To engage Latino students and motivate them in the classroom, some educators are making an extra effort to connect with them. At Donald McKay K–8 School in East Boston, teachers are learning Spanish from their students.
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With any instrument, care and maintenance is required for optimal performance. For teachers—whose voices are their instruments—doctors recommend specific ways of speaking and using breath to preserve educators' vocal chords.
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For immigrant parents, learning the ins and outs of the American public school system can be a challenge. To overcome language and cultural barriers, educators in Norwalk, Connecticut, hold workshops that are translated into French and Spanish on academics, report cards, and standardized testing.
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Graduation testing requirements for high-school students vary from state to state. Recently, Oregon approved a plan that lets students pick from three options: a national test, state assessments, or an alternate measurement, such as a student portfolio, to show colleges and employers they have mastered reading, writing, applied math, and speaking skills.
(Requires free registration. Access may expire 06/23/08.)

Entrepreneurship education is gaining popularity as a way to motivate students to master skills from math to public speaking. At Fenway High School in Boston, students are required to take a class called "Ventures," where students develop a business plan and pitch it to hypothetical investors.
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The divide between education in the United States and education abroad is an ever-present issue for educators preparing students for a global economy. To examine international differences in education, a new documentary follows the academic experiences of six students from the United States, India, and China.
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Educators in Ohio are looking for alternatives to standardized testing to assess students' academic progress. Proposed options include portfolios, journals, and teacher observations.
(Access may expire 06/30/08.)

To motivate students to achieve at higher levels, some schools are adopting incentives programs. While some educators see the rewards program as a way to reinforce expectations, others believe that its effects will be short-lived.

With the upcoming presidential transition, the future of the No Child Left Behind act is uncertain. To bolster support for the law before a new president takes office, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has been traveling throughout the United States promoting the education initiative.
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According to a recent study, students taught by educators certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards make bigger gains on standardized tests. The certification process takes about one year to complete and costs approximately $2,500 per teacher.
(Access may expire 06/26/08.)

To cultivate a deeper understanding of American government among schoolchildren, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is helping develop a website and interactive civics curriculum for seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade students. The site, which will launch this fall, will feature educational components and games.
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In an effort to improve student achievement and curb drop-out rates, a number of high schools throughout the United States have transformed from large-format institutions into smaller, more personal academies. However, four years after implementing a large-scale switch to small-format high schools in Oregon, educators, parents, and students are disappointed by a lack of positive results.
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The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), a nationwide network of open-enrollment public charter schools, is helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds make impressive gains in academic achievement tests. KIPP schools blend discipline, ten-hour school days, Saturday school, and three weeks of mandatory summer school with field trips and college visits.

Online education programs have proliferated across the United States in recent years, providing students with alternatives to traditional day school and opportunities for supplemental coursework. In an attempt to meet the growing demand for these programs, state legislators in Florida are working to pass a bill that will make virtual education available to all children statewide by 2009.
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Some students learning to read need an extra boost to give them the courage to practice reading aloud. To provide dependable, nonjudgmental supporters for children who are building their reading skills, educators at John T. Baker Middle School in Maryland have adopted the Canine Assistants program, which pairs developing readers with trained dogs.
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At Riverside Elementary School in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, students receive an education that includes a special focus on their health and wellness. For the past two years, the school has promoted the theme "Healthy Minds Healthy Bodies" by providing students with special fitness programs and encouraging them to make healthy food choices.
(Access may expire 06/17/08.)

Nearly thirty years after Seattle Public Schools successfully integrated its student population through busing, racial balance is almost nonexistent. With last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting the city from using race to determine where a child attends school, the district's school board must decide how—or if—it will proceed.

A growing number of public schools are adopting single-sex formats. Although the decision to implement single-gender classes sparks debate from civil libertarians, many educators believe the arrangement focuses and improves students' learning.
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Rising gas prices are effecting school districts nationwide. To cut down on fuel costs, educators are trimming school programs from field trips to daily bus service.
(Access may expire 06/14/08.)

Idaho's State Board of Education is asking the federal government to give state schools facing sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law a clean slate. The board is arguing that the state's testing system from 2002 to 2006 was deemed inadequate by the federal government, and the scores from those exams should not be used to measure Idaho schools under NCLB.

For many teachers, stocking their classrooms with necessities means spending money out of their own pockets. A charity website aims to help teachers and students acquire the supplies they need by allowing educators to request items online, which philanthropists can then donate.
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A study comparing high school graduation figures for Milwaukee Public Schools and a group of private schools in the city's publicly funded voucher program have found that students who attend voucher schools are more likely to graduate than those who attend district public schools. However, researchers cannot confirm if higher graduation rates are a direct result of enrollment in voucher programs.
(Access may expire 06/09/08.)

Although though there are a number of print and video American Sign Language dictionaries, there is no resource that works conversely to interpret an unfamiliar sign. To help ASL students and speakers, researchers are developing an interactive computer program which could interpret and explain the meaning of a sign.
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