What Makes a Great Teacher?

For more than a decade, one organization has been tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and looking at why some teachers can move them three grade levels ahead in a year and others can’t. Now, as the Obama administration offers states more than $4 billion to identify and cultivate effective teachers, Teach for America is ready to release its data.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Feb 1, 2010
Length: 8 minutes (2,159 words)

The Fall of Mexico

In the almost three years since President Felipe Calderón launched a war on drug cartels, border towns in Mexico have turned into halls of mirrors where no one knows who is on which side or what chance remark could get you murdered.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 18 minutes (4,505 words)

A Milestone in the Health Care Journey

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Nov 21, 2009
Length: 18 minutes (4,638 words)

Did Christianity Cause the Crash?

America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 45 minutes (11,337 words)

Take the Metrobús in Mexico City

A remarkable example of how to put a new transport system into place in a relatively short time, how to foster cooperation over competition in a city known for its rough-and-tumble politics, and how to create a public-private transport system that does not rely on massive public subsidies.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Nov 17, 2009
Length: 5 minutes (1,299 words)

The Science of Success

Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Dec 1, 2009
Length: 9 minutes (2,271 words)

Big Bird, Meet Dick and Jane

A critique of Sesame Street

Author: John Holt
Source: The Atlantic
Published: May 1, 1971
Length: 31 minutes (7,880 words)

Mad About Mad Men

What’s wrong—and what’s gloriously right—with AMC’s hit show

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Nov 1, 2009
Length: 5 minutes (1,414 words)

Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?

An unruly market may undo the work of a giant cartel and of an inspired, decades-long ad campaign

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Feb 1, 1982
Length: 8 minutes (2,116 words)

Milking the Poor: One Family’s Fall Into Homelessness

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Oct 12, 2009
Length: 7 minutes (1,927 words)