to us as citizens of a democratic society. When education is reduced to the process of simply preparing us for work, it denies our role as beings that have a moral responsibility for helping to shape and determine the world in which we all live. Education that is all about jobs and work represents a truncated view of what it means to be human. It ignores the fact that human beings must learn to live with, and care for, one another, in our families, communities, nation, and globally. It says nothing about our responsibility for sustaining the earth. And it offers nothing that teaches us how we, collectively, and with respect for our differences, are able to determine and manage our shared world. In short, an educational vision that is all about job preparation and training is based on an impoverished understanding of the meaning of being human."

Who Are the Undergraduates? - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education  
A clickable infographic displaying the demographics of US undergrads

School Paddling Still Stirs Debate - NYTimes.com:

"Tyler, an 11th grader from Wichita Falls, was sent to the assistant principal and given three swift swats to the backside with a paddle, recalled Angie Herring, his mother. The blows were so severe that they caused deep bruises, and Tyler wound up in the hospital, Ms. Herring said."

Principal of truancy court - The Pueblo Chieftain:    Currently, there are 197 students from the Pueblo City Schools district in the program and more than half of them, 109 kids, are in elementary or middle school.There are two ways to get into the program and a multitude of ways to get out. But nothing is simple or standard for the truancy court.