In The News

Why India Trails China

Amartya Sen June 20, 2013
India as a democracy has made great strides in education, poverty reduction and economic reform, but the country, destined to the world’s most populous, still lags behind China. “The far greater gap between India and China is in the provision of essential public services — a failing that depresses living standards and is a persistent drag on growth,” writes Amartya Sen in an opinion essay for the...

Countries Globalized But Education Lagging

Dominic Sachsenmaier June 18, 2013
Schools at all levels, particularly universities, could do more to prepare students for a global society by adding globalization to curricula – not just facts about other parts of the globe, but languages, analysis and connections. The framework of entire disciplines has not kept pace with a fast-changing global economy and culture, contends Dominic Sachsenmaier, history professor and author....

Autumn of the Patriarchs

June 14, 2013
Shifting population patterns are expected in emerging developing countries. In Latin America the population is quickly moving from high birth rates and early mortality to low birth rates and longer life expectancies. “In Latin America the changes have happened in half that time and all at once, resulting in faster, less predictable social change,” reports the Economist. Brazil and Chile’s...

US Moves Toward Teaching Climate Change; Britain Does Opposite

Christoper F. Schuetze April 12, 2013
Guidelines for US science educators in at least 40 states will emphasize climate change and the human contribution in middle school and high school. Political opposition to the notion of human influence over a warming climate is intense in the US. In the United Kingdom, administrators have urged educators to avoid the topic for students under age 14, and top scientists even suggest that students...

To Lift Afghan Women, Educate All

Susan Froetschel April 8, 2013
As NATO plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, stability is in doubt for a country with inept governance and stubborn opposition from an obscurantist group. Crime reports from Afghanistan suggest the Taliban are waging attacks on police and schools, including the recent attack on a convoy delivering school textbooks, which killed a young US State Department staffer. NGOs and diplomats, often...

College Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs

Ben Casselman March 27, 2013
The US economy could be in a long-term structural bind, failing to provide enough work for its educated young adults. Many economists had suggested that underemployment would be a temporary problem. But research by a team of Canadian economists suggests that a high-tech economy has reduced need for workers over the long term. Other economists suggest the findings are speculation, reports Ben...

What Americans Ignore About Finland's School Success

Anu Partanen March 19, 2013
Educators around the globe are curious about the consistently high test scores from students in Finland, as measured by OPEC. “Compared with the stereotype of the East Asian model – long hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization – Finland's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play,” reports Anu Partenan...