AP Classes: A Problem for Massachusetts High Schoolers?

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Summary: I wrote a piece for the Oct. 7, 2012, Boston Globe magazine about the rise in enrollment in Advanced Placement classes and how that has led to a troubling trend in competitive high schools. The highest-achieving students compete to see just how many AP classes they can pack into their schedule, a move they think will impress college admissions officers. But does it? Click on the link below to read the article, the cover story that week.

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Reaction: The article drew extensive reader reaction, … Continue reading

Dynamic New Leader Puts Oomph Back in Brandeis

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Summary: To many students and faculty, new Brandeis President Fred Lawrence has practically achieved rock star status. A former dean of The George Washington University Law School, he became president in January 2011 of a university that had been hamstrung by financial difficulties and embroiled in controversy. My article about Lawrence and the challenges he will face is now online in The Forward, a national Jewish newspaper, and will appear in its print editions on Sept. 30, 2011.

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A TEST OF FAITH: ONE SCHOOL’S DETERMINATION TO STAND BY ITS RELIGION CURRICULUM

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Summary: During the latter half of the 2010-11 school year, I shadowed a sixth-grade Wellesley Middle School class as students learned about world religions. The class had been under scrutiny because of a past field trip to a mosque, where a handful of boys ended up praying. Click on the link below to read my Aug. 28, 2011 article in The Boston Globe Magazine about the school’s experiences teaching about religion.

Reaction: The article drew extensive reader reaction. Dozens of readers wrote letters to the editor, and at least 100 … Continue reading