Paul Katula
Staff & Reporter Archive

Paul Katula

4040 Published Stories • news.schoolsdo.org

Paul Katula is the executive editor of the Voxitatis Research Foundation, which publishes this blog. For more information, see the About page.

Stories by Paul Katula

K.C. school district seeks strip-search suit dismissal

By Paul Katula •
A school district wants a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the mother of a female student who claims she was wrongfully strip-searched. The girl's mother says her daughter was forced to lift up her shirt and bra, exposing herself in front of a school nurse and vice principal.

Illinois, Maryland not among states to adopt heat acclimatization guidelines

By Paul Katula •
New guidelines for heat illness, issued by an inter-agency task force, including the National Athletic Trainers' Association, have been adopted by 7 states, not including Maryland or Illinois. But schools in those two states are still well aware of the need for improvements to the way the preseason works in terms of heat acclimatization.

Evolution, students' rights might conflict in Missouri

By Paul Katula •
Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment last week that aims to protect the rights of Christians to pray in public places, including schools. But what troubles us is another part of the amendment.

College freshmen, alcohol, and changes in eating behavior

By Paul Katula •
Tackling the eating woes of college freshmen is not easy, especially given the facts that many increase alcohol consumption and that dorm rooms aren't exactly compatible with good food preparation techniques.

Voxitatis releases math manipulative for comparing 4 fractions using fraction bars

By Paul Katula •
Voxitatis has released the first of many hands-on learning tools to come, emphasizing our core belief that kids learn by doing and by exploring concepts in a trial-and-error fashion. This first one is about comparing fractions that may have unlike denominators, and it's a lot better than online drills and practice problems. The US Common Core puts this at about Grade 4.

Maryland 3rd-graders at a crime scene camp

By Paul Katula •
Students in Maryland attended a crime scene camp last month, and from this we can see why juries have noticed a "CSI Effect" and why students learn by participating in activities that put information into a context of something that's important to them.

Teachers build robots at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium

By Paul Katula •
Teachers in Freeport, Ill., joined others from across the state at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago to build a talented robot. This robot could even pick up trash around a shipwreck in Lake Michigan. Great learning experience.

Illinois court allows suit against abuser’s former school

By Paul Katula •
The Illinois Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit to proceed in which a student who was the victim of sexual abuse by a teacher in one district is suing that teacher's previous district because they never told the district where she's a student about the past sexual abuse history of that teacher. How would you decide? How would you advise schools to handle this case?