Podcasts about educational achievement

This episode features contributors to a special issue of Assessment Update focused on the future of High-Impact Practices, also known as HIPs.  Our guests are Catherine Chan, Jerry Daday, and Jillian Kinzie.  Catherine is assistant vice provost for high impact practices in the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Jerry is professor of sociology and executive associate dean in the Institute for Engaged Learning at Indiana University Indianapolis.  Jillian is associate director for the National Survey of Student Engagement in the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University Bloomington.  Links to resources mentioned in this episode: American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U):https://www.aacu.org/Assessment Update:https://assessmentinstitute.indianapolis.iu.edu/au/index.html Institute for Engaged Learning at Indiana University Indianapolis:https://getengaged.indianapolis.iu.edu/ National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE):nsse.indiana.edu/  This season of Leading Improvements in Higher Education is sponsored by the Center for Assessment and Research Studies at James Madison University; learn more at jmu.edu/assessment. Episode recorded: August 2024.  Host:  Stephen Hundley.  Producers:  Chad Beckner and Angela Bergman.  Original music:  Caleb Keith.  This award-winning podcast is a service of the Assessment Institute in Indianapolis; learn more go.iu.edu/assessmentinstitute.

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.30348 In this In Conversation podcast, Professor Sophie von Stumm, Anna Brown, and Emily Wood explore child language development with a specific focus on the influence of children's early life language experiences on their speech development and educational achievement. Sophie, Anna, and Emily are part of the Hungry Mind Lab which studies the causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive and social emotional development across the life course. Sophie is the Director of the Hungry Mind Lab, Emily is the Project Coordinator, and Anna is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Lab. Discussion points include: Insight into what the Hungry Mind Lab is. Why the team choose to focus on language and language as a key skill for success in education. The relationship between mother's everyday language usage and child's outcomes and performance in school, and how this relates to mother's socioeconomic status. Are inequalities due to how mothers speak to their children, or do they result from the economic, social, and political inequalities in which mothers raise their children? Should child development research be broadened to include other caregivers, for example fathers? Recommendations for parents, educationalists, policymakers and child and adolescent mental health professionals. #ListenLearnLike

Our guest today is Tracy Weaver, Executive Director of Saranam. Since 2004 SARANAM has served over 180 families offering them opportunities to break the cycles of generational poverty. Saranam's two-year, residential program, and integrated services – housing, education, and community – help families escape from homelessness and poverty permanently with a proven 88% success rate. Many programs addressing homelessness focus on immediate needs such as shelter, food, or addiction treatment. Saranam works holistically, tackling the causes of homelessness and poverty by working with the entire family over time. In 2022 Saranam broke ground for a new campus housing 20 more families and they are about ready to open this new housing in April of 2024!HealthCare UnTold honors Tracy Weaver and Saranam families1DONATE /Volunteer: saranamabq.org#familyempowerment#endingpoverty#treatmentworks

On this episode of the Maddy Report: Valley Views Edition, Mark Keppler is joined by Joseph Hayes, Senior Research Associate - Public Policy Institute of California, and Pedro Nava, Chair - Little Hoover Commission.

Timetria Murphy-Watson, Operations Director for Urban Strategies INC joins Tom and Carol in studio talking about the plan to increase Educational Achievement in St. Louis Public Schools.

