Secretary Spellings announced that 78 school districts across the country would receive the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Grant to improve students' reading achievement.

Find scientific articles and lessons on gardens, plant genebanks, bacteria (friend or foe?), biodiversity, real-life aliens (introduced species), apes, ecosystems, global warming, forest canopies, deforestation, water, genetic research, biotechnology, genetically modified foods, microbes, evolution, DNA, how new species form, extinction, and more. Articles and lessons are correlated with academic standards. (American Institute of Biological Sciences, supported by National Science Foundation)

Children in Reading First classrooms receive significantly more reading instruction and schools participating in the program are much more likely to have a reading coach, according to the Reading First Implementation Evaluation: Interim Report.

Learn about the science of "stuff" and challenges in the field today: understanding "emergence" (when the whole adds up to much more than the sum of its parts), creating new materials (high-strength plastics, superconductors, photovoltaic devices), mimicking products and processes of nature (artificial bone), and finding green ways to manufacture products, create chemical reactions, treat waste, and generate energy. (National Science Foundation)

Secretary Spellings hailed legislation that would help low-income students in under-performing schools transfer to private schools of their choice or sign up for tutoring.

Find more than 500 lessons and activities for teaching engineering content in K-12 science and math classes. Topics include oil and energy consumption, water and electricity, mass and volume, various energy sources, heat transfer, solar heating systems, collisions and momentum, electrons, cellular respiration, biomedical engineering, and more. Lessons connect real-world experiences with concepts and skills already taught in K-12 classrooms. (Multiple Agencies)

Secretary Spellings delivered the commencement address to the Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Master's Program.

Learn about the atmosphere, force, gas particles, cosmic rays, kinetic energy, lunar phases, machines, momentum, the night sky, refraction (prisms and raindrops), the scientific method, seasonal changes, seismic waves, stars, tides, and waves. Find out about careers; read interviews of scientists. (National Science Foundation)

ED awarded 20 grants totaling $7,865,995 million under the Transition to Teaching program to help high-need school districts recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals, including qualified paraprofessionals, and recent college graduates who have not majored in education to teach in high-need schools.

The ED Office of Indian Education announced the 2006 winners of the annual Native American Student Art Competition.

Look over the shoulders of scientists and glimpse the often unseen moments of investigation. Take 'virtual field trips' to 8 observatories, including Arecibo, where astrobiologists search for signs of life beyond the solar system, and Las Cuevas, a research station in Central America's largest remaining rainforest. See interviews, photos, and broadcasts that explore the origins of matter, the universe, and life itself. (National Science Foundation)

Secretary Spellings spoke at ED's Teacher-to-Teacher workshop.

See the latest news in science. Topics include skiing on the moon, lightning in hurricanes, something strange about moon shadows, the growing brightness of Venus, moon dust, space radiation's affect on computers, a lunar lawn mower, fireball sightings, and the shape of space-time around earth. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

More than $31 million in grants have been awarded to 19 school districts in 14 states as part of a joint effort by the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to support schools in creating safe learning environments that promote healthy childhood development and prevent youth violence and drug use.

Secretary Spellings named Katherine McLane as press secretary at ED.

Explore career options in advanced manufacturing, automotive, construction, energy, financial services, health care, hospitality, information technology, retail, and transportation industries, as well as in emerging industries -- biotechnology, geospatial technology, and nanotechnology. Learn which industries are growing, how to qualify for a good job, and where to get started. (Department of Labor)

Careers, math, biology, geology, nanotechnology, American painting, archaeology, and languages are among the topics of new resources at FREE, the website that makes teaching resources from federal agencies easier to find.

Secretary Spellings named Morgan Brown as Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Innovation and Improvement at ED.

Notices inviting applications have been issued recently under ED programs that include (1) Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities -- National Center to Enhance the Professional Development of School Personnel Who Share Responsibility for Improving Results for Children with Disabilities and (2) Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities -- General Supervision Enhancement Grants.

Learn about how we've celebrated July 4 since that day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence. Independence Day celebrations became commonplace after the War of 1812, when events like the ground-breaking ceremony for the Erie Canal were scheduled to coincide with July 4 festivities. By the 1870s, the Fourth of July was the most important secular holiday on the calendar. (Library of Congress)