Community Café

The Community Café is a table-service soup kitchen that has served more than 15,000 meals to needy residents since December 2006. Kristen Allcorn founded the Café as part of a high school community service project. Earlier this year, Prudential Financial presented Kristen with a 2008 Prudential Spirit of Community Award.

Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary School

Hear Deputy Chief of Staff Holly Kuzmich discuss the success of ED's Reading First program. Visit Feinstein Elementary School, a Providence, R.I., school where Reading First is being used to improve reading instruction for low-income students, most of whom were reading below grade level when the program began in 2003.

Denver's ProComp

Denver's ProComp is a groundbreaking compensation system that links teacher pay to the school district's instructional mission. ProComp has received national attention because it rewards teachers for their professional accomplishments while linking pay to student achievement.

Kalkaska CARES

This program in Kalkaska County, Michigan, serves 164 children aged 3-5, many from economically challenged households. Over half of the children participating in the program have significantly improved their letter recognition, oral language, and print awareness skills.

Clark Middle School of Math, Science and Tech

Many of the National Math Panel's recommendations can be seen in action at this magnet school in Chickasaw, Alabama, and the results are impressive: 98% of students meet or exceed state standards in math.

JEB Stuart Elementary School

Weekly testing, proven teaching methods, parent involvement, and over two hours of reading instruction daily are among the reasons that reading and math scores at this urban school in Richmond, Virginia, have jumped from the 30 percent range into the 90s.

Maple Elementary School

Writing across the curriculum, professional development, student intervention teams, and more have helped this school in Seattle improve 4th grade reading and math scores by more than 25%, with English language learner scores improving by more than 40%.

Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School

This East Los Angeles school's rigorous curriculum, after school and Saturday sessions, and partnerships are among the reasons more than 90 percent of its seniors last year graduated and went to two- or four-year colleges.

Safe Schools: WeGo Together for Kids

WeGo Together for Kids, an initiative in West Chicago, is improving students' health, safety, and achievement. School attendance rates and test scores are up. Suspension rates have dropped dramatically.

Charter Schools: Cesar Chavez and MATCH

Two charter schools in Pueblo, Colorado, and Boston provide tutoring, parent support and more -- whatever it takes -- to help all of their mostly low-income students succeed with a rigorous curriculum.

Parent Involvement

Parents are becoming partners with their children's schools -- and parent leaders in those schools -- thanks to the Parent Institute, a program of the Maryland Parental Information and Resource Center.

Summer Scholars Program in Denver

This summer program serves elementary school students five days a week -- reading and writing in the morning, recreational activities in the afternoon. Three-quarters of students return to school in the fall with better literacy skills.

New Teacher Project

The New Teacher Project partners with school systems to increase the number of outstanding individuals who become public school teachers and to help all teachers maximize their impact on student achievement.

California Academy of Math and Science

This Long Beach magnet school consistently ranks in the top 10 of California's high schools, and 95% of its graduates—primarily inner-city, low-income, at-risk students—go on to four-year colleges and universities.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

UNC is a model for making college affordable. It offers tuition, room and board, books and supplies free to any student who qualifies for admission and federal financial aid, and whose family income is within 200% of the poverty line.

Main Elementary School

This school in Rome, Georgia, is the only one in the state where 100% of 3rd and 5th graders scored at or above grade level in math and reading.

Lincoln Elementary School

More than 95% of students in this Mt. Vernon, New York, school met standards in math and reading.

Supplemental Educational Services

Students in Toledo, Ohio, who need extra tutoring are getting it, thanks to supplemental services under NCLB. That's one reason the number of students reading proficiently in one school has risen from 42 percent to 74 percent.

Magnet School District

When Hot Springs School District in Arkansas became an "all magnet schools" system, it went from being a district of flight to a district of choice. And math and reading scores have improved, with minority students showing the greatest gains.

Public School Choice

Miami-Dade County, Florida, offers a range of public school choice options -- neighborhood schools, magnet schools, charter schools, satellite schools hosted by employers, and others. Visit a few of these schools.