Education

Robert Kaplow and The Punsters return to Fresh Air with advice on how to get through the new school year. The Punsters are Kaplow, Tim Korzun, Carmen Presti, Michael Townsend, Marc Lanzoff, Ken Cohen, and Lou Ippolitio. (Produced by Tim Korzun)

Maureen Corrigan reviews "Among Schoolchildren," Tracy Kidder's year-long look at an inner city elementary school. Kidder's previous books include "House," and "The Soul of a New Machine," about the creation of the personal computer.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan recently attended the annual conference of the Modern Language Association in Washington D.C. She reports on what the academics are discussing and it's relevance to the rest of us.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan shares her thoughts on David Lodge's "Souls and Bodies."

Filmmaker Michael Roemer. In 1969, Roemer wrote, directed, and co-produced (with Robert Young) a movie called "The Plot Against Harry," about a small-time New York gangster trying to go straight. Now, 20 years later, the film is finally being released, and to huge critical acclaim. Roemer and Young also worked together on a number of documentaries and "Nothing But A Man," a 1964 film about blacks in the South. Since the 60s, Roemer has taught at Yale University and worked on several projects for public television.

Teacher Jessica Siegel and reporter Samuel Freedman. Freedman wrote an account of a year in Siegel's classroom.

In anticipation of the new season, networks have been trying to one-up with each other with pilots of new shows. TV critic David Bianculli says NBC's Parenthood is the best of the bunch, while Hull High can't compete.

Film critic Stephen Schiff has no taste for the high school movies that proliferated in the 1980s. But he likes films that celebrate youthful energy and rebellion against authority, like Pump Up the Volume. The movie, about a teenage radio DJ, features an excellent performance by star Christian Slater.

John Leonard reviews Geoffrey Wolff's new, semi-autobiographical novel, about a young man's education in Princeton and subsequent life as a privileged adult.

Novelist and former academic David Lodge's writing is steeped in the language of literary criticism. Many of his books are set in a university -- including his newest, Nice Work, about a businessman who fall in love with a professor.

Diane Ravitch has written many books about American education, and she teaches history at Columbia University. Her new book, "The American Reader," is an anthology of classic speeches, poems, and songs that she feels should be taught in the schools. Ravitich believes American history should be inclusive the many cultures in the Unite States, but opposes ethno-centric curricula.

We discuss free speech on college campuses with ACLU counsel Ed Chen, Nat Hentoff, University of Wisconsin legal counsel Pat Hodulik, and Brown University President Vartan Gregorian.

J. P. Bianchi is a Social Studies supervisor for Community School District 8 in the Bronx. He stopped teaching in 1986, and is now responsible for the shape of the Social Studies curriculum for the entire district. A recent New York Board of Regents report examined the state of Social Studies, and Bianchi comments.

Edward Fiske, the education correspondent for the New York Times. Fiske's new book is called "Smart Schools, Smart Kids: Why Do Some Schools Work?" In it, Fiske looks at the decline of the American school system, and he examines some of the grass-roots programs that are reversing that trend. (It's published by Simon and Schuster). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Book Wars" by James Atlas. It's the latest book in the growing debate over whether or not students should be required to read a set curriculum of "great books." Maureen says the more interesting thing about the book is that it's filled with ads for Federal Express.

Commentator, and teacher, Maureen Corrigan is gearing up for another semester. She talks about one of the ways she does that, by becoming a student again.

Professor and educator E.D. Hirsch, Jr. He's the author of the best selling book, "Cultural Literacy," (paperback published by Vintage Books) in which he argues that children in the United States lack "cultural literacy," or the basic grasp of background information that allows them to be literate and to function effectively in society. He has put his theories to work in an elementary school curriculum, The Core Knowledge Series.

Author and Educator and activist Jonathan Kozol.

Educator Theodore Sizer. His 1984 book, "Horace's Compromise," was the fictionalized tale of a typical American high school. It was based on Sizer's own experiences as a teacher, and two years of field research. Sizer resurrects Horace in his new book, "Horace's School." It's a look at some possible roads toward educational reform. (It's published by Houghton Mifflin).

Commentator, and professor, Maureen Corrigan examines some of the strange courting rituals of academics.