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Articles: Global Learning

Girl learns Chinese


Lakeside High Ga. compete

In the weeks leading up to a presidential election, it’s hard to dismiss the importance of civic education, with campaign speeches, debates and advertisements blaring everywhere. Yet the National Assessment of Education Progress reports that only one-fourth of high school graduates are proficient in topics such as the American political system, principles of democracy, world affairs and the roles of citizens.

Oh, What a Beautiful Oklahoma

In the curriculum feature story “Geography Ed for a Flat World” (June 2012), writers list several states that require geography and test it. Your article left out Oklahoma.

Oklahoma requires geography in the sixth and seventh grades. There is a statewide mandated test for seventh grade. That course and the testing have been in effect for well over 10 years. Most districts also offer full-year geography courses in high school; however, there is no mandated testing for geography at that level.

Have you ever dreamed of experiencing a watershed moment in your field? Moments like the splitting of the atom or the landing of a man on the moon? If you're an educational leader, buckle up, because your moment is here. Schools are still experiencing the shockwaves of the Internet, a transformative global network that is radically changing how we think about learning and schooling. Moments like these are exhilarating, because our decisions matter so much.

Kids First: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children’s Lives and America’s Future kids first
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ASCD, $26.95


language learning students in China FLAP grant


Singapore girls


No Excuses University

Two-thirds of the Amarillo Independent School District’s 33,000 students enrolled on 53 campuses qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Undaunted by the academic and societal challenges commonly associated with such a statistic, 10 of Amarillo’s lower-income schools have recently joined the No Excuses University (NEU) network. This fast-growing collective of 117 elementary and middle schools scattered across the United States is a brain trust of principals and teachers who promote college readiness from kindergarten up, especially for children living in poverty.