The involvement by some of the wealthiest and most influential titans of the 21st century amounts to a singular experiment in education, with millions of students serving as de facto beta testers for their ideas. Some tech leaders believe that applying an engineering mind-set can improve just about any system, and that their business acumen qualifies them to rethink American education.
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How Will the Qatari Diplomatic Crisis Affect Higher Education?
John Elmes | Times Higher Education
The ongoing diplomatic crisis in Qatar will cause “irreparable reputational damage” to the Gulf as a location for university branch campuses, according to an expert on the region.
Qatar has transformed itself as a global education hub in recent years, hosting overseas outposts of 12 international universities, but faces mounting uncertainty after four Arab states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain—cut diplomatic ties. They have also moved to isolate Qatar by land, sea, and air, accusing it of funding terrorist groups.
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Is This the Turning Point for Detroit’s Schools?
Erin Einhorn | Chalkbeat
Detroit schools have been buzzing these last two weeks with what feels like a fresh start. A new superintendent—Nikolai Vitti—has landed in the city and started his job as the first new leader of what is officially a new district. …
But spend a morning in a Detroit classroom and it quickly becomes clear exactly how much will have to change in this city before it looks anything like the “mecca” that Vitti imagines.
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The Educational Crusade For News Literacy
Issie Lapowsky | Wired
Checkology is the latest creation of the News Literacy Project, a non-profit founded by the former Los Angeles Times reporter Alan Miller. Since 2009, the tiny eight-person non-profit has been working one on one with schools to craft a curriculum that teaches students how to be more savvy news consumers. Last year, in an effort to scale its impact, the team bundled those courses into an online portal called Checkology, and almost instantly, demand for the platform spiked.
“Fake news is nothing new, and its impact on the national conversation is nothing new, but public awareness is very high right now,” says Peter Adams, who leads educational initiatives for News Literacy Project. Now, Checkology is being used by some 6,300 public- and private-school teachers serving 947,000 students in all 50 states and 52 countries.
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The International-School Surge
Alan Wechsler | The Atlantic
The origins of today’s international schools can be traced to 1924, but they’ve grown exponentially in the past 20 years. Originally created to ensure that expatriates and diplomats could get a “western” education for their children while working in far-flung countries, international schools have found a new purpose: educating the children of wealthy locals so those kids can compete for spots in western colleges—and, eventually, positions at multinational companies.