On the Web
www.collegerecruiting.com
Taking a cue from online job boards, this site puts students and college recruiters in touch through an easy and inexpensive process. Students who are interested in getting into college can use the site to instantly e-mail their accomplishments to colleges of their choice. Recruiters can search the site and contact prospective students based on specific criteria, including athletics, arts and academics. The site reaches students in every state as well as 16 countries, providing access to more than 4,000 colleges and universities.
www.nrcs.usda.gov
Students and teachers can get the dirt on dirt from this site by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Visitors can ask the official annelid of the NRCS, S.K. Worm, any questions they may have about soil. The site also includes links to other educational resources that promote land conservancy.
www.kidtest.com
Parents can help their school-age children do better on achievement tests on this site, which offers online testing tools for children from kindergarten through college. Tests include the Kidtest Benchmarked Sequence, a proprietary series of achievement tests based on national standards, and practice state achievement tests. The site features detailed scoring reports for each subject and confidential, free record keeping for each test-taker. Also included on the site are an online educational supplies store and electronic flashcards.
www.vlib.org
Started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of HTML and the Web, The Virtual Library is considered to be the oldest catalog on the Web. It's run by a loosely organized group of volunteers who compile links to pages in their subject area of expertise. The site contains links on several subject areas, including agriculture, law, education, sciences and the humanities. Visitors can also volunteer their expertise on the site.
www.readingmonster.com
Parents can help their children enhance reading skills on this site, which was founded on the principle of providing parents with the tools and strategies that professional teachers use to encourage and enhance reading ability. The site sells books organized into 10 reading levels. After taking a reading evaluation test on the site, parents, teachers and other educators can purchase books at a child's ability level and use the skills provided for that level to improve reading.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2001 issue of THE Journal.