About Public Schools

While nearly all public schools are required to provide specific programs to help support the needs of struggling students, many public school leaders and parents assert that students with gifted abilities should be entitled to the same opportunities.

With the success of these special needs programs, which include one-on-one support, smaller class sizes, and modified curriculum options, many public schools are beginning to apply the same approach for gifted children, creating programs and classes that are targeted to their unique needs and abilities. “TAG” programs, which stand for “Talented and Gifted,” are growing in popularity in public schools. Proponents believe that TAG programs will help gifted students to enhance their own diverse learning abilities.

This video explains what gifted education entails.

Who are “Gifted” Students?

Each TAG student possesses unique and diverse abilities, and subsequently, many public schools and states have their own forms of “gifted” assessments. For example, the Des Moines Public Schools of Iowa adhere to a strict state-mandated law regarding the assessment and qualifications of TAG children. According to Des Moines Public Schools, TAG students are required to meet an array of criteria, including:

• Students who require classroom/curriculum modifications, including differentiation, advanced class placements, and/or accelerated pacing.
• Students who demonstrate a high potential for advanced learning.
• Student performance scores within the 95^th percentile on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the Cognitive Abilities Test, and/or the

In recent decades, public schools find themselves facing the greater needs of diverse student populations, with varying cognitive abilities, maturity levels, and academic strengths and weaknesses. While most typical elementary, middle, and high school students find themselves immersed in a classroom of twenty to thirty peers with one lead teacher, most public schools also have “self-contained” classrooms to provide alternative settings for enhanced academic support for the children whose needs cannot be fully met in a general education classroom.

What are Self-Contained Classrooms?

Unlike standard classrooms with a large number of peers, self-contained classrooms are typically smaller settings with a fewer number of students. Created to help foster enhanced support for students with special needs or specific difficulties, self-contained rooms are generally comprised of about ten students with unique struggles who are most commonly instructed by a lead teacher with a certification in special education. Self-contained classrooms will also have at least one paraeducator who provides instructional support under the guidance of the classroom teacher.

Due to recent curriculum shifts, some self-contained rooms cater to the diverse needs of students, such as those coping with autism spectrum disorder. A lead teacher, who is highly trained to help support students with autism, is able to provide greater assistance than what these students would typically receive in a classroom with a larger student-to-teacher ratio. Other examples of students who may be enrolled in self-contained rooms include students with developmental issues, behavioral concerns, students with specific academic struggles (i.e. in math,

According to research and studies from the Centers for Disease Control, an average of 1 in 150 births results in a child who is diagnosed with autism. With this statistic, it is predicted that over 1.5 million Americans alone are potentially dealing with some form of disorder on the autism spectrum. While the cause is still unknown, autism is growing at a rate of an estimated 10-17 percent each year, as this disorder is now more prevalent and common than diabetes, pediatric cancer, and AIDS combined.

As Autism Spectrum Therapies explains, “Autism is a complex developmental disability […] (and) is considered a neurological disorder, though the specific cause is not known.” Today, medical experts and researchers can typically diagnose autism by a child’s second birthday; however, new breakthroughs are providing signs of autism in infants as early as just six months of age. As these medical breakthroughs continually advance, schools, parents, and the medical community are discovering new avenues for providing autistic children with full and inclusive support.

Public Schools and Encouraging Social Behavior

Since autism spectrum disorder is a neurological issue, each individual coping with autism expresses unique and different symptoms and indications. This condition is referred to as a “spectrum” because the degree and severity of each individual is subjectively specific. Most commonly, however, individuals suffering from autism spectrum disorder struggle with social and communicative skills, which are often most obviously realized once a child is exposed to social opportunities at school.

As Autism Spectrum

Gay Friendly Public Schools: Will New Program Ideas Decrease Violence and Tension?

According to National Public Radio’s (NPR) review of the new public school initiative to create gay-friendly public schools, the city of Chicago is instilling plans for “a new school where gay students and others wouldn't face the bullying and harassment they endure in other schools.”

As Chicago has surfaced as the focal point of this controversy, acting as one of the first cities in the country to widely support this public program shift, school and community leaders are caught in the middle of a national and heated debate.

The Background: Why Create Gay-Friendly Schools?

While Chicago is currently earning the most attention for its plan to create a gay-friendly school, cities across the country have implemented these programs in the past. Specifically, New York made the gay-friendly Harvey Milk School, while Milwaukee created the Alliance High School; both of these programs have been reported as inspirations for the up-and-coming Chicago school, which is intended to open in 2010.

As the CNN report, “Chicago May Get Gay-Friendly High School,” reveals, school and community officials in Chicago created the proposal for a gay-friendly high school so that students of all sexual preferences and identities could attend school without feeling harassed or in danger. William Greaves, Chicago’s liaison to the gay and lesbian community, is one of the advocates for the new school and is also a contributor to the school’s proposed design. According to

As students in public school today are exposed to endless technological advances, the use of cell phones seems to be an often ignored modern-day issue. While cell phones certainly offer students increased communication abilities, providing students with a tool for added safety and parent contact, many public school leaders assert that cell phones are a severe distraction in the educational process. Whether students are talking in the halls, on the phone in the restroom facilities, or texting during class, phones are proving to be a significant distraction in many students’ educational process.

To counteract the negative implications, many public schools have even issued a ban on the use of cell phones while on campus. Upon the onset of these drastic measures, a fairly glaring debate has arisen between school leaders and many community members.

The Ringing Debate

As school leaders are striving to improve student performance and the overall student learning experience, schools across the country are enforcing strict policies regarding cell phones. Specifically, the entire city of New York issued a general ban against cell phones in their city’s public schools.

According to eSchool News, a group of parents was so outraged by this ban that they have taken legal action against leaders, and they are suing the city for violating student rights to possess cell phones: “The eight parents' lead lawyer, Norman Siegel, said the lawsuit was filed against the city's Department of Education, schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and Mayor Michael