I thought this was an amazing piece on a teacher & how she explained racism to a class of 3rd grade students.

What was the most interesting to me was recognizing how much self esteem played into the performance of students on tests.

I know a kid raises or lowers himself/herself to the expectations of those around him. It reminds me of when my dad told me about the article he read on letting your child overhear you talk about the good things about him & how proud you are. I think third party compliments are more powerful.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s42cq66&continuous=1