35 States, D.C. and Puerto Rico Submit Applications for the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge

The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced today that 35 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico submitted applications for the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, a $500 million state-level competitive grant program to improve early learning and development. Applicants include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

"The strong response from states shows there is a shared commitment to raising the bar on quality across early learning programs, including those serving low income children who too often start kindergarten already behind their classmates," said Secretary for Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. "By investing in our children's early years, we can put them on track to success in school and in the 21st century job market while boosting our long term competitiveness as a nation."

In May, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius joined business, law enforcement and military leaders to announce the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, highlighting how investments in high-quality early learning programs help reduce crime, strengthen national security, and boost competitiveness.

Since then, applicants have created comprehensive plans to improve early learning and development programs around five key areas of reform: establishing Successful State Systems, defining High-Quality, Accountable Programs, Promoting Early Learning and Development Outcomes for Children, supporting A Great Early Childhood Education Workforce, and Measuring Outcomes and Progress.

The early learning stakeholder community has also joined education leaders across the country in improving early learning and development programs by providing technical assistance to states in preparing their applications.

"I'm thrilled to see so many states taking advantage of this opportunity, and advocacy groups and policy experts have shown tremendous leadership in supporting states' efforts to coordinate their early learning systems," said Secretary Duncan. "Their collaborative work is helping ensure that all children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to be successful in school and beyond."

Over the next several weeks, applications will undergo peer review by early childhood experts from across the country. In mid-December, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services will award the highest ranked applicants within funding availability. Awards will range from around $50 million up to $100 million, depending on a state's population of children from low-income families and proposed plan.

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The Learning Network: Student Reading Contest Winner | China, Norway and Orwell

Gilles Sabrie for The New York TimesA customer in a Beijing cafe — not yet affected by new regulations requiring bars, restaurants, hotels and bookstores in China to install Web monitoring software — surfing the Web. The fourth winner of our contest wrote about privacy on the Internet.

This is it: our fourth and final winner in our monthlong New York Times Summer Reading Contest. This week, Shannon Doyne and Amanda Christy Brown helped me judge, and their help and insights were invaluable – it was hard to choose from among the more than 100 thoughtful entries on topics that included healthy food, math camp, e-books and the attacks in Norway.

Geri told us: “I have never read the New York Times before, but this summer my sister gave me homework. She told me that I had to read one New York Times article a day and write an essay on each article.” Her sister had a clear purpose: “She wanted me to learn more about the world and she wanted me to become a better thinker and a better writer.” Geri concluded, “I protested and I didn’t like that my sister gave me summer homework but I’m (secretly) glad that she did because I’m learning new things and am thinking about new things.”

We’re glad she did too, Geri. And we’re grateful to the teachers, librarians, parents and others who encouraged students to participate in our contest this summer.

And now, without further ado …

First, our three runners-up, in order of submission:

Gyu-Hyeun, of South Korea, a global citizen who shared concern for those affected by the famine in Somalia.PavlaJCS, who tried to process the killings in Norway.Calvin, who put his family’s experiences into the larger context of the real estate market.

The winner is MunawarR-BSGE2016, who caught our attention in previous weeks, writing about meteorologists and the case of Aisha Bibi. This week, he tied in a reference to a classic novel with a comment about Internet freedom in China:

Ever since reading 1984 by George Orwell I’ve grown paranoid of the possibility of a hellish future manipulated by a dictatorship eyeing our every move. The reason this article caught my eye was because of the eerie similarities between China’s new web-monitoring regulations and the totalitarianism described in my favorite book. It seems the more I see, hear and read of these government-related acts in the media the more my nightmare becomes reality.

China has already limited citizens’ Internet usage by banning services such as YouTube and Facebook- which teenagers like me absolutely cannot live without. By also monitoring who visits which websites, the idea of internet anonymity is null. When I’m on the Internet chatting or sharing, I have the advantage of no one knowing my name or location and not harming me. To have my privacy taken away from me — especially by the government — is disturbing, and halting my computer usage seems better than anyone becoming suspicious of me.

Although I disagree with them, I believe the true motivation for these regulations are the recent attacks in Norway and not a simple imposition of power. I would like to believe that if the Internet activity of mastermind Anders Behring Breivik had been monitored, the attacks in Oslo and Utoya wouldn’t have occurred. Breivik had clearly announced his beliefs and intentions on Internet forums and YouTube- if the authorities had been following him, seventy-six more people would still be living today. Despite being unconventional and controversial, such kind of surveillance in Norway could have saved lives.