On this week's special, year-end Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli looks back on 2022's most important education stories with 50CAN founder and CEO Marc Porter Magee. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber counts down the year's top academic studies on education. Recommended content:“Nation's Report Card shows largest drops ever recorded in 4th and 8th grade math” —The 74“Gov. Bill Lee unveils new school funding formula aimed at focusing money directly on students” —Tennessean“Arizona's school choice revolution” —Washington ExaminerEmily Hanford's podcast series, Sold a Story —American Public MediaAmber's top five studies of the year:5. Paul T. von Hippel and Ana P. Cañedo, “Is Kindergarten Ability Group Placement Biased? New Data, New Methods, New Answers,” American Educational Research Journal (2021).4. Owen Thompson, “Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation” NBER Working Paper #29546 (December 2021).3. Rune Vammen Lesner, Anna Piil Damm, Preben Bertelsen, and Mads Uffe Pedersen, “The Effect of School-Year Employment on Cognitive Skills, Risky Behavior, and Educational Achievement,” Economics of Education Review (March 2022); Alicia Sasser Modestino and Richard Paulsen, “School's Out: How Summer Youth Employment Programs Impact Academic Outcomes,” Education Finance and Policy (January 2022).2. Young Hwang and Cory Koedel, “Holding Back to Move Forward: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes,” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (December 2022)1. Kenneth Shores, Hojung Lee, and Elinor Williams, “The Distribution of School Resources in The United States: A Comparative Analysis Across Levels of Governance, Student Sub-groups, And Educational Resources,” Social Science Research Network (August 2021).Feedback Welcome:Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our producer Nathaniel Grossman at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org.

In this episode, RISE Research Fellow Jason Silberstein speaks to Jishnu Das, Professor at Georgetown University and a Principal Investigator of the RISE Pakistan Country Research Team. They discuss Jishnu and his team's ambitious research agenda, which is not simply studying the impact of a new education policy or intervention, but trying to build a fresh description of how the education system works. They talk about what makes a good school and how to measure it; why comparing public and private schools hides more than it helps; 'Zombie Schools' that are feeding on kids brains; and why every child that doesn't learn is the fault of a badly engineered system and the ways we can change that.LinksHeterogeneity in School Value-Added and the Private Premium by Andrabi, Bau, Das, and Khwaja (RISE Working Paper)The Value of Private Schools: Evidence from Pakistan by Carneiro, Das, and Reis (Journal Article)Teacher Value Added in a Low-Income Country by Bau and Das (Journal Article)Upping the Ante: The Equilibrium Effects of Unconditional Grants to Private Schools by Andrabi, Das, Khwaja, Özyurt, and Singh (Working Paper)Why Do Households Leave School Value Added on the Table? The Roles of Information and Preferences by Ainsworth, Dehejia, Pop-Eleches, and Urquiola (Working Paper)Bad Boys by Ferguson (Book)Low-Cost Private Schools in Tanzania: A Descriptive Analysis by Sabarwal, Sununtnasuk, and Ramachandran (Working Paper)Guest biographyJishnu DasJishnu Das is a Principal Investigator on the RISE Pakistan team. He is a Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His work focuses on health and education in low and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on social markets, or common, but complex, conflagrations of public and private education and health providers operating in a small geographical space. He was previously a lead economist at the World Bank's Development Research Group, where his research focused on the delivery of quality education and health services. He has authored numerous education-related works, including “India Shining and Bharat Drowning: Comparing Two Indian States to the Worldwide Distribution in Mathematics Achievement” (Journal of Development Economics), and “Teacher Shocks and Student Learning: Evidence from Zambia” (Journal of Human Resources), in addition to work co-authored with Tahir Andrabi and Asim I. Khwaja. Das was awarded a PhD in economics from Harvard University and a BA from St. Stephen's College in New Delhi, India. He was an author of the Learning and Educational Achievement in Punjab Schools (LEAPS) report, an extensive study of the schooling environment more than 100 villages in rural Pakistan.Jason SilbersteinJason Silberstein is a Research Fellow for RISE at the Blavatnik School of Government. His research explores the relationship between schools and the communities they serve.Before joining RISE, he worked as a consultant...

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss “The Great Resignation.” Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show:  “The Great Resignation” has become a common trope in conversations about work and jobs in our current political culture. Natalia referred to this Atlantic article on the positive potential of such employment churn, and Niki cited this Vox piece on the burst of unionization spurred by pandemic dislocations.   In our regular closing feature, What's Making History: Natalia shared Jonathan Chait's Intelligencer article, “Democrats Must Defeat the Left's War on Educational Achievement.” Neil recommended the Hulu series, “The Dropout”. Niki discussed the confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

On this week's Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Victoria McDougald discuss Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education, a new book that Mike edited with Kathleen Carroll and Barbara Davidson. They talk about the promise of evidence-based practices, the importance of elementary education, and the centrality of high-quality instructional materials. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study on how employment during high school impacts student outcomes.You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.Recommended content:Mike's book, co-edited with Kathleen Carroll and Barbara Davidson: Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education.Mike's pieces from previous years addressing elementary education and the importance of research-based practices: “An ode to elementary schools” and “Can evidence improve America's schools?”The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Rune Vammen Lesner et al., “The Effect of School-Year Employment on Cognitive Skills, Risky Behavior, and Educational Achievement,” Economics of Education Review (March 2022).Feedback welcome!Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.

