_______________
News

House bill would slash ed-tech funding
"As House Republicans and Democrats trade salvos over the federal
budget in an election year, advocates of educational technology are
rallying supporters to stave off what could amount to a 13-percent
cut in technology-specific education funding in 2005."
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=5209
Referred by: eSchool News

Oregon Takes Go-Slow Approach to Cyberschools
"The Oregon Department of Education has put the brakes on funding for
online charter schools. The state has adopted the go-slow approach as it
tries to reconcile differing interpretations of what defines the online version
of the 'comprehensive instructional program' that charter schools are
required to offer."
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/109006559142350.xml
Referred by: techLEARNING

Lamenting the Loss of Typing Skills in Students
"In some schools, typing classes disappeared at least a couple of decades
ago. A skill that once seemed vital -- particularly to prepare young women
for secretarial jobs -- no longer appeared relevant in an age that urged more
kids to consider going on to at least some form of higher education. And yet,
argue some teachers, the ability to touch-type -- or to 'keyboard,' the term
more often used today -- has perhaps never been more essential."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0803/p14s01-legn.html
Referred by: PEN NewsBlast

Federal Program Pushes Science Education
"U.S. Secretary of Energy announced the Scientists Teaching and Reaching
Students program, intended to support and foster interest in math and
science programs among the country's middle and high school students. The
new program will award scholarships for math and science teachers to study
at the nation's labs."
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9112372.htm
Referred by: EDUPAGE

Internet Filters Are: [Good] [Bad] [Both]
The way internet filters are percieved has a lot to do with where they are
installed and by whom. Filters required by the government in libraries and
schools are being seen in a much different light than the filter put into place
by a parent on a home computer. Internet Filters Are: [Good] [Bad] [Both],
an article by the New York Times, discusses the changing arguments of the
American Civil Liberties Union and the Department of Justice, the stance of
the Supreme Court and the White House, and how this is all paving the way
to a more civil internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/04/weekinreview/04schw.html?pagewanted=all

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Funding

Ezra Jack Keats Foundation Grants
"The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation offers 'mini-grants' of $350 to school and
public libraries for programs that encourage literacy and creativity in
children. Application Deadline: 9/15/04. "
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/programs/minigrants.htm
Referred by: PEN NewsBlast

Staples Foundation for Learning Grants
"The Staples Foundation for Learning will award public schools and other
community non-profits individual grants of $5,000 to $25,000 to fund a
broad range of job training and education programs for disadvantaged youth
and/or students with disabilities. Application Deadlines: 8/2/2004,
9/30/2004."
http://www.staplesfoundation.org/foundapplication.html
Referred by: PEN NewsBlast

Nickelodeon to Award Half-Million Dollars in Grants to Schools and After-School Programs
"New York, NY - June 4, 2004 - Nickelodeon's pro-social 'Let's Just Play'
campaign, which celebrates active, healthy lifestyles for kids, is announcing
its first call for entries for a newly established 'Let's Just Play' grants
program, offering a half-million dollars in awards to schools and after-school
programs to provide resources to create and expand opportunities for
physical play. Deadlines: Let's Just Play (participation required for eligibility)
Oct. 2, 2004; Grant submission - Nov 1, 2004"
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/everything_nick/public_ljpgrants2.jhtml
Referred by: Promising Practices in Afterschool

Opportunities for First Time Federal Grantees
"The Institute for Youth Development posts federal funding requests for
proposals (RFPs) on its website three times per year. Most awards are in the
$50,000 range and are available to community and faith-based
organizations that run local programs for teens, the elderly, and other
disadvantaged groups and have never received federal funds."
http://www.youthdevelopment.org/articles/pr050301.htm
Referred by: Venture Philanthropy Partners

_______________
Research

Teachers Talk Tech Survey
"CDW-G second annual Teachers Talk Tech Survey reveals increasing role of
computers in the classroom Most teachers say computers boost student
performance on standardized tests Nearly two-thirds of kindergarten
through twelfth grade teachers say that availability of computers improves
student performance on standardized tests, yet they do not believe they
have enough computers for their students in their classrooms according to
the second annual Teachers Talk Tech survey released June 22 by CDW
Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a leading provider of technology to federal,
state and local governments and educators."
http://www.cdwg.com/webcontent/InsideG/press/pressG062204a.asp
Referred by: eSchool News

New Report on "Youth as E-Citizens"
"'Youth as E-Citizens: Engaging the Digital Generation,' a groundbreaking
study by the Center for Social Media at American University, challenges the
tired cliche that young people today are unconcerned about and uninvolved
in civic and political affairs."
http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/index.htm
Referred by: ListenUp!

Study: Computer Use a Boost to Young Minds
"Preschool children who use a computer appear to develop better learning
skills than peers who lack computer savvy, researchers said Monday."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5156124
Referred by: Reuters

The Right Kind of After-School Programs Can Pay Off For Kids
"'What happens after school?' asks Susan Black. Researchers studying after-
school time -- also referred to as out-of-school time -- have some answers.
Richard Halpern, with Chicago's Erickson Institute for Graduate Study in
Child Development, says the best programs give kids opportunities to
explore and learn, as well as time to 'dawdle and daydream.'"
http://www.asbj.com/current/research.html
Referred by: PEN NewsBlast

_______________
Activities

Global Response Announces International Student Art Contest
"Global Response invites kids ages 5 through 18 from around the world to
participate in an art contest for environmental awareness. Global Response
is an environmental action and education network currently celebrating its
100th campaign. The group has campaigned to help communities worldwide
facing environmental crises by constructing very effective letter writing
campaigns that have an impressive 41% success rate. The subject of the
artwork must be one or more of these campaigns. Deadline: Dec 31, 2004"
http://www.globalresponse.org/artcontest.php
Referred by: GlobalEdNews

_______________
Resources

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Wikipedia is both an encyclopedia and a wiki community. Wikipedia
(www.wikipedia.org) is a copyleft encyclopedia that is collaboratively
developed using wiki software. In addition to standard encyclopedic
knowledge, Wikipedia includes information more often associated with
almanacs and gazetteers, as well as coverage of current events."
http://www.wikipedia.org

Technology training for teachers: A better way
"Everyone believes teachers have to understand technology before they use
it in their classrooms, and professional development is the preferred method
to grow that understanding." This article offers TeachNet as a solution.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=4856
Referred by: eSchool News

Fostering Family Partnerships
"Turning Points, a comprehensive school reform initiative for middle schools,
has just released a new guide titled Creating Partnerships, Bridging Worlds:
Family and Community Engagement. The guide is filled with practical
strategies for emphasizing family strengths, creating partnerships, and
promoting equity."
http://www.turningpts.org/pdf/Family.pdf
Referred by: Coalition for Community Schools

Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count
"The Kids Count 2004 Data Book, released by The Annie E. Casey
Foundation, is available online. Users can generate custom graphs, maps,
ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles or download the entire data set as
delimited text files."
http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/databook/
Referred by: Venture Philanthropy Partners

We welcome your feedback!

_______________

YouthLearn
http://www.youthlearn.org

This newsletter is produced by the YouthLearn Initiative at EDC especially for
members of the YouthLearn discussion group. Every two weeks, the newsletter is
compiled from the entries in the YouthLearn News Blog, including summaries
from various sources that YouthLearn staff periodically review.

Past newsletters are archived at http://www.youthlearn.org/resources/newsletter/index.html.

YouthLearn is a project of the nonprofit Education Development Center, Inc.
Designed for youth development professionals, teachers, educators, and other
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