By Brian Bloch. Writing skills and academic skills are clearly not one and the same.
There is no doubt a correlation between the two, but even truly outstanding researchers do not always write well. Likewise, their work is not always well edited or translated. More...

Out of concern that the nation’s schools—particularly those working  with traditionally underserved populations—are not adequately preparing all students to succeed in college and careers, education policymakers have launched a series of major reform efforts in recent years. Most prominent among these are two initiatives that call for fundamental changes in the areas of curriculum and assessment: the Common Core State Standards and new common assessments that measure college and career readiness.
In the face of these changes, which call for a shift to deeper learning, many schools will need to transform their teaching methods, organizational systems, and approaches to leadership. When it comes to creating a rich learning environment, schools serving low-income students and students of color tend to have the furthest distance to travel. Many have struggled to maintain a broad curriculum and felt forced to focus on test preparation in the face of budget cuts, high-stakes exams, and increased segregation of students on the basis of race and socioeconomic status. Successful implementation of these major new policy initiatives will thus need to overcome inequities in funding, learning opportunities, and learning conditions that are pervasive in the American educational system and that contribute to the persistence of the so-called “achievement gap.”
This report addresses the issue of equity in a crucial dimension: teaching and learning. Pedro Noguera, Linda Darling-Hammond, and Diane Friedlaender argue that, to ensure equity in access to deeper learning, practices and policies must address the context for education both outside and inside of schools. To enable low-income students to learn deeply and successfully, schools that serve them must offer a high-quality instructional experience and the wraparound services that can help ameliorate the stressful conditions they experience in their communities.
This report is part of Jobs For the Future's Deeper Learning Research Series. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Macmillan to Merge Higher Education, New Ventures Units
EdSurge, 2015/10/28
Macmillan is consolidating its learning division with some of its publishing products to consolidate around education. The affected divisions are Higher Education and New Ventures. More...

Mit der Zeitschrift CARTA 2020 begleitet der Stifterverband seine Bildungsinitiative. Das 60-seitige Magazin lag am 22. Januar 2015 der Wochenzeitung "Die Zeit" mit einer Auflage von rund 600.000 Exemplaren bei. CARTA 2020 richtet sich an die wissenschafts- und bildungsinteressierte Öffentlichkeit, an Vertreter aus Politik und Wirtschaft sowie an Akteure im Hochschulsystem und im Wissenschafts- und Bildungswesen. Mehr...