Published: May 1, 2006

Eighth grader Julius Bennett sneaked a peek at the first page of the new Harry Potter novel he’d signed out earlier, along with two other adventure texts, from the class library. He sat at the back of the room at Amistad Academy, a charter middle school serving mostly disadvantaged minorities in New Haven, Connecticut, as his English teacher assigned homework for the long Veterans Day weekend.

By Monday, the students were told, they’d have to spend at least two hours reading the books they’d selected. That wasn’t a problem for Julius, who, at 13, had developed a love for prose. But his anticipated journey into the land of wizards and witches would have to wait until he and his classmates took a real-life journey.

“We have a few moments left, so I want you to think back to the 4th grade, before Amistad,” said Luke Harrison, a boyish-looking 29-year-old in his third year teaching at the school. Along with colleagues, he’d organized a visit to nearby Yale University that afternoon. “How many of you thought about...