Education is complex, slow, and demands teamwork. This is what educators need to be able to explain and what the public needs to understand. This is not getting across in the headlines. It is the author's experience that we have at least three categories of wrong ideas and half truths circulating around education: assumptions that mislead,…

For multitudes of children Harry Potter is a hero. He fights evil and stands up for his friends. However, not all adults agree. Instead, he is perceived as a threat by many. This article discusses how some adults on a school board reacted to this perceived threat. The majority of a school board voted to restrict access to Harry Potter books in the…

Philip Pullman's popular fantasy series "His Dark Materials" is sure to arouse the ire of Christian parents if it ever gets used in public schools. Pullman's books contain direct attacks upon Christianity, and Pullman himself admits that his writing attempts to "undermine the basis of Christian belief." Educators must realize that this kind of…

This article presents some pressing challenges facing early care and education policy and practice around the world and then highlights diverse country responses to these challenges with the goal of informing American decision-making. It focuses on three key cross-national challenges that are particularly relevant to current debates in the United…

Three important early childhood education policy developments have emerged in recent years in response to increased female labor force participation and growing recognition that a positive group experience enhances child development. These developments are: the specifying of numerical targets for achieving an expansion of ECE services; extending…

As the global economy expands, emerging nations are finding that focusing on universal primary education is not sufficient, Mr. Levine argues. They are increasingly coming to see the value of investing in early care and education as well.

Rebecca New describes a history of selective enthusiasm for Western European ideas about children, the period of childhood, and the potentials of early care and educational services. She further acknowledges the European origins of many features of contemporary early childhood education, including the prevalence of educational toys, the principles…

The authors share their experiences in working with representatives of six developing nations in a project to draft early learning standards.

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected through new technologies, the education systems of many nations will necessarily begin to converge in their approaches and objectives. Marcelo Suarez-Orozco shares his ideas of what schools will need to focus on if they are to produce global citizens.

An estimated 110 million children between the ages of 6 and 11--60 percent of them girls--will not see the inside of a classroom this year, and another 150 million are likely to drop out before completing primary school. Yet this is a disease with a known cure. We know what tools are needed and what models are proven to work. We also know that the…

The author outlines a set of major challenges the U.S. is facing with increased globalization and a set of benefits for the U.S. from being involved in learning from global neighbors.

The East Asian countries are known for their high scores on international comparisons of math and science achievement. This does not necessarily mean that the U.S. should rush to adopt their practices and abandon its own strengths. Yong Zhao examines education reforms in math and science from an international perspective and discusses implications…

International evidence suggests that a "new enterprise logic" is emerging from efforts to achieve the transformation of schools, defined as significant, systematic, and sustained change that leads to high levels of achievement for all students in all settings. Traditional logic is turned on its head when the student is viewed as the key unit of…

To gain a better idea of what other countries were doing in foreign language education, the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) collected information about policies and practices in 19 countries in diverse regions of the world. The exploratory study found that successful language programs shared common features that the U.S. could learn from:…

Whether by incorporating the study of other nations and cultures into the school curriculum, requiring students to learn foreign languages, or encouraging cross-cultural exchanges, countries around the world are preparing their students for life in the global era. Vivien Stewart describes efforts in Europe, Australia, and Asia and assesses how the…