The familiar understanding of the First Amendment, which stresses the “marketplace of ideas” and holds that “everyone is entitled to an opinion,” is inadequate to create and preserve the expert knowledge that is necessary for a modern democracy to thrive. The free and open exchange of ideas must be complemented by standards of competence and practice that are both hierarchical and judgmental. First amendment rights need to encompass both the free formation of opinions and the creation and distribution of expertise.

(DEMOCRACY AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM)

America has become “the world’s most geographically illiterate society of consequence.” Despite increasing global interconnectivity and rapid change, Americans seem to be less informed and less knowledgeable about the rest of the world than ever. By improving our understanding of the world’s geography, we can better respond to the events around us, and better prepare ourselves to face the global challenges ahead. Topics include climate change along with significant weather extremes, the economic crisis, the burgeoning presence of China, the troubling disarray of the EU, the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, the terrible conflict in Equitorial Africa, and the Arab Spring. (Also see The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization’s Rough Landscape by Harm de Blij, Oxford UP, 2002.)

(GEOGRAPHIC ILLITERACY: U.S. * GEOGRAPHY * EDUCATION * WORLD FUTURES)

The author draws on her experience in an all-Black school in Atlanta to show that the civic empowerment gap is as shameful and antidemocratic as the academic gap targeted by No Child Left Behind. Argues that students must be taught how to upend and reshape power relationships directly, through political and civic action. Calls on schools to remake civic education, teach collective action, engage students in fighting against contemporary injustices, and offer them opportunities to take civic and political action, including within the school itself.

(EDUCATION * CIVIC EDUCATION * CITIZENSHIP AND SCHOOLS)

Language learning is not only a means of improved communication, but more importantly it plays a key role in promoting global understanding and respecting cultural differences.  Questions why some individuals are more successful than others at learning non-native languages, and why some education systems and countries are more successful than others at teaching language. Explores language learning worldwide, in countries ranging from France to Kazakhstan to Taiwan; and provides a fundamental sense of the centrality of language and culture to humanity both at present and into the future. Topics include the role of motivation, insights from neuroscience, opportunities for migrants to learn language, language teaching, and new approaches worldwide.

(EDUCATION * LANGUAGE LEARNING * COMMUNICATION)

Examines new models of education made possible by enhanced education technology that will make public education more effective and relevant in the Digital Age. Pilot programs across America are experimenting with different organizations and delivery systems. West examines personalized learning, enhanced teacher evaluation, distance learning, special education, blogs, wikis, social media, video-games, and augmented reality in bothy K-12 and higher education. Rather than be limited to six hours a day for half a year, education should move toward 24/7 engagement and learning throughout the year. [NOTE: Darrell M. West is also author of The Next Wave: Using Digital Technology to Further Social and Political Innovation and co-author of Digital Medicine: Health Care in the Internet Era.]

(EDUCATION * INFOTECH AND EDUCATION * COMMUNICATION * TECHNOLOGY AND SCHOOLS)

Almost 50 years ago the Coleman Report found that the most powerful predictor of academic achievement is the socioeconomic status of a child’s family. The second most important predictor is the socioeconomic status of classmates. Until recently, policy-makers ignored the importance of the second predictor. At the local level, however, 80 school districts now consciously seek to integrate schools by socioeconomic status.

(EDUCATION * SOCIETY * SCHOOL INTEGRATION)

In recent decades, high-tech skills and knowledge has become increasingly important while America’s students have fallen behind their international peers in math, science, and reading. Improving America’s public schools is not a purely domestic concern: the country’s ability to prepare students to compete globally is integrally tied to national security.

(EDUCATION AND SECURITY)

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are cultural achievements that reflect our humanity, power our economy, and constitute fundamental aspects of our lives as citizens, consumers, parents, and members of the workforce. Providing all students with access to quality education in the STEM disciplines is important to American competitive­ness. Defines a framework for under­standing “success” in K-12 STEM education; identifies three impor­tant goals that share certain elements, including learning STEM content and practices, developing positive dispositions toward STEM, and preparing students to be lifelong learners; and highlights research on effective STEM education prac­tices.

(EDUCATION * SCIENCE EDUCATION)

A high level of literacy in both print and digital media is required for negotiating most aspects of 21st-century life, including education, health, supporting a family, civic partici­pation, and competitiveness in the global economy. Yet, “more than 90 million US adults lack adequate literacy. Furthermore, only 38 % of US 12th graders are at or above proficient levels in reading.” Synthesizes the research on literacy and learning to improve literacy instruction in the US and to recommend a more systemic approach to research, practice, and policy, with a focus on individuals 16 and older who are not in K-12 education. Recommends a program of research and innovation to validate, identify the boundaries of, and extend current knowledge to improve instruction for adults and adolescents outside school.

(EDUCATION * ADULT LITERACY * LITERACY LACKING IN U.S.))

Since 1990, Teach for America has been building up a movement to end educational inequity. Its founder shares the lessons learned from the experiences of 25,000 teachers and alumni who have taught in low-income communities. Introduces leaders who set out and accomplished challenging performances at the classroom, school, and system levels. Shows that strong leadership makes possible an excellent education for children in poverty. Such leadership requires vision, people skills, a drive for continuous improvement, and willingness to achieve.

(EDUCATION * TEACH FOR AMERICA)