In fiction and reality, it always seems that government is power-hungry and evil. However, I don’t think the Chinese government should be called evil in this situation; they’ve stated their intentions to catch business-stealing criminals and terrorists like Breivik through this software. However, bookstores and Internet cafes are already losing business as they shut down their Wi-Fi protesting the regulations, willing to lose a profit in favor of their customers’ freedom — a modern civil rights boycott. Although I agree with them, I feel that some form of surveillance should exist- one that tracks specific websites and people instead of monitoring innocents. Some countries already monitor suspicious Internet activity, but they need to step it up a bit. I don’t want totalitarianism in my society, but if a guy threatens to bomb a building in an Internet forum I think it should be taken seriously.

If you know anyone who thinks “kids today” know nothing and care less about news and the world, we hope you will show them the entries, especially the winning submissions, in our New York Times Summer Reading Contest.

Students: Thank you for the intelligent and moving entries you submitted. We’re glad you participated in our contest, and you can read the submissions of all four winners here.

Starting Aug. 8, we’ll bring our popular Student Opinion feature back from summer vacation, and we hope you will join the continuing conversation there.

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The Learning Network: We're on Hiatus This Week

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: The Learning Network Is on Hiatus Next Week

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The Learning Network: Test Yourself | History, July 29, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: Walter Reed Closes as a Wounded Times Photographer Covers the Ceremony

Joao Silva for The New York TimesSoldiers and guests watched a parachute demonstration at a closing ceremony for Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Go to related article ? Use the photo and related article to answer basic news questions.

HOW has history “marched through the halls of Walter Reed Army Medical Center”?

WHEN will the hospital close?

WHERE will Walter Reed’s current patients be moved?

WHY did the center’s reputation “take a hit” in 2007?

In WHAT area of medical care is Walter Reed particularly strong?

WHO is the photographer, and Walter Reed patient, who shot this photograph of soldiers and guests watching the closing ceremonies?

Related: Our collection on teaching about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The Learning Network: Word of the Day | cacophonous

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: News Quiz | July 29, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: News Quiz | July 28, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: Test Yourself | English, July 28, 2011

Today’s question was written by Susan Behrens, who is a professor at Marymount Manhattan College and the author of “Grammar: A Pocket Guide.” Her question comes from the obituary “Rev. Mary M. Simpson, a Pioneer in Episcopal Clergy, Dies at 85.”

After you’ve clicked “submit answer,” more information will appear.

Use our questions for test prep or just for fun. Find more here:

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The Learning Network: Fun, and Risks, at the Beach in Tel Aviv

Rina Castelnuovo for The New York TimesPalestinian women and girls from the West Bank at the beach in Tel Aviv, after a group of Israeli women sneaked them into the country for a daylong excursion. Go to related article ?Use the photo and article to answer basic news questions.

WHO traveled to Israel to take a dip in the ocean in Tel Aviv?
WHO were their hosts?

WHAT risks did they take in undertaking this trip?
WHAT was remarkable about the beach visit?

WHERE do the visitors live?

WHEN was Palestinian movement into Israel first restricted?

WHY does the group, We Will Not Obey, oppose the Law of Entry into Israel?

HOW did the Palestinian women “disguise” themselves to cross the border?

Related: Our lesson plan “History and Hope” and the 6 Q’s About the News installment “Talking About a Two-State Solution.”

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The Learning Network: News Quiz | July 26, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: Word of the Day | crabbed

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: Same-Sex Marriage Begins in New York

Michael Appleton for The New York TimesFlowers were delivered to the Manhattan City Clerk’s office at 7:48 a.m. on the first day New York State’s Marriage Equality Act went into effect. Go to related article ?Use the photo and article to answer basic news questions.

WHO married in New York State on Sunday?

WHAT did protesters’ signs say?

WHERE were couples married, beginning at midnight?

WHEN did the couples profiled in the article and the accompanying interactive feature meet?

WHY do you think some of the brides and grooms, and some onlookers, found the day “unexpectedly moving and affirming”?

HOW many couples obtained marriage licenses and were married in New York City on Sunday?

Related: The lesson plan “The Culture Wars” and other posts on gay marriage.

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The Learning Network: Student Reading Contest Winner | On Counterfeit Merchandise

Andrea Morales/The New York TimesPages from a pamphlet seized by the police that a streetside counterfeiter in Chinatown had used to show potential customers what was available after just a phone call. The third winner of our Summer Reading Contest wrote about counterfeit merchandise. Go to related article ?

She’s been a runner-up the past two weeks, and now she’s our Week 3 contest winner. We’ll tell you more about her, and share her winning entry, in a minute.

But first, we want to acknowledge the 71 students who wrote in to participate in the third week of the contest. They were interested in a wide range of New York Times articles, on topics like tiny toads,?swimming with sharks, sidewalk advertising, playgrounds, the Internet and memory.

We received not one but two articulate entries from a writer named Calvin, both on the national debt, and a discussion about the Women’s World Cup from the obviously passionate Arsenije. The entries from these two writers nicely demonstrate the breadth of interest, and strong writing skills, exhibited by our student contest participants.

