To cope with the high dropout rate among the country's Hispanic students, many schools are offering mariachi music classes in order to keep students in school. The lessons keep Hispanic students interested in education, and mariachi performances make their mostly immigrant parents feel more comfortable visiting schools, officials said

Great reading on an array of key educational issues for the new adminsitration.

Fifteen educational scholars have produced a collection of letters to President-elect Obama. Each letter briefly sets forth an idea or proposal to help create a more productive and equitable educational system. The letters cover the gamut of key policy issues facing the next administration, including reading instruction, No Child Left Behind, the expansion of preschool availability, charter schools, special education, the effects of poverty, and the teaching of English learners. These proposals should be thought of as the tips of empirical icebergs - beneath the letters lies a research base to guide policymaking throughout Obama's time in office.