Although Thomas Jefferson's view of freedom was the cornerstone of the Declaration of Independence, this founding father owned 170 slaves to run his 5,000 acre plantation. This article describes a unit developed by the Monticello (Virginia) Education Department that teaches secondary students about slave Isaac Jefferson while exposing them to…

Claudio Sanchez, education correspondent for National Public Radio, grew up in two cultures, saw his parents' marriage dissolve, and watched his mother toil to keep family together and get her children educated. Sanchez spends working hours searching for stories illustrating that kind of travail. Focusing on issues of abandonment and neglect, he…