Our runners-up this week are all from the Baccalaureate School for Global Education in Astoria, Queens, whose rising eighth graders are participating as a summer assignment. They are:

Nicholas, who self-identifies as a “beta male.”Munawar R., who shared his admiration for meteorologists.Raiaan, who is concerned about the famine in Somalia.

And now, for this week’s winner.

Aglaia, 15, of Forest Hills, N.Y., who last week philosophized about noise and the previous week about Cy Twombly, evidently has wide-ranging interests. In her winning entry this week, she delved into the issues raised in an article about counterfeit merchandise:

A true New Yorker knows where to find the best restaurants, museums, shopping centers, and now, places to buy counterfeit purses. Selling counterfeits of designer purses is nothing new. It has become “an industry” spreading from downtown to Time Square. This article caught my attention because I’m familiar with the world of counterfeit purses. While I’ve never bought (nor sold) any bootlegged products, I know plenty of people who have been coaxed by low prices and adept salesmen and have bought counterfeit purses.

This article is extremely relatable. The description is true to reality and also a bit humorous, though it doesn’t take away from the gravity of the issue itself. A year ago, I went to Chinatown with my mom. We witnessed, firsthand, venders scurrying around slyly trying to sell their goods. I begged unsuccessfully for a counterfeit purse since my friends had designer handbags (real or fake; I didn’t care.)

Still, let’s face it; we’re not fooling anyone with our bootlegged products. Consumers know that their purchases are not genuine. Many just cannot afford a real one. Our psyche tricks us into thinking that we’ll fit in if we keep up with the latest trends. Thus, we need a look-a-like designer bag to stay in the loop.

The problem with counterfeiters is that they take business away from actual brands. However, our main concern shouldn’t be the “cat-and-mouse game” the author describes. I actually sympathize with the venders. They’re only the middlemen, doing the painfully arduous task of dodging the police and settling deals. Additionally, many venders are immigrants, legal and illegal, who speak little or broken English. For them, they just trying to make ends meet.

The origins of the problem stem from foreign manufacturers who knowingly undermining brand-name companies. Nevertheless, consumers share an equal amount of blame. I’ve learned in history class that our economy is controlled by the dynamics of supply and demand. In this case, demand creates its own supply. If people want fake purses, manufacturers will continue to produce and wholesalers will continue to import, enlarging the problem.

I propose three alternatives to harness demand for illegal counterfeits: 1) Crackdown on wholesalers who import illegal products. 2) Impose penalties on guilty consumers. 3) Educate our generation and teach them, like my mom has taught me, that we, as individuals, are worth much more than anything we own.

If that isn’t food for thought, we don’t know what is.

Entries have already begun pouring in for the fourth week of the contest. You have until Friday morning to enter. Ready, set, go!

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The Learning Network: Test Yourself | English, July 26, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: Test Yourself | History, July 22, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: 'Mission Complete, Houston'

Use the photo and article to answer basic news questions.

WHO was the commander of the last flight of the space shuttle Atlantis – and, indeed, of the last space shuttle flight ever?

WHAT did the commander say as he landed?

WHERE will the Atlantis go?

WHEN did the shuttle land?

WHY did the shuttle have to flip to a nose-first position to land?

HOW will supplies now be taken to the International Space Station?

Related: The activity “30 Years of the Space Shuttle: A Fact Scavenger Hunt.”

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The Learning Network: News Quiz | July 22, 2011

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on New York Times content.

Teachers can use or adapt our lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to our Opinion questions, take our News Quizzes, learn the Word of the Day, try our Test Yourself questions, complete a Fill-In or read our Poetry Pairings.

Join the conversation by commenting on any post. We'd love to hear what you think!

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The Learning Network: What Interested You Most in The Times This Week?

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

Our Summer Reading Contest began July 1, and we announced our first winner on July 11 and our second on July 18. Our next winner, who will come from among these entries, will be announced on July 25.

To participate this week, the final one of the contest, just write in below and answer our question — “What interested you most in The Times this week?” —then tell us why you chose what you chose.

Please note that for the month of July, this is the only Student Opinion question we’ll ask.

For more details, and to see our student winners from last year, visit the full description here.

For now, though, here is a quick list of our rules:

You can choose from anything published in the print paper or on NYTimes.com in 2011. And yes, videos, graphics, slide shows, blogs and podcasts count.Feel free to participate each week, but we allow only one submission per person per week.The contest is open to students ages 13 to 25.Each response should be 400 words or fewer. (To check, you can paste yours into an online word-count tool like this one before you submit it.)Don’t include your last name – though feel free to include your age and hometown.

So, students: Tell us below what you’ve read, watched or listened to in The Times recently that got your attention and explain why.

Maybe you liked a piece because you have a personal connection to it, because it reminded you of someone or taught you something, or because it moved you or made you laugh. Or maybe you were annoyed by something you read and want to argue with it. Whatever: we’re just interested in hearing what you’re interested in.

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

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