The newest, and presumably last, museum to win space on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. opens this week with much expected fanfare. Once the celebration is over, museum leaders hope to get down to the serious business of overcoming stereotypes and teaching kids about the American Indian past, present and future.

Federal and state officials are pursuing tougher accountability and other reforms to address the stubborn achievement gap between black and white students. But education analyst Richard Rothstein says that by focusing reforms at the school-level, policymakers are neglecting a vital area: social class differences in health care quality and access, nutrition, childrearing styles and even exposure to environmental toxins that affect how well children learn. Cost: $17.95.

By developing programs for youth grounded in American Indian tribal cultures, the National Indian Youth Leadership project is helping cultivate a new generation of strong leaders. Rob Capriccioso takes a look at the New Mexico-based organization.

Fifty Years after Brown v. Board, MDC Inc., a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, says that poorly resourced high schools in the South are not preparing the region's growing numbers of African-American and Latino students for the increasingly prosperous Southern economy, with higher-skilled employment needs. Despite decades of gains in improving race relations and equity for students of color, the region has been backsliding since the 1990s into greater inequality. The report warns that if the South allows its children to grow up and go to school isolated by race and income, its communities will suffer anew.

The 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court school desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education has produced an outpouring of reminiscence and evaluation. Today, amid national attention to the issues of school reform, school choice, and student achievement, Connect for Kids editor Susan Phillips asks what's next for our public schools.

For many U.S. children, the experiences of the ?lost boys? of Sudan, child refugees from a decades-long civil war, might seem impossibly remote. But Pauline Gordon and Natasha Santos, 15-year-old staff writers at Represent magazine in New York City, could relate—thanks to their own experiences in foster care. Here's their review of the documentary, The Lost Boys of Sudan.

On average, black students show strong gains from fourth to eighth grade, compared with whites. A National Association of Education Progress (NAEP) state-by-state analysis finds that although they start behind, black fourth graders increase their reading scores at a greater rate than white and Asian students in the years between fourth and eighth grade.

In its fourth annual report to the nation, the Council of the Great City Schools finds that progress among the nation's major urban school districts that serve the most diverse student populations, often with the least resources. Data on 61 city school systems from 37 states indicate that while math and reading achievement scores lag behind the national average, these scores are rising -- and racial gaps in math and reading are narrowing. Progress is not uniform, however, as trend lines differ from one city to another, and not all grades have improved.

More than one hundred African American and Latino school superintendents and civic leaders say that impoverished students and students of color are not getting the attention they need. These leaders are calling on Congress and the White House to provide appropriate funding to help schools meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation.

Children are growing up in a culturally diverse world. The National Association of School Psychologists has a toolkit on cultural and ethnic diversity, with a self-assessment checklist for school personnel.