Education & Pedagogy

US Agency for International Development (USAID) works to ensure children and youth, particularly the most marginalized and vulnerable, have access to quality education that is safe, relevant, and promotes their social well-being. USAID believes that education is a foundational driver of development, and fundamental to achieving self-reliance. When children and youth go to school and receive training in skills they can use in the workforce and to navigate life, they are able to build more hopeful and prosperous futures for themselves, their families, communities, and countries. USAID works in more than 50 developing countries to ensure that investments in education systems--from pre-primary to higher education--enable all children and youth to acquire the education and skills needed to be productive members of society. This brief highlights USAID's work in Cambodia, Malawi, Nepal, Liberia, and Mozambique to help expand access to quality education.

The inclusion of work as a distinct component of an education program is a key element of a successful vocational education and training (VET) system. This summary explores available literature with the aim of identifying the benefits and challenges associated with work-based education experiences. It also presents a range of best practices for the provision of work-based education. The benefits of work-based education for students include smoother transitions into ongoing employment and the development of broad occupational skills. Employers benefit from productivity gains through 'work-ready' recruits, having current employees upskilled in the workplace, and the more effective transfer of skills learned in the classroom to work tasks. The challenges of work-based education for employers relate to costs and resourcing. For training providers, on the other hand, resourcing and coordination of placements are areas identified as problematic. Students are constrained by motivation and access to work-based education opportunities.

E3 Alliance is a regional, data-driven education collaborative based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2006, E3 Alliance acts as a catalyst for change, working to break down barriers and build better alignment across the education continuum. In pursuit of systemic change, E3 Alliance is guided by "The Blueprint for Educational Change," Central Texas' strategic plan for improving the educational pipeline from 'cradle to career'. This brief describes how E3 Alliance has worked with partners from across the region to enhance progress toward being a truly data driven community. A key component of that work is the Central Texas Education Profile, which allows partners access to data about the progress of all Central Texas students from cradle to career. Using Education Resource Center (ERC) data in the work with E3 Alliance's education partners is showing tremendous return in enhancing the region's access, capability, and culture of data use to improve student outcomes. [This report was written by E3 Alliance.]

Internationally, Australia's tertiary education system, comprising the higher education and vocational education and training (VET) sectors, is highly regarded, with both sectors subject to ongoing national review and reforms. This paper explores in detail the multiple issues that lie at what might be termed the "boundaries and connections" between these sectors. The purpose of this occasional paper is twofold, the first being to provide a brief illustration and commentary on the relative trend change and potential trajectories of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector by comparison with the higher education sector. This provides the necessary context for the second objective, which is to explore in detail the multiple issues that lie at what might be described as the "boundaries and connections" between these two components of the tertiary education sector.

This issue brief attempts to address the research-practice gap in the education space. First, it describes some challenges in applying research to educational practice. It then outlines research-practice partnerships (RPPs)--mutually beneficial collaborations between research scientists and education leaders that can narrow the gap between research and practice. RPPs have proven to be useful in helping leaders improve student outcomes. State education capacity centers would expand these partnerships, as well as direct more government funding beyond the private sector--to instead support RPPs--to serve a larger public good. Finally, the brief proposes the creation of state-level education capacity centers, which would help leaders in state and local education departments use research to inform practice. Education capacity centers would bridge the divide by matching researchers and education leaders; supporting collaborative projects around problems or practice; and engaging practitioners across a given state on the implications of the findings for their districts.

What is on the five-year horizon for higher education institutions? Which trends and technology developments will drive educational change? What are the critical challenges and how can we strategize solutions? These questions regarding technology adoption and educational change steered the discussions of 71 experts to produce this report. Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six developments in educational technology profiled in this higher education report are likely to impact teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in higher education. The three sections of this report constitute a reference and technology planning guide for educators, higher education leaders, administrators, policymakers, and technologists. [For the "NMC Horizon Report: 2017 Higher Education Edition," see ED582134.]

Questions often arise about how accessible educational materials (AEM) and technologies might be included in individualized education programs (IEPs). This resource discusses a number of locations in the IEP where it might be appropriate to refer to a student's use of AEM. The right to accessible educational materials when needed is an inherent component of the obligation of SEAs [state education agencies] and LEAs [local education agencies] to ensure that students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). There is no specific requirement in IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] regarding where to include the consideration and documentation of AEM in developing the IEP. However, to promote clarity and consistency across IEP teams, SEAs and LEAs are encouraged to provide guidance related to considering a student's need for accessible materials and technologies in the IEP.

