Free Resources: EBSCO's History and Reading Web-based Resources

"EBSCO Publishing has launched two free Web-based resources for school libraries: History-It's Happening! and It's a Reading Rave! "History-It's Happening!" for middle and high school libraries focuses on North American history and special events such as Women's History Month..."It's a Reading Rave!" helps young adults find articles from a favorite magazine, explore literature with the help of NoveList, and use other interactive reading resources."

States erratic on IT literacy

Lack of oversight hinders enforcement
"Among its other goals, the federal No Child Left Behind Act says that all students should be technology literate by the end of the eighth grade. Yet, nearly four years after the law was first implemented, states appear to be all over the map in terms of ensuring the technology proficiency of their students, an informal investigation by eSchool News has learned. And the federal government is unable to explain which states have taken which steps to meet the law's goals."

Scholarships Available for TechSoup NetSquared Conference

"TechSoup, the nonprofit technology Web site, has announced that the Philanthropy and Volunteerism Program of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will provide a limited number of scholarships to attendees of the TechSoup NetSquared Conference, May 30-31, 2006, in San Jose, California.... Scholarships will be provided to people at NGOs and nonprofit organizations who are already using blogs, podcasts, or other new-generation Internet technologies, and to nonprofit staffers who would like to learn how using these tools can help extend their organization's reach and impact.

Scholarships will cover travel, lodging, and conference registration for individuals representing a nonprofit organization."

Students Take on Global Challenges

"Technology has been a valuable tool for the student teams participating in Challenge 20/20. U.S. students and their counterparts from outside the US must work together to come up with practical solutions to global problems."

CASEL Newsletter: Focus on Adolescents

For any and all folks in the YouthLearn community who work with teens, this is an information-rich publication:
CASEL Connections: SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) Research and Practice Updates from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning at the University of Illinois at Chicago

"In This Issue: Focus on Adolescents

In this issue we turn our attention to the issue of the educational, social, and emotional needs of high school students and the challenges facing educators in helping students to succeed in high school and beyond.

Spotlight on Research: SEL and High School Achievement...
Spotlight on Practice: Keeping kids in school; SEL at the heart of school reform...
Spotlight on Policy: New York State mental health/SEL policy 2006...
Resources: Helpful websites about school reform...
[Plus] New Books, Grants, Conferences"

After School Advantage Program

"GTECH provides community organizations with state-of-the-art, Internet-ready computer centers. Computer centers are designed to provide inner-city children aged 5-15 with a meaningful learning experience in a safe environment during the critical after-school hours. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations. There is no deadline date for applications."

YOUTH RADIO RELEASES NEW CURRICULUM RESOURCE

"Youth Radio, an award-winning producer of youth voices, has released a new curriculum resource called the Fourth R, which adds radio to our traditional line-up of reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. Each month, the Fourth R provides free, online lesson plan suggestions and standards alignment linked to a radio story written and produced by youth. The content applies to a range of school subject areas, including English, social studies, and health classes. Use of these materials is being piloted in the San Francisco Bay Area and will be launching nationally in the fall of 2006. Teachers using the Fourth R will be invited to submit their students' stories through the Youth Radio's website, making the project an exciting way to connect students to real audiences and publishing opportunities."

Children benefit from exposure to digital culture, Jenkins says

"Children need to participate fully in digital culture in order to develop the "skills, knowledge, ethical frameworks and self-confidence needed to be full participants in the world around them," MIT Professor Henry Jenkins told members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently."

Grants for Education, Health and Human Service-Focused Programs

"The Liberty Mutual Foundation is accepting grant applications on a rolling basis for projects that focus on education, health and human services and is giving priority to mentoring and afterschool programs. Grants are awarded to programs that encourage disadvantaged youth to excel in education, programs that improve quality of life or promote safe communities, programs that support arts and culture, or community development initiatives."

Books for Children

"The Libri Books for Children Grants donate new, quality, hardcover children’s books for small, rural, public libraries across the country. Eligibility: Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children's department. The average total operating budget of a Books for Children grant recipient is less than $40,000. Deadline: April 15, 2006."

Growing Up Around the World: Books as Passports to Global Understanding

"The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has created a list of bibliographies called 'Growing Up Around the World: Books as Passports to Global Understanding for Children in the United States.' The list includes books that accurately depict contemporary life in other countries. Five regions: Africa; the Americas; Asia and the Middle East; Australia and New Zealand; and Europe are represented."

Changed attitudes and practice among educators in DRC

Monica Biswas, of YouthLearn, has just returned from Mbandaka, in Equateur province of DRC. This was the third training with a group of administrators who are in charge of training and inspecting teachers in primary school. Anecdotal data so far indicate positive impacts on teaching practices.

Community-Based Learning: Engaging Students for Success and Citizenship

"The Coalition for Community Schools releases new paper, Community-based Learning: Engaging Students for Success and Citizenship."

"Students are bored. Research shows that as many as 60% of all students are disengaged from learning. A new study funded by the Gates Foundation, highlights disengagement as a key factor in the dropout rate. Community-based Learning addresses the problems of boredom and disengagement by involving students in real-world problem solving that is relevant and meaningful."

Blogging enters mainstream education

"As the "blogosphere" continues its rapid expansion, more teachers are using Web logs to engage students in the world at large. Experts offer their list of favorite edublogs and note that teachers and students have yet to exploit the new medium to its fullest."

Grants for Youth-Led Community Projects

"To encourage and promote crime prevention, community service, and civic responsibility, the National Crime Prevention Council is offering grants of up to $500 for young people’s service learning projects in their schools and communities. Deadlines for spring and summer programs are April 1 and June 1, respectively."

Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time

"The AED Center for Youth Development and Policy Research wants to make sure you are aware of the most recent American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) publication "Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time". This report clearly has connections relevant to your afterschool programs, research and practices."

Biography Brainstorm -- Using Word and the Web to Jumpstart Research

"Students use Internet resources and Microsoft Word drawing tools to brainstorm (through webbing) questions about a person they will research and write about."