The exhibits reflect authentic practices in teaching and leadership and highlight virtual field trips and educational events that engage educators in discussions around improvement in education.

The Maine Idea: A Computer for Every Lap
The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) is the largest educational technology project in the history of this state. Maine was the first state to initiate a plan to eliminate the Digital Divide by providing a laptop to each and every 7th and 8th-grade student and teacher. This bold move to spend 1 percent of the education budget to put computers in all middle and high school grades is leading to a fundamental change in schooling.

School and Community: Partners in Learning
Partnerships with parent and community groups, universities, and others play a critical role in making schools true centers of learning in their communities. Where such partnerships exist, students benefit by seeing the deep links between school learning and life outside of school, and communities have more information to understand and support the efforts of local schools. The examples in this exhibit reveal some ways school/community partnerships are actualized.

Pathways: From School to College to Career
Making learning relevant becomes more and more important in this digital age. Many programs are addressing the needs of their high school students by bringing them into the workforce in a variety of ways.

Brain-Based Research: How People Learn
Using "How People Learn" as a base, a number of schools are re-evaluating teaching and learning using the principles of research identified by John Bransford and other contributors.

Seeing is Believing - Technology Integration in Practice
Technology integration changes classroom dynamics encouraging project-based learning and constructivist thought. In this exhibit you'll learn how K-12 students and teachers from throughout the country integrate technology into their curriculum. Examples in this exhibit highlight programs where technology tools have become an important aspect of teaching and learning.

Geometry in Architecture: Students Design Schools
Every spring at Mountlake Terrace High School near Seattle, Washington, students in Eeva Reeder's geometry classes work feverishly to complete an architectural challenge: Design a 2,000-student high school to meet learning needs in the year 2050, fitting it on a given site. In a period of six weeks, students must develop a site plan, scale model, floor plans, perspective drawing, cost estimate, and written proposal. They must then make an oral presentation to local school architects who judge the projects and "award" the contract -- all making use of geometric and mathematical concepts.

Union City, NJ: A District Achieves Success
In 1989, Union City Public Schools faced state-regulated total reorganization. Only about 30 percent of students in the poor, predominantly Hispanic New Jersey school district were passing state tests for minimal academic competency.

That year the district began an ongoing reform effort that won recognition from the state and eventually from the nation.

School of Environmental Studies
Opened in 1995, next to the Minnesota Zoo, the School of Environmental Studies (SES) is an 11th/12th grade "high school of choice" in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

SES exemplifies the benefits of a small school environment, an interdisciplinary, project-based learning curriculum, and a strong connection to community resources.

Online Project-Based Learning
A number of ongoing and new projects provide students with online collaboration opportunities as they collect and share data and information worldwide.

Emotional Intelligence
Developing skills of emotional intelligence -- clear communication, management of emotions, positive self-concept -- helps students in their studies and interpersonal relationships in and out of school.