December 10, 2003 - Issue #6

Education Development Center, Inc.

Improving education and health worldwide since 1958.

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In this issue:

1. Teaching and Learning in Guinea: A Virtual Field Trip
2. Exploring Humanitarian Law: Educators from Around the World Report on International Curriculum
3. Global Initiative to Develop Resources for Out-of-School Youth
4. Young Scientists: New Books Bring Inquiry Science to Preschool Classrooms
5. Leadership Curriculum Helps Middle-Grades Teachers and Parents Advocate for Better Schools
6. E-Mentoring: EDC Provides Online Support to New Teachers in Milwaukee
7. Featured Web Tour: Education Policy

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1. Teaching and Learning in Guinea: A Virtual Field Trip

Since 1997, EDC has been working to improve elementary education for nearly every child in the West African nation of Guinea. EDC's Thelma Khelghati narrates this multimedia overview of the program and its successes, accompanied by photos of classrooms, teachers, and students throughout the country.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/guinea.asp

2. Exploring Humanitarian Law: Educators from Around the World Report on International Curriculum

More than 80 countries are planning implementation of Exploring Humanitarian Law, a curriculum developed by EDC and the International Committee of the Red Cross to help young people between the ages of 13 and 18 explore conceptions of "what's fair" during armed conflicts. Reports from several countries indicate that the curriculum is proving to be very effective and adaptable.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/EHLupdate.asp

3. Global Initiative to Develop Resources for Out-of-School Youth

With half the world's population under the age of 25, and 85 percent of young people ages 15-24 living in poverty, USAID has awarded funding to EDC to conduct a large-scale, five-year initiative called EQUIP 3/Youth Trust. The project will collaborate with young people to develop products, resources, and networks that address the needs of out-of-school children and young adults.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/EQUIP.asp

4. Young Scientists: New Books Bring Inquiry Science to Preschool Classrooms

Based on the growing knowledge that even the youngest children are powerful thinkers and theory-makers, three new EDC books identify important science content and teaching strategies for use in preschool programs and kindergarten classrooms.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/preschoolsciencebooks.asp

5. Leadership Curriculum Helps Middle-Grades Teachers and Parents Advocate for Better Schools

As Coordinator for Middle-Grades Education in Georgia, Joanne Lee travels across her state, presenting to teachers, principals, and superintendents about what successful middle-grades education looks like and how they can create high performing middle schools in their own districts. In this work, Lee has come to rely on the new Leadership Training Curriculum produced by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. The curriculum provides educators, administrators, parents, and other advocates for middle-grades school improvement with specific, hands-on lessons and materials for improving the educational experience of students in grades 5 through 8.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/forumleadership.asp

6. E-Mentoring: EDC Provides Online Support to New Teachers in Milwaukee

This fall, nearly 800 new teachers entered classrooms in the Milwaukee Public Schools for the first time. According to recent statistics from the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, more than half of them will be gone by the fall of 2008. A new professional development initiative that provides online mentoring for teachers may help to slow these high teacher attrition rates. At any time of day, novice teachers in Milwaukee can go online to connect with experienced teachers in the district as well as others new to the profession.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/ETLO.asp

7. Featured Web Tour: Education Policy

The interactions among students and teachers in classrooms can be heavily influenced by policy decisions made at the district, state, or even national levels. EDC works with partners at all of these levels, helping to ensure that policy decisions are based on research and attuned to the realities of the classroom, and that educators are prepared to respond to new changes in policy.

Read more: http://main.edc.org/tours/policy.asp

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