An elementary school principal describes her school's successful effort to virtually eliminate a reading gap between black and white students by concentrating on strong discipline and literacy programs, supplemented by music and foreign language programs that are believed to improve cognitive ability.

A teaching handbook accompanying North Carolina's revised competency-based curriculum for second language instruction in elementary and secondary schools is presented. An introductory section outlines the philosophy and rationale behind the curriculum and its revision, discusses the role of thinking skills in learning, briefly describes programs…