Engaging young teens in quality out-of-school time programs is no easy feat. Cypress Hills-East New York, a Beacon Center located in Brooklyn, has developed a strategy for recruiting and enrolling youth ages 9 to 14 for its school-year program. What works best? The Youth Development Institute shares some of the secrets of success.

The fifth annual Council of the Great City Schools' annual Beating the Odds report compared 2002, 2003, and 2004 test scores in urban districts from 38 states, and found improvements in both fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math. In fourth-grade reading, 51 percent of urban school students scored at or above proficient level, a 7.9 percentage point increase from 2002. Fourth-graders scoring at or above proficient level in math went from 44.1 percent to 55.3 percent, an 11.2 percent increase from 2002. When it came to achievement gaps, 63.8 percent of all grades tested narrowed the gap between white and black students in reading, and 57.5 percent closed the gap in math. Similarly, 53.2 percent of all grades narrowed the size of the gap between white and Hispanic students in reading, and 54.7 percent in math. The findings are preliminary.

In Brighton, NY, city officials, parents and schools are all involved in helping their kids become politically active and aware. One result: kid-conceived and kid-produced ads on the importance of voting, developed in conjunction with the National Student Parent Mock Election. Rob Capriccioso reports.

Middle school is an educational minefield for many, with research indicating that academic achievement often plummets during early adolescence. Why is teaching and learning so hard in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades? Connect for Kids' Caitlin Johnson has a personal perspective as a creative writing teacher in a Washington, D.C. middle school.

Once the outgrowth of reforms to improve school environments for young adolescents, middle schools are now facing new challenges for boosting academic achievement. A 2000 Education Week report looked at how these changes may require shifting priorities and assumptions about young teens.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress tracks the educational achievements of fourth, eighth, and twelfth grade students over time in selected content areas.