Each year the Women Artists Forward Fund selects, honors, and awards two women visual artists in Dane County with a cash prize. Alice Traore, a Madison based artist, is one of the recipients of the 2021 Forward Art Prize from the Women Artists Forward Fund. In addition to being an artist, Alice is a learning communities facilitator and curriculum designer for the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. In this episode of Black Oxygen, recorded in Fall of 2020, Alice and I discuss what it is like being a Black women doing DEI work and the role of Black mermaids in the middle passage. Alice is phenomenal and my heart leaps every time I see her. I hope that you enjoy this conversation. #BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackinWisconsin #BlackArtists #EducationInWisconsin #BlackMermaids #ForwardArtPrize

In today's episode of And Justice For All, guest host Andrew Trees welcomes Professor Ralph Martire. The two walk through recent reforms in education and how we could improve Illinois schools.On November 2, Professor Martire will introduce The Prospects, Hopes and Failures of Educational Achievement at K-12. Alum Ameshia Cross will moderate our panel of experts: - Illinois State Senator Kimberly A. Lightford- Illinois State Senator Christina Pacione-Zayas- Former U.S. representative Mike HondaThe American Dream Reconsidered conference is free and open to the public. View all the sessions at roosevelt.edu/americandream. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Article discussed: https://www.piratewires.com/p/the-two-front-war-on-academic-standards?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copyLike​ what you hear? Like, share, and subscribe to stay updated on new videos and help promote the Yaron Brook Show: http://youtube.com/ybrook​​​​Become a sponsor to get exclusive access and help create more videos like this: http://yaronbrookshow.com/support​​​​Or make a one-time donation: http://paypal.me/yaronbrookshow​​​​Continue the discussion by following Yaron on Twitter (http://twitter.com/yaronbrook​​​​) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/ybrook​​​​). Want to learn more about Ayn Rand and Objectivism? Visit the Ayn Rand Institute: http://ari.aynrand.org​​ #CRT #JustWarTheory #Treason #Objectivism​ #AynRand

Leanne Huebner is a nationally recognized nonprofit leader and social entrepreneur. This first generation college graduate started a pioneering college access nonprofit Minds Matter right after her years at Penn. Now celebrating 30 years of getting 100% of its students into 4 year colleges, this now-national nonprofit serves students from low income families across the country in 14 cities and regions with over 2,500 volunteers involved. This lifelong advocate for educational equity also helped start a charter middle school in an under-resourced low income community in South Los Angeles as its Founding Board Chair and has served on various educational nonprofit boards as well. Along with serving on the Trustee's Council of Penn Women, Leanne successfully advocated for starting and expanding services for Penn's first generation college students, and was named Kickoff Speaker for the $4 billion Power of Penn Campaign in 2018. Her work has been recognized nationally, having been named a Daily Point of Light (an award established by U.S. President George H.W. Bush), a L'Oreal Women of Worth and a Distinguished Delta by Tri Delta National. She earned her B.S. in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

As a companion conversation to this week's episode with Joy Bailey-Bryant about the importance of Black space, we are re-sharing a conversation about navigating white space. Dr. Alex Gee has a conversation with Patrick Sims, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, and Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer for the Univerisity of Wisconsin-Madison. Sims oversees the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement at the University.  The discussion is an honest exploration of how large educational institutions handle diversity and the challenges of race in the campus environment. You are going to want to hear about Patrick’s unique background and how he came into this role to affect positive change at the university. alexgee.com patreon.com/blacklikeme  

