From the National Indian Education Association and the National Education Association, this report looks at achievement barriers facing American Indians, Alaskan natives and native Hawaiians in schools. It finds that policies and resources are needed to preserve indigenous languages and cultures, recruit and retain quality teachers and support safe, effective schools.

Schools wherein Hispanic students make up at least 25 percent of undergraduate enrollment account for only about 6 percent of colleges and universities in the United States, but they enroll almost half of Latino college students. This new report by Excelencia in Education offers background, history, and context, and examines what it means that a small (albeit growing) number of schools teaches so many of our nation’s Latino students. Short fact sheets are also available.

Nations may squabble about the precise locations of their borders, but in a secondary-school cafeteria everyone knows where the lines are drawn: the jocks here, the it-girls there, and the Goths as far from the rest as possible. Race, language, gender, clothes, music--kids slice and dice themselves along all kinds of lines. That’s where Mix It Up comes in. Tamekia Reece reports.

The Mission of Zink the Zebra is to promote the understanding and acceptance of human differences though specially created character education programs that help children and adults realize the necessity to respect and show compassion toward others.

All American children have a right to an education—even those without stable housing, who stay in shelters, motels, or substandard apartments, or double up with friends and relatives in overcrowded houses. But it wasn’t until 2002, with the strengthening of a federal law known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, that all school districts were required to have a liaison for homeless students and to remove barriers to their full participation in school. Despite some progress, Christian Science Monitor writer Stacy A. Teicher says full implementation remains a distant goal.

A recently released U.S. Census Bureau report takes a comprehensive look at the nation's Asian population. Among its findings: 44 percent of Asian adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 24 percent of the general adult population. Roughly 80 percent of Asian families speak a language other than English at home.

There are millions of Americans with full or partial Native American, Alaska Native, Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander ancestry—as a group, they face specific challenges. This site offers quick facts, examines states’ approaches, and catalogues new and important research and articles on efforts to improve educational outcomes for American Indians and Alaska and Hawaii Natives.

CFK reports from: The Urban Institute
Event: panel discussion on bilingual education
Organized by: Urban
Where/When: Washington, D.C., December 7, 2004

At this panel discussion, a group of researchers and policymakers discussed the implications for English Language Learners (ELLs) and the schools they attend under the rules of the 2002 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

The notion of a dedicated time for black history instruction dates from 1926, when educator Carter Godwin Woodson created Negro History Week in a bid to promote a better understanding of the contributions of blacks. In 1976, Congress changed the week into a full month. Educators are now debating whether such lessons should be confined to one month or, instead, incorporated into class work all year long. Writer E. Jeanne Harnois reports on arguments that weaving black history, along with other minority contributions, into lessons throughout the year is better for all students.

Over the next two years, a national task force will research strategies for improving educational outcomes for Hispanic children from birth through third grade, and develop recommendations for policymakers, teachers and parents.