Among states, the graduation rate varied dramatically, from 6.8 percent in Mississippi to 45.4 percent in New Jersey. Also, the number of students ages 6-12 identified as needing special education services grew faster than the rate of general school enrollment. On any given day, students are wiring and maintaining computer networks and building Web sites for nonprofit groups that do not have the resources or expertise to do it. The program accepts as many as 40 new students each year. Interested students must provide reference letters from two teachers and one community member and must have a 2.5 grade-point average and provide a school transcript.
Interviews also help program coordinators make their selections.
But with the backing of AOL and an innovative 1998 decision by Netscape to make its source code available to anyone on the Internet, their hope is to produce a superior product and compete with Internet Explorer. The Internet Educator of the Year 2001 will be an educator who has embraced Internet resources and technologies and successfully integrated them into the classroom. He or she recognizes the immense possibilities for learning the Internet offers teachers and students and has incorporated these profound new tools into teaching, lifting students to new and exciting heights. He or she is a teacher first, demonstrating and sharing a love of learning and using the Internet as a tool for learning with both students and faculty and is an inspiration to everyone who has or is struggling with combining the professional act of teaching with the realities of a completely wired future. Nominations for the Internet Educator of the Year 2001 Award must be received by December 31, 2000.