To engage girls in the study of science and technology, educators need to convey the right message about the roles these fields play in society and the skills they require--and they also need to provide more hands-on activities that have some social value. These were the main lessons imparted during a Webcast hosted by the National Science Foundation's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers program. E-School News reports.

Many of the most vulnerable residents of the states hit by Hurricane Katrina were poor children and were disproportionately African American. The National Center for Children in Poverty has an analysis.

Here's a clear, accurate and easy-to-use manual for parents, teachers, and advocates working to eliminate persistent vestiges of racial discrimination in American schools, fifty years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.

In its fifth annual national poll of Americans on education issues, Educational Testing Service (ETS) found that the quality of the nation's high schools is a major concern. This survey revealed that Americans say our high schools are in need of dramatic improvements.

The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress also has an online checklist for response during and after a school-based crisis.

On March 30, the Index on the well-being of American children will be released. Based on nearly thirty years of data from national surveys of child well-being, defined by factors including mortality, poverty, and suicide rates; drug use; educational test scores; health insurance coverage; and crimes committed by children, the index contains information on how children are faring now and how their status has changed in recent years.

Young people face new challenges in these stimulation-heavy, high-tech times. From rising rates of youth borrowing and credit card debt to plastic surgery pressures, even older siblings can say, "it sure wasn't like this when we were kids." This publication explores these challenges and—with sage advice from and interviews with noted experts—examines innovative ways to integrate new risks into the prevention dialogue.

Info for parents mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act is useless if parents don't know where to get it or how to use it. This guide from KSA-Plus Communications looks at how parent leaders can get smart about their school's data -- identifying which students are and are not being well-served and asking the kinds of questions that lead to school improvement. The site's Parent Leadership Starter Kit also has lots of useful advice about the No Child Left Behind law.

Dedicated to expanding quality early learning and preschool opportunities,
the Foundation for Child Development offers quick access to fact sheets,
interviews and publications.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration have published a guide for states and communities that translates Healthy People 2010 objectives into plans and programs aimed at improving the health of teenagers and young adults.