Earl Martin Phalen, founder and CEO of Summer Advantage USA and the George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academies, discusses helping historically under-served students grow as scholars and transforming schools

Arizona Leger is a proud child of Oceania being of Samoan, Maori, Tongan and Fijian heritage. She was born and raised here in Aotearoa.   She has no fear ‘venturing into the unknown’ to break new grounds of opportunity and equality for all young women.   She is currently completing her Masters in Human Rights at the Auckland University of Technology.  In 2018 Arizona was appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Group to review the National Certificate of Educational Achievement program and in 2019 she was selected from thousands of applicants around the world as the sole indigenous delegate to attend the Girls 20 Summit in Tokyo.   In 2020 she was selected as a northern representative for Kau Tuli, the youth steering group for the Ministry for Pacific people  Last night Arizona was part of a young professional panel Wave of Moana.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode George a youth practitioner discusses his experiences as a youth practitioner. He also discuses the physical, social and emotional  factors that he believes affects educational developmental.For more information on my podcast follow me on Instagram @kayfashquotes!http://www.instagram.com/kayfashquotes 

On this week's Speaker Series podcast, we are joined by Zainab Qureshi, the LEAPS (Learning and Educational Achievement in Pakistan Schools) Senior Program Manager at the Center for International Development’s EPoD (Evidence for Policy Design). Zainab will be speaking about EPoD’s research on alleviating system-level constraints to improve student learning outcomes in Pakistan. // Originally recorded on December 6, 2019. About the talk: School enrollment is up in Pakistan, but student learning outcomes remain vastly sub-standard. At same time, widespread local entrepreneurship has dramatically changed Pakistan's education landscape, with 42% of school-going children now attending low cost private schools. Transformational research by the LEAPS program shows that improving education quality will require moving beyond the traditional approach of input augmentation towards a new, systems-based approach that explores how to catalyze innovation in the entire education ecosystem and help schools help themselves. This talk will outline the Learning and Educational Achievement in Pakistan Schools (LEAPS) team’s research on how to alleviate system-level constraints to improve student learning outcomes. Lead researchers on LEAPS are Prof. Tahir Andrabi (Pomona), Prof. Jishnu Das (Georgetown) and Prof. Asim Ijaz Khwaja (Harvard Kennedy School). About the Speaker: Zainab Qureshi is the LEAPS Senior Program Manager at EPoD, overseeing implementation of Education and policy research in Pakistan. She has previously worked at various organizations across the Education sector in Pakistan, implementing low cost Education delivery programs and developing an alternate model of education for low income schools. She holds a Master’s in Education (Ed.M.) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA in Economics and International Development from McGill University.

Philippa Kruger, Global Head of Languages, chats to Juliet Kennedy, an experienced language teacher, researcher, and professional expert at Future Learning Solutions. Together they discuss intercultural communicative language teaching and suggest practical ideas on how to implement it in your classroom.Acronyms used in this podcast: TPDL = Teacher Professional Development for LanguagesiCLT = Intercultural Communicative Language TeachingNCEA = National Certificate of Educational Achievement, the main national qualification for secondary school students in New Zealand.TKI = Te Kete Ipurangi. Resource centre provided by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.

We speak with Silvia Canales, who coordinates the college advisory program at Brotherhood/Sister Sol, an organization that provides comprehensive and holistic support services to underserved youth. Silvia talks about fully integrating college counseling into a program environment in which adults know young people well and students engage in systematic self-reflection. Find more about Silvia and...

Dr. Alex Gee has a conversation with Patrick Sims, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, and Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer for the Univerisity of Wisconsin-Madison. Sims oversees the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement at the University.  The discussion is an honest exploration of how large educational institutions handle diversity and the challenges of race in the campus environment. You are going to want to hear about Patrick's unique background and how he came into this role to affect positive change at the university. alexgee.com patreon.com/blacklikeme

Jason Warwin is the Co-Founder and Associate Executive Director of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, an organization that provides comprehensive, holistic and long-term support services to youth who range in age from eight to twenty-two. Located in Harlem (NYC), Bro/Sis also has programs dedicated to developing Black and Latinx youth in Africa, Latin America and The Caribbean. Jason is a specialist in the design of transformative experiences and we talked about how the Bro/Sis model leads young people to ethical leadership and educational achievement, and makes them an essential part of a solid community that has been fighting oppression for almost 25 years.

