Educator's Reference Desk
A service of the U.S. Department of Education that provides access to literature and resources on most any topic concerning education in the United States. The service organizes these resources, offering lesson plans, links to online resources and more.

ERIC Database
Education-related documents and journal articles, many of them full text. The Education Resources Information Center Web site is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.

TeachersFirst
A collection of original material, Internet resources and lesson plans organized by subject matter and grade level and designed for teachers of K-12 students. A companion Web site, TeachersAndFamilies, offers a variety of free, instructional resources for K-12 students. Developed by teachers for children and parents, greater emphasis is placed on resources for children in preschool, special education or gifted and talented classes. Both sites were created by the Network for Instructional TV Inc., a nonprofit learning technologies corporation.

Private Vocational Institutions Certified to Operate in Virginia
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia lists career schools certified to operate in Virginia. Information provided for each organization includes school name, address, Web site, type of certificate or diploma level training offered, and accreditation status.

Fairfax County Public Schools' Adult and Community Education
Check this Web site for information on the wide variety of classes, programs and services offered locally, including the following:

Northern Virginia Community College: Continuing Education
This Web site provides registration information and a list of courses offered at each of the five NOVA campuses. A wide variety of non-credit courses and various certificate programs are available. A brief description of each course is provided, including prices, dates, times and locations.

Fairfax County Public Schools Web Site

Program of Studies (POS)
View documents that provide an overview of the instructional programs for Kindergarten through 12th grade language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Curriculum content and required skills are outlined for each grade.

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Summer School
Information on summer school and other summer programs is available from the Fairfax County Public Schools' summer school booklet, Encore.

Testing
Information on testing and test scores for the AP Exams, as well as the SAT-I, SOL and Stanford Achievement tests.

Fairfax County Public Schools' Home Instruction Information
Fairfax County's instructions and requirements for a biological parent, adoptive parent, guardian or other person having control or charge of a child, to homeschool that child.

Home Educators Association of Virginia
A nonprofit association of parents and grandparents involved in homeschooling. The organization serves to promote and protect homeschooling in Virginia via information, legislation and homeschooling resources.

Homeschool Central
Wide-ranging coverage of homeschooling contacts at the national and regional level, plus links to resources for study and suggested curriculum materials at the "Homeschool Central Mall."

Homeschooling in the United States
This report from the National Center for Education Statistics offers survey information on the prevalence of homeschooling. Data include the estimated number of homeschooled students, parents' reasons for homeschooling and characteristics of homeschooled children. Surveys are scheduled to occur on a four-year cycle.

Jon's Homeschool Resource Page
This Web site offers a plethora of information and resources for homeschooling parents. Includes links to support groups, FAQs and essays, chat groups, vendors, homeschooling magazines and more!

The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
An inclusive, all-volunteer, member-directed state organization, VaHomeschoolers strives to protect and promote homeschooling through proactive legislative work and assistance to individual homeschoolers. VaHomeschoolers' Web site provides full-text home education and related statutes, documents and articles designed to assist homeschoolers in understanding and meeting the legal requirements of the Virginia Home Instruction statute. Contacts for support groups are also available.

Fairfax County Private Schools
A list of private schools offering pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education in Fairfax County, organized by town and with links to Web sites.

NAIS School Search
Search the National Association of Independent Schools membership database to find private schools located in the United States and other countries. Use the search criteria to limit results by boarding or day schools, religious affiliation, co-ed or single-sex, sports program choices or other special programs.

Peterson's Private Schools
Offers a means of searching for detailed information on private schools throughout the world. Search by school name, keyword(s), U.S. state or zip code, province (Canada) or country. Schools offering programs to suit special needs students are also delineated.

Private Schools Locator
Check the "private schools" box and search for private pre-K through high schools by state, city, zip code or distance from zip code area. A brief profile and enrollment statistics are provided by this National Center for Education Statistics site.

State Recognized Accredited Schools
The Virginia Council for Private Education provides a list of state-recognized, accredited private schools.

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Washingtonian.com's Guide to Private Schools
Private co-educational, single-sex, special-needs and boarding school listings are organized alphabetically by region (District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia), with an accompanying address, phone number, ages of students accepted, costs and current number of students in attendance.

GreatSchools.net
Offers information on public, private and charter schools in the United States. Parents can use the site to compare public schools within the same district or state and to post and read subjective reviews of schools.

Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides an education report card on K-12 school systems in all 50 states and Washington DC. Evaluations are based on academic achievement, return on investment, truth in advertising about student proficiency, rigor of standards and other data.

Mapping Educational Progress
The U.S. Department of Education provides reports on how states are performing since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. The two page summaries for each state show 4th and 8th grade student reading and math achievement, the number of schools meeting or falling short of No Child Left Behind goals, participation in Advanced Placement exams and graduation rates.

SchoolMatters
Standard & Poor's offers public education statistical data on math and reading proficiency, and other topics, by school, school district and state.

Virginia School Report Card
The Virginia Department of Education provides school report cards offering information on student achievement, school safety and accreditation ratings. Data is available for individual schools as well as for school divisions and the state as a whole.

Washington Post's School Guide
Provides profiles of public schools in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia searchable by school name or grade level and jurisdiction. Schools can be ranked by test scores, student/teacher ratio, dropout rate or six other possible criteria alone or in combination. Data published are derived from the 2000-2001 Washington Post School Survey of area schools, as well as the US, Maryland and Virginia education departments, and DC Public Schools.

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Fairfax County Public School's Tutor List
The Fairfax County Public School's Parent Resource Center has compiled this list of tutors who are willing to instruct students.

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Fairfax Education Association Tutor Directory
The Association provides a list of tutors serving various areas of Fairfax County. Information on each tutor includes subject specialty, grade levels served and contact information.

Find a music teacher
Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association offers referrals in the disciplines of voice, piano and musical instruments, and links to advice on how to choose a music teacher.

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
Classroom or one-to-one instruction is offered for adults in reading and writing skills, as well as in learning to speak, read, write and understand English. Work at your own pace! Computer labs are available for enrolled students in some learning centers.

Live Homework Help
The Library offers live online homework assistance for students in 4th grade through early college. Note: Free downloadable software is required. Links to software, instructions and live tech support are provided.