Wikibooks takes on textbook industry
By Daniel Terdiman
If you found yourself needing an old biology textbook and couldn't locate your battered copy from college, you'd have a few options.
You could go to a university bookstore and snag a used copy; you could drop a few dollars on a new one at Amazon.com; or you could track down some old college chums and ask for their copies.
But if Jimmy Wales and his colleagues at the Wikimedia Foundation have anything to say about it, you could have another way to go--the Wikibooks project. It's their attempt to create a comprehensive, kindergarten-to-college curriculum of textbooks that are free and freely distributable, based on an open-source development model.


Supporting Student Success
A Governor’s Guide to Extra Learning Opportunities
Extra learning opportunities (ELOs) help to ensure that children are successful in school and in life.
Although before- and after-school programs have been around for decades, we are learning more about how the hours outside of school can be critical determinants of student achievement. With many forms and purposes, extra learning opportunities are a key part of many state policy efforts to support the long-term success of children, families, and communities. State policymakers increasingly recognize the important contributions that high-quality extralearning opportunities can make toward education, youth development, workforce, and prevention priorities.