Richard looks at Educational Achievement & Social Class for your A Level Sociology exam. In this episode, he will look how and why there is a link between social class and educational achievement. Ideal for preparing you for your A Level Sociology exam. For more info visit www.senecalearning.com

This is a re-release of an episode from The Annex, a sociology podcast created by Joseph Cohen (CUNY Queens College), Leslie Hinkson (Georgetown), and Gabriel Rossman (UCLA). You can follow the Annex on Twitter and find previous episodes at www.theannexpodcast.com. The episode is an interview with Arthur Sakamoto from Texas A&M about explanations of Asian-Americans’ high educational achievement, and attributing this achievement to Asian culture, with special guest host Chris C. Martin. It was recorded on April 16, 2019. Discussants Arthur Sakamoto is a sociologist at Texas A&M. He wrote “Socioeconomic Attainment of Asian Americans” in the Annual Review of Sociology. Chris C. Martin is a sociologist at Georgia Tech who specializes in culture, mental health, and wellbeing. He hosts the Heterodox Academy‘s podcast Half Hour of Heterodoxy. Twitter: @ChrisMartin76. Joseph Nathan Cohen co-hosts The Annex and directs the Sociocast Project. He is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York, Queens College. He wrote Financial Crisis in American Households: The Basic Expenses That Bankrupt the Middle Class (2017, Praeger) and co-authored Global Capitalism: A Sociological Perspective (2010, Polity). Twitter: @jncohen

In this podcast NZSTA provider Tom Schollard talks about educational achievement and the focus on student achievement by boards in New Zealand schools. 

Richard looks at Educational Achievement & Ethnicity for your A Level Sociology exam. In this episode, he will look how and why there is a link between ethnicity and educational achievement. Ideal for preparing you for your A Level Sociology exam. For more info visit www.senecalearning.com

Richard looks at Educational Achievement & Gender for your A Level Sociology exam. In this episode, he will look how and why there is a link between gender and educational achievement. Ideal for preparing you for your A Level Sociology exam. For more info visit www.senecalearning.com

Richard looks at Educational Achievement & Social Class for your A Level Sociology exam. In this episode, he will look how and why there is a link between social class and educational achievement. Ideal for preparing you for your A Level Sociology exam. For more info visit www.senecalearning.com

Last November, Dr. Cat Hicks wrote an essay on Medium called "Reading vulnerable learners' applications to grad school: we need to stop failing them." In this episode of the podcast, University of Minnesota graduate student Becky Rodriguez interviews Dr. Hicks about her essay, her educational and career path, and how our educational system can be stacked against vulnerable learners. She offers some advice for applicants, those who review applications, and others who may just want to help. "A truly inclusive and diverse future will produce way better work, and you only get there by saying, 'we have to be comfortable with letting people be different.'" Our conversation is especially relevant given recent news and discussion about unfairness and fraud in U.S. college admissions. (And if you want to know what any of this has to do with asteroid fields, you'll just have to listen to the episode.) Dr. Cat Hicks (left, photo courtesy of Dr. Hicks) and a tweet about her Medium essay on helping students with grad school applications Want more podcast episodes? You can find them all on our podcast page, or you can subscribe through Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. #### **ABOUT THIS EPISODE** Related links: Dr. Cat Hicks: website, Twitter Reading vulnerable learners’ applications to grad school: we need to stop failing them by Cat Hicks, Medium, Nov 17, 2018 Becky Rodriguez: profile and Twitter Elite Colleges Constantly Tell Low-Income Students That They Do Not Belong by Clint Smith, The Atlantic, March 18, 2019 The subtle ways colleges discriminate against poor students, explained with a cartoon by Alvin Chang, Vox.com, updated Sept 12, 2018. Scott Klemmer, Chinmay Kulkarni, PeerStudio Framing feedback: Choosing review environment features that support high quality peer assessment by C. Hicks et al. 201. doi: 10.1145/2858036.2858195 PeerStudio: rapid peer feedback emphasizes revision and improves performance by Kulkarni et al. 2015. doi: 10.1145/2724660.2724670 Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology Interviewee: Cat Hicks Producer/Host: Miriam Krause Interviewer: Becky Rodriguez Music: PC III and Dexter Britain

