EDUCATION NOTEBOOK: 
Summer's Last Surf: A Back to School Guide of Helpful Websites

August 18, 2006

As American students get ready to head back to school this fall, educational innovations offer help for parents, students, teachers, and concerned citizens.  Here are some of the many tools on the Internet that are improving American education:

For Parents:

• For parents who are moving or looking for a new quality school for their children, Neighborhood Scout, School Match, PSK12, and Great Schools provide helpful information about an area's schools. For information on other family resources like babysitters, community centers, and playgrounds, check out Parent Click.
• For parents seeking to learn how to improve their children's education, these websites provide helpful information: MVParents, Family Education, PBS Parents, and Parents Choice.
• For parents who will be asked to help children with their math homework this year but haven't thought about Algebra in years, Go Math is a strong site for homework helping tips and Math.Com suggests what to look for in a good tutor. For help with other subjects, visit Brain Pop or the Tutor Center.
• For parents interested in homeschooling their children, Why Home School? is a blog run by a family with hands-on experience. About Home Schooling is another helpful website, with lesson plans and other ideas to help get started.

For Students:

• Trouble with homework? Check out these sites for explanations and homework help: Chem4Kids, Algebra.Com, and Go Math.
• To hear what others say about your new teachers, check out Rate My Teachers. College students can do the same on Rate My Professor.
• For students who want to learn more about current events, Student News Daily provides interesting articles and critical thinking questions.

For teachers:

• Help on lesson plans is just a mouse click away at a number of helpful websites, such as Teachers Pay Teachers, an Ebay-like marketplace for teaching materials.
• Other helpful websites with lesson plans include Educators Konnect, Lesson Plans Page, PBS TeacherSource, and Education Planet. And the I Love That Teaching Idea site provides a message board for discussion of best practices.
• TramLine provides virtual field trips to expose students to destinations around the world.

For Taxpayers and Concerned Citizens:

• Schoolmatters.com, a service of Standard and Poors, provides everything a concerned citizens needs to know, from information on financing education to test scores at public schools across the United States.

Dan Lips is an Education Analyst and Stafford Palmieri is an intern at the Heritage Foundation, www.Heritage.org.