What would happen if conservative ideas for improving education were given free reign in the United States? If Republicans take over the Senate and then the White House, a possibility, Americans might find out in the near future. Australia, similar in many ways to the U.S., provides a glimpse of what a transfer of power […]
Search results
Posted inBlogs, Elementary to High School, Lessons From Abroad
Lessons from Abroad: Singapore’s secrets to training world-class teachers
Singapore has been a hot topic in education circles ever since it began to appear near the top of the pack of international assessments in math and science in the mid-90s. The country has been held up as an example of a place where education is being done right: Singapore’s standards were higher and better […]
Posted inElementary to High School, Higher Ed, Higher Education, Lessons From Abroad, News
Iowa looks abroad for lessons on education reform
Iowa has surprisingly global ambitions to improve its education system. That’s why I found myself moderating sessions at the Iowa Teacher and Principal Leadership Symposium with titles such as “Better Than We Used to Do is Not Good Enough” and “Leadership Lessons From Around the Globe” before a sold-out crowd at Drake University in Des […]
Posted inHigher Ed, Higher Education, Opinion
Learning our own liberal-arts lessons
As a professor of communication advocating for the liberal arts, I recently faced a tough crowd. The admissions event was filled with prospective first-generation college students and their parents. I knew that if these apprehensive young people completed applications and ACTs, and if they were accepted, and if they were able to borrow enough money, […]
Posted inNews
How the U.S. educational system looks to a leading expert abroad
The Hechinger Report recently had a chance to ask the OECD’s Andreas Schleicher, an expert on educational systems around the world, what he makes of the current push for reform in American public education. Q: The PISA results make clear that U.S. students aren’t performing particularly well compared to their peers in many other countries. […]
Posted inOpinion
OPINION: How overseas work with refugees can inform emergency education measures in the U.S. during coronavirus
With almost every child across the United States out of school due to the coronavirus, schools are shifting their thinking from stop-gap measures to the future of learning. The current scale of school disruptions, both nationally and globally, is unprecedented, yet the nature of them is not. Lessons learned from working with displaced refugees and […]
Posted inElementary to High School
OPINION: Known for its intense testing pressure, top-performing South Korea dials it back
In a world where education is supposed to drive the economy, is it possible to be overeducated? Some think that’s the case in South Korea. The unemployment rate is comparatively low, at just over 3.5 percent at the end of 2016. But the unemployment rate for those age 15 to 29 was more than double […]
Posted inElementary to High School
TEACHER VOICE: On the ground in Singapore, with a sharp perspective
SINGAPORE — Shortly before I completed my teacher training 15 years ago, my vice principal gave me some advice. “Don’t forget that the higher and faster you fly, the more blurry things on the ground get,” he warned. “You need to land once in a while.” This profound reminder to make periodic assessments has shaped […]
Posted inOpinion
STUDENT VOICE: Let’s stop the apathy in Kentucky and beyond
We know democracy is in jeopardy when millions of people dismiss the political process as rigged and not worth their attention, choosing to stay home rather than vote. For example, in the 2015 Kentucky gubernatorial election, when the voter turnout was a dismal 30.6 percent. More than two-thirds of Kentuckians who could have voted stayed […]
Posted inNews
Everyone aspires to be Finland, but this country beats them in two out of three subjects
International test results released December 6 showed continued success for the small Baltic nation of Estonia. Despite being largely overlooked by educators and policy makers around the globe, Estonia ranked in the top 10 in all three subjects – math, reading and science – on the newest iteration of the Programme for International Student Assessment, […]