In this episode, Angel Luis Velez, a research assistant at OCCRL, talks with Dr. Michelle M. Espiño Lira, an associate professor of Higher Education at University of Maryland, College Park, on understanding community context and institutional responses associated with educational achievement and outcomes along the academic life-course of racial and ethnic minorities.

Ron Siegel discusses local and national current events, politics, personal and business finance with a few mortgage tips along the way. A Southern California mortgage expert and bonafide political junkie, Ron Siegel delivers intelligent, entertaining radio that makes the hard news of the week easy to understand! Ron Siegel will discuss: The Impact of Homeownership on Educational Achievement; 5 Easy-to-Forget Things That Influence Your Credit Scores; Divorce financial planning: 8 tips to get what you need in a divorce; Real Time Real Estate; Your Credit Matters; Mortgage Minute: Word on Wealth; and so much more. Ron Siegel, consumer advocate and mortgage lender, discusses anything that affects the roof over your head, your bank account or other items that will benefit you / your family. Reach Ron Siegel at  ·       www.Facebook.com/RonSiegelRadio ·       800.306.1990  ·       Ron@RonSiegelRadio.com ·       www.RonSiegelRadio.com ·       www.SiegelLendingTeam.com ·       Find Your Dream Home before Someone Else does: www.MBELinks.com/nest  

Recent literature on non-cognitive skills provides promising evidence on the power of community and classroom based interventions for closing achievement gaps across school quality, race, and class. Yet, much of this work has been conducted on males that attend elite institutions in the U.S. There is very little work on how these same tactics can be implemented to overcome gender barriers and improve educational achievement of girls, particularly those that attend schools in non-western settings. In this seminar, Sally Nuamah investigates the experiences of girls from underprivileged backgrounds in Ghana striving to be the first in their families to go to college. She finds that school structure - leadership, curriculum, and peer networks - mediates the effects of their socio-cultural environments and individual background through the facilitation of positive academic identities (non-cognitive skills) that promote identity building and strategy development. These positive academic identities are useful for navigating the gender specific barriers that these girls face, thereby enabling their academic achievement. Sally Nuamah, WAPPP Fellow; Joint Postdoctoral Fellow, University Center for Human Values and Center for Study of Democratic Politics, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University  

We often think of international assessments as being synonymous with PISA, the OECD international assessment that has been the focus of many shows in FreshEd’s mini-series on global learning metrics. But international assessments have a history far beyond PISA. In fact, it was the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, known as the IEA, that first introduced large-scale comparative studies of educational systems in the late 1950s. This history is important to consider when thinking about global learning metrics today. My guest today is Dirk Hastedt, Executive Director of the IEA. He’s spent many years working with the IEA, seeing the development of assessments in new subjects, such as citizenship and computer literacies, and the emergence of league tables, which rank education systems and have become popular today. Drik offers valuable insight for any discussion on the feasibility or desirability of global learning metrics. Check out www.FreshEdpodcast.com for more details.

