These notes and questions have been prepared to promote discussion of the ideas set out in the Clarifying paper, "Living and learning in EcCoWell cities" to be found on the PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) website. This Discussion Paper sets ten questions for discussion. We are hoping to encourage discussions of these issues around the world.

To meet the more rigorous expectations embodied in new college- and career-ready standards, students will need teachers who teach in ways that are distinctly different than how most have been teaching. Students will need, for example, English and science teachers who give students more guided practice in reading nonfiction texts that are more…

Good jobs in the nation's twenty-first-century economy require advanced literacy skills such as categorizing, evaluating, and drawing conclusions from written texts. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards by nearly all the states, combined with tough literacy assessments that are now in the offing, will soon reveal that literacy skills of…

The purpose of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) is to help learning organizations continually improve the quality, scale, and breadth of online programs according to their own distinctive missions, so that education will become a part of everyday life, accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, in a wide variety of disciplines.…

This report uses NAEP background data to track time and learning since the mid-1990s in three areas: student absenteeism; classroom instructional time in mathematics, reading, music and the visual arts; and homework time expected by teachers. Key report findings are: (1) Students with higher rates of "monthly absenteeism" score…

In recent years, compelling research has found that mastery of early math concepts at a preschool level is a better predictor of later academic outcomes than literacy. Partly driven by these findings, increasing attention is being focused on improving math pedagogy at the preschool level. The issue has assumed added urgency as a result of…

The 44th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools showed some sharp divisions among the public's attitude toward the public schools, but also some hopeful signs of broad agreement in some areas. Satisfaction with President Barack Obama declined in the last year, but remains ahead of two years ago and the public…

The article focuses on the impact of internationalization on university lecturers' practice. Based on interviews with 36 employees from Danish universities, we discuss what internationalization means for the classroom relationship between university teachers and international students. The article is inspired by an intercultural communication…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of grade-aligned math instruction on math skill acquisition of four middle schools with moderate intellectual disability. Teachers were trained to follow a task analysis to teach grade-aligned math to middle school students using adapted math problem stories and graphic organizers. The teacher…

The "Annual Joint Report on Pre-Kindergarten through Higher Education in Tennessee" complies with the requirements established in T.C.A. Section 49-1-302(a)(10). The act directs the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to provide a report to the Governor and General Assembly, all public schools, and…

Engineering institutions across Europe are currently involved in a major process of reform and restructuring as a part of the Bologna Process, which stresses the role of competencies and outcomes in curriculum design. In the field of languages, the Council of Europe has developed the CEFR (Common European Framework of References) for languages,…

Graduate education in the natural sciences has traditionally emphasized doctoral training for academic or research careers. This training, however, is not meeting the demand for professionals in business, industry, and the public sector, where individuals with a combination of scientific, technical, and managerial skills will be required.…

No one has had it worse than the Midwest. Job losses in the "great recession" of 2007 spared no region, but the bulk of industries hardest hit were in the Midwestern states. This is the second of a series of reports detailing the job and educational demand prospects for workers, by major census regions. When compared to all other…

There is a lack of alignment between K-12 and higher education about the expectations for student skill and content knowledge. Too often, students leave the K-12 system ill prepared for success in higher education. One approach to increasing alignment has been supported by the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-PASS), which…

Attainment of functional English literacy skills by all students has been a focus of Australian national policy since the 1989 Hobart Declaration (MCEETYA, 1989). This focus underpins current educational accountability policy enacted through the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The Adelaide and Melbourne Declarations…