Top Stories from Youth Radio

For young people's perspectives on the election just one week away, you can view, read, or tune into a wide array of youth media. One group that's helping youth have a voice in the news cycle is Youth Radio, a youth development and media organization that contributes stories to NPR, among other media outlets, and has a dynamic web presence, featuring the latest news stories on Election 2008.

Echoing Green Offers Support for Social Entrepreneurs

"Each year, Echoing Green awards twenty two-year fellowships to social entrepreneurs working to create innovative new organizations to help change their communities, countries, or the world for the better.

Echoing Green seeks individuals or partnerships (organizations led by two people) with: innovative solutions to significant social problems; strategies to create high-impact, sustainable change in people's lives; and the ability to grow and lead a new organization.

Organizations must be the original idea of the applicant....

The application process is open to citizens of all nationalities, working in any country. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and must have sufficient English fluency to participate in interviews and Echoing Green events.

Fellows receive up to $90,000 ($60,000 for individuals and $90,000 for partnerships of two people) in seed funding and technical support over two years to turn their innovative ideas into sustainable social change organizations."

Deadline: December 1, 2008

Powerful Learning: Studies Show Deep Understanding Derives from Collaborative Methods

"Today's students will enter a job market that values skills and abilities far different from the traditional workplace talents that so ably served their parents and grandparents. They must be able to crisply collect, synthesize, and analyze information, then conduct targeted research and work with others to employ that newfound knowledge. In essence, students must learn how to learn, while responding to endlessly changing technologies and social, economic, and global conditions.

But what types of teaching and learning will develop these skills? And, just as important, do studies exist that support their use?

A growing body of research demonstrates that students learn more deeply if they have engaged in activities that require applying classroom-gathered knowledge to real-world problems....

Research shows that such inquiry-based teaching is not so much about seeking the right answer but about developing inquiring minds, and it can yield significant benefits....

Similarly, studies also show the widespread benefits of cooperative learning."

Middle-school years called optimal time for teaching critical thinking

"The notion that the middle-school years may be the best time to train people in complex reasoning and critical thinking has been borne out in initial studies by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas's University Center for BrainHealth, writes Robert Miller, a columnist at the Dallas Morning News. 'High-level reasoning and critical thinking are skills that have to be learned and practiced,' says Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, BrainHealth's chief director. 'If teens do not acquire the ability to learn strategically during this developmental period, they might never do so.' Researchers at the center have created a program called SMART-- Strategic Memory and Reasoning Training -- to teach teens how to think critically. Special benefits are seen for those with attention deficit disorder."

New Issue Brief on Afterschool and Special Needs

"The Afterschool Alliance has just released a new Issue Brief, 'Afterschool and Students with Special Needs,' examining the role of afterschool programs in reaching out to and providing enrichment opportunities for special needs students. It includes examples from programs and promising practices for others interested in learning more, implementing, or incorporating successful strategies into their own special needs programs."

Circle of Stories - Multimedia Collection and Activities

A multimedia collection of documentary film, photography, artwork, and music, the Circle of Stories website celebrates Native American storytelling. It is one of the resources highlighted in the recently launched Technology Curriculum Database, developed by YouthLearn for the U.S. Department of Education-funded National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL.

Visitors can listen to four Native Americans tell their stories, explore current issues facing native cultures, view maps and photo galleries that reveal Native American heritage and influence, as well as share their own stories and feedback. In addition, this PBS website features three interdisciplinary lesson plans designed for educators who work with teens.

National Child Labor Committee Invites Nominations for Service to Children Awards

"The National Child Labor Committee, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the rights of children in the workplace and fighting for universal education, invites nominations of individuals for the 2009 Lewis Hine Awards for Service to Children and Youth. These nationally recognized awards, now in their 24th year, are presented annually by NCLC to ten recipients — five professionals and five volunteers — for their unheralded and exceptional service to young people.

The awards seek to identify not the one-time hero, but the individual who has made a commitment to the well-being, growth, and development of youth....

NCLC will bring the awardees to New York City for a media-covered ceremony where their outstanding public service will be recognized and each will receive an award of $1,000."

Deadline: October 23, 2008

On the way: Nation's first tech-literacy exam

"For the first time ever, technological literacy will become part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation's Report Card, the test's governing board has announced.

Beginning in 2012, the test will measure students' proficiency with technology in addition to reading, math, science, history, writing, and other subjects. The new test will mark the first time students' technology literacy has been assessed on a national level.

The National Assessment Governing Board has awarded a $1.86 million contract to WestEd—a nonprofit educational research, development, and service agency based in San Francisco—to develop the 2012 NAEP Technological Literacy Framework....

Several groups will help WestEd on this 18-month project, including ISTE, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the International Technology Education Association, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association."

Promising Practices in Working with Young Adults

"This booklet, from the Youth Development Institute, offers ways in which partnerships between schools and community organizations can support education/training and opportunities for young adults who have dropped out of high school. It describes specific practices and program models."

The Community Agenda for America's Public Schools

"On September 24, the Coalition for Community Schools launched an action plan with specific strategies to underscore the need for community-school partnerships in ensuring that all children are ready to learn and succeed. The plan is endorsed by numerous national and local education, youth development, community engagement, health and social services organizations."

Technology Makes Art Education a Bigger Draw

"In art, as in life at large, technology has changed everything – or, more precisely, almost everything.

In art classes at schools and universities today, new and emerging software is rendering art appreciation and even actual artistic production accessible to a far greater number of interested students and aspiring artists than ever before....

With the rise of technology in art education, some might fear that traditional media, such as charcoal drawing and oil painting, are being shunted aside in favor of software-based creations, but the art educators who spoke with eSchool News said certain software programs and emerging web-based collaborations are helping establish a strong base of conceptual understanding--regardless of raw manual or technical talent. This enables a far wider range of students to appreciate art. It also encourages and facilitates the acquisition of more advanced, traditional techniques and skills by far more talented beginners."

Journey North - Online and Offline Activities

Journey North is a free inquiry science program for young people providing multiple pathways to explore wildlife migration and seasonal changes around the world. It is one of the resources highlighted in the recently launched Technology Curriculum Database, developed by YouthLearn for the U.S. Department of Education-funded National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL.

Educators have their choice of standards-based lesson plans detailing a wide range of online and offline activities, and the Web site disseminates a wealth of information geared at helping youth make local observations that can inform global knowledge. Enlisting international participation, the resource involves hundreds of thousands of youth in the research and observation of migratory wildlife, such as butterflies and whooping cranes.