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In honor of NEA's Read Across America, I'm posting an exclusive interview with celebrated children's book author Joseph Bruchac, who for over 30 years has captivated millions of young readers with his more than 70 books.  His writing often draws inspiration from his Abenaki Indian heritage and offers a strong corrective to what Bruchac sees as widespread and damaging stereotypes about American Indians.

Bruchac spoke with me about strategies for motivating children to read.  He offered ideas for helping struggling readers, resources parents and teachers can use to combat stereotypes in children's literature, thoughts on the promise and perils of the internet, observations the shortcomings of standardized assessments, and a preview of his forthcoming books.

Read through a transcript of interview highlights below.  Click here for the full 23-minute version.

Or choose specific segments of the interview from the following list: ...

A new study by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) finds that low-income youth are far less likely than their peers to learn about politics and citizenship in school. At a time when voter turnout among disadvantaged youth is dishearteningly low, CIRCLE's findings raise concerns that a generation is being disenfranchised through neglect.

Fortunately, schools like the Boston Community Leadership Academy are working to level the playing field.

Let me hear from you.  How can we ensure that our low-income youth have access to excellent civic education? ...

The National Association of Secondary School Principals has released a list of Breakthrough Middle and High Schools for 2008.  NASSP and the Metlife Foundation have recognized these schools, all of which serve many poor students, for dramatically improving student achievement.  ...

You might want to put your kids through art school after all.

Best-selling author Dan Pink's prediction that the MFA could become the next MBA is sure to kindle joy in the hearts of underfed visual arts majors everywhere, but it also has profound implications for K-12 public schools. Right-brained skills are becoming an increasingly important ticket to success in the post-information age, Pink argues in his book A Whole New Mind. 

Public schools will have to do much more to promote such skills, he suggested, at a time when employers can easily automate or outsource traditional left-brained activities.

In a phone interview last week, Pink spoke with me at length about this new state of affairs, and he gave me a rare preview of his upcoming projects. 

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of what Pink told me…. ...