"Wellbeing and Resilience Education" engages with the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the theoretical and applied elements of wellbeing and resilience education. It explores the implications for students, teachers, and teaching from a transdisciplinary and international perspective. Featuring thirteen chapters written by 27 academics from across the globe, it includes new transdisciplinary research by organisational psychologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, policy experts and education researchers. The book comprises a wide range of topics including: appreciative inquiry, educational leadership, refugee education, resilience education, designing online courses, teacher wellbeing and community responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This timely volume will be of interest to academics, initial teacher educators, postgraduate students, school leaders and policymakers researching the field of wellbeing, resilience, education, schools, and schooling.

This volume takes a look at the emergence of open education as a concept, a production process and a delivery preference in the world of education and learning. Drawing on early lessons from around the globe the book lays out how formal education, workplace learning and lifelong learning have been impacted so far by open education and how they stand to be further impacted by a landscape that is still changing. The book examines the social and economic consequences of open education and provide an insight into the way open education could contribute to a higher level of digital inclusion and to the establishment of new and innovative services of high social and economic merit. Featuring case studies of initiatives, practices and projects this volume illustrates theoretical concepts and emerging models of open education in the context of the latest academic studies and entrepreneurial innovation.

This present volume is the third in a series of education sector analysis (ESA) guidelines following two volumes published in 2014. The series provides methodologies and applied examples for diagnosing education systems and informing national education policies and plans. This volume proposes guidelines to strengthen national capacities in analyzing education systems in four areas: inclusive education system for children with disabilities, risk analysis for resilient education systems, functioning and effectiveness of the educational administration, and stakeholder mapping and problem-driven analysis (governance and political economy). The present volume was prepared by experts from various backgrounds (including education, economics, sociology, political science and other social sciences) from UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning, UNICEF, the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Global Partnership for Education. [This report was co-published by the United Kingdom (UK) Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. For Volume 1, see ED615591. For Volume 2, see ED615592.]

The concept of "STEM" (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has influenced many education and workforce strategies and policies with the intention of improving innovation, productivity and international competitiveness. Generally, the focus has been on how the school and university sectors can help equip the workforce with the STEM-related skills and knowledge considered necessary for the changing economy (see Siekmann and Korbel 2016). This paper explores ways to measure how the vocational education and training (VET) sector is contributing to the development of STEM-related skills. Better measurement of STEM in VET can help to identify supply and demand for education and training, assess (and improve) outcomes and efficiency, direct funding and resources, and properly inform students' choices. [For the companion paper, "What Is STEM? The Need for Unpacking Its Definitions and Applications," see ED570651.]

A contextual analysis of the general education default and student benefit is presented from the perspective of school-based compliance with federal mandates from IDEIA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act] of 2004. A goal was to inform school administrators striving to develop and maintain effective, inclusive learning environments and indirectly improve the quality of education for students with disabilities. Topics include a historical overview of special education in the United States, student first language, school postures frequently leading to due process hearings, summaries from court cases across the United States, and professional development resources. Information presented is useful for guiding constructive, practical special education decision-making processes and may help school administrators keep their special education programs out of court. (Contains 3 tables.) [Portions of this paper were previously presented at Conversations in Leadership Series, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana, September 20, 2011.]

This publication presents some structural indicators on higher education in 40 European education and training systems. It examines whether there are targets for widening participation of under-represented groups in higher education and whether countries monitor the characteristics of the student body. Moreover, it looks at whether, and to what extent atypical routes to higher education exist through the recognition of informal and non-formal learning in admission procedures. Also, there are indicators showing whether it is required to monitor completion rates in external Quality Assurance procedures, and whether there is a social dimension in performance-based funding mechanisms. A glossary is included. [This publication is based on a chapter in the Eurydice report, "Structural Indicators for Monitoring Education and Training Systems in Europe, 2016" (ED574058).]

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tells us that 90 per cent of education reforms are not properly evaluated. So it seems that governments have not lived up to their own ideals of evidence-informed policymaking. "Research and Policy in Education" argues that education policy is as often driven by political ideologies as by solid research evidence. It explores this claim with case studies of: (1) the Coalition government's reform of teacher training towards a school-led approach; (2) the use of evidence in international policy borrowing and the rhetoric of "what works"; and (3) the deployment of policies that aim to narrow the social class achievement and participation gap. The book concludes with a plea for more discipline-based research on education, and a reassertion of the importance of the sociology of education as an essential resource for making sense of contemporary education policy.

"Physical Education and Sport at School in Europe" maps the state of play of physical education and sport activities at school in 30 European countries. The report covers primary and lower secondary education and provides an insight into the following topics: national strategies and large-scale initiatives where they exist, the status of physical education in national curricula and steering documents, recommended annual taught time, pupil assessment, teacher education, extracurricular activities and planned reforms. The report is the result of an in depth analysis of primary data provided by Eurydice national units and can be regarded as the first attempt by the European Commission to identify key concerns and strengths regarding physical education at school across European countries. Appended are: (1) National strategies and main large-scale initiatives, 2011/12; and (2) Recommended taught time. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 12 figures.)