Scientific research into the ocean and ocean floor is based on what we can exploit from the ocean. Yet, science is also unveiling the possibility as to where ‘ocean mind’ resides. Some researchers believe that bacteria in ocean sediments are connected by a network of microbial nanowires. These fine protein filaments could shuttle electrons back and forth, allowing communities of bacteria to act as one giant super-organism. In James Cameron’s movie Avatar, the inhabitants, the Na'vi people of Pandora, plug themselves into a neural network that links to all the elements of Pandora’s biosphere, from phosphorescent plants to pterodactyl-like birds. It turns out that Pandora's interconnected ecosystem may have a parallel back here on our planet: sulphur-eating bacteria that live in muddy sediments beneath the ocean floor, as a tightly coupled living mat or network. Going back 4 billion years where bacteria have been living in the ocean and creating the conditions for life to prosper on our planet – evolving the conditions for multi cellular life to eventually we humans. There is emerging evidence that bacteria in the oceans form massive mats connected with things called nanowires. These nanowires allow the bacteria to breathe externally from their bodies – so it is collective breathing – and that they could be connecting as a neural network – so it is possible that the ocean floor is a vast neural network or ocean mind, with deep thought – 10,000 years of thought process that we humans may only take a couple of seconds to grok. What kind of thoughts might the ocean be having?   We are finding out that we live on a planet that is alive and that the ocean is a living being. Hence James Lovelock’s Gaia Theory that our planet is gigantic super living organism.  Here is the original Our Planet description posted on the world wide web in 1996. http://www.ourplanet.org/original-site/gaia.html     It’s only in the last 60 years has man created the tools to look around underwater – with masks, oxygen tanks and more lately bathyspheres. As we become more sensitive and knowing, immersing ourselves into the sea and becoming one with the marine environment and ecology - makes it possible to dissolve into a greater knowing of the ocean - to osmotically take in information. To address the big oceanic issues, in Glenn’s opinion - it’s about addressing our own personal relationship. Western civilisation including we here in NZ have over the years become more distant and separated from nature. We have in numerous ways become disengaged from natural processes and from our planet as a whole. Note NCEA -the National Certificate of Educational Achievement in high schools in NZ that they do not teach ecology. It is not part of the curriculum. Thus students are leaving school not realising that they are an intrinsic part of the web of life within the biosphere. Now we know why the young are disconnected – they are being deliberately severed from our planet. Whereas Maori children in many cases intuitively understand they are an extension of Papatuanuku, our planet.   This interview covers: The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently passing a resolution to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030  At this meeting 129 countries or 89%  said yes – and signed. But 29 countries said NO. And 35 abstained from voting. Note that ‘Clean Green’ NZ was one of the countries that abstained. That NZ could not in this time of declining fisheries and in an ecologically challenged world, mindfully look at this  important 30% protection, particularly for our children and grandchildren’s future, gives us cause for concern Yet, in Antarctica 24 countries and the European Union agreed to protect 1.5 million square  kilometres of the Ross Sea - the largest marine protected area on our planet, so far. 1 million square ks will be a ‘no take’ marine reserve. This is worth celebrating. Yet it is set to expire in 35 years time. Why? The NZ administered Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will be possibly the 4th largest protected marine reserve on earth. Covering 620,000 square kilometres, and the most significant of a fully protected area. It will be 35 times larger than the combined area of all of New Zealand’s existing 44 marine reserves. The following activities will be prohibited in the sanctuary:      commercial fishing and aquaculture recreational fishing fishing-related tourism oil, gas and mineral prospecting, exploration and mining. This is similar to prohibitions in place in marine reserves in our NZ territorial sea. Challenges to our Oceans Military testing sonar and microwave tech, even passing through some of these reserves!  Plus electromagnetic energy that ships emit. These have been correlated to whale strandings and more science is needed? Covering Professor Daniel Pauly of Canada – who says that there is no fishery on our planet that we could consider as sustainable. In 2004 he came to NZ and mentioned that we need to lock up 25% of our fishing grounds so as to rebuild up our fish stocks. He was criticised vehemently by commercial fishing interests here in NZ, but remains focused and undeterred. In NZ, DOC, the Department of Conservation care for many offshore islands that are prohibited for humans to land on and they could in turn be extended to include fishing reserves around each island. So as to build up fish colonies again and create a “no take” marine reserve. The ancient Hawaiians had an understanding that from the mountain top, down the valleys onto the beach into the water to the reef and out beyond the reef as one living holistic system. They did not partition nature. Loss of NZ’s Endangered Maui Dolphin? There is a belief with ocean ecologists that we are going to lose the Maui dolphins to extinction, because the NZ Government has no will to change the current situation.  (34 minutes into the interview ) cut out before we email). Possibly only 44 are alive today. They are found  along the West Coast of the central North Island from Northern Taranaki in the South to Northland, just South of Opononi. In June 2014, the government decided to open up 3000 km2 of the West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary – the main habitat of the Maui's dolphin – for oil drilling. This amounts to one-quarter of the total sanctuary area. In May 2015, estimates suggested that the population had declined to 43-47 individuals, of which only 10 were mature females. Set netting in particular is seen as very problematic. The Maui dolphin is becoming a very charged emotional issue in NZ as it appears that we could lose them whilst on our watch, possibly by 2025 or 2030. In a country that brands itself as Clean & Green, if we lose the Maui’s dolphin this will be a disaster from the standpoint of lack of mindfulness and the precautionary principle. To add insult to this loss it would affect the Maori people, as it will be a slap in their collective face, as their oral history tells of the God Maui, fishing up the North Island (Te Ika O Maui) out of the sea. This loss would be devastating for both Maori and New Zealanders as a whole.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maui%27s_dolphin Government Changing the Rules. At present the NZ Government is taking away from DOC, the Department of Conservation many decision making processes and handing them over to the Department of Primary Industries, because DPI is more of a commercial concern, based around monetary policies. This is where the government, our elected political servants are taking their own Agenda. We as a people, need to instruct our government to do our bidding to enable 10% of our coastline to be designated as marine reserves and become far more informed. Here in Aotearoa NZ the Te Urewera Park and the Whanganui River have been designated as having special privileges and rights. This was Government sanctioned and is an exceptionally visionary policy. If it can be done on the land (whenua) then it can be accomplished on the ocean (moana). http://www.ourplanet.org/articles/new-zealand-government-acknowledges-a-river-as-a-living-entity-and-a-park-as-having-human-rights#at_pco=smlrebv-1.0&at_si=5819316157fd1305&at_ab=per-2&at_pos=0&at_tot=1 Interspecies Communication? Whales and Dolphin communication. By acoustics and sonar is covered. The www. - World Whale Web of Sperm whales connecting by clicks at deep ocean levels across the Pacific and deep levels.    Telepathy and possibilities of instant connection with large brain mammals?   Changing and cleaning up our oceans and our possible future. We once had pristine oceans?    Prior to the 17th century. Will we (among our numerous and mounting challenges) realise our connection to the planet that loans us bodies, free air, free water and a free food chain? As oceans bear the brunt of wastewater, from our homes and from sinks and bathtubs, to pipes, drains, creeks, streams and rivers all eventually find their way to the ocean. One way or another. As we humans are composed of around 70% water and our bloodstream is about 3.5% salt - why have humans disconnected from our oceans? When in NZ the bulk of NZers are only 100 kilometres or less from the ocean. Today, ocean plastic is outnumbering plankton 6 to one. That is correct - In certain areas of the ocean, specifically the subtropical gyres, micro plastic pieces outnumber plankton by 6 to 1. In other words, for every individual plankton there are 6 pieces of micro-plastic (micro-plastic being any plastic fragment smaller than 2 mm in diameter). Micro plastic can now be found in every part of the Ocean, even in Antarctica, and on the ocean floor. The majority has already sunk below the surface and out of our reach the only answer to stop this plastic onslaught from continuing is to stop putting plastic into the ocean. Most of today’s challenges are extremely recent - especially in the last 70 years exponential acceleration and has grown across the whole realm of industry from products to pollution has escalated and the ocean is taking this all in. Including the nuclear radiation from Fukushima in Japan, that the world’s media and scientists remain tight lipped about. Humanity has much to do in a very small window of time. The imperative is to connect with other people in your locality and voice your needs to commit to organise. Write letters and phone you local MP and speak to them, either on the phone but better still with a small delegation of 4 or 5 of you and your friends. Let your Member of Parliament know your vote counts. Glens web site: http://www.oceanspirit.org

Are Green Schools the Key to Closing the Educational Achievement Gap? Rachel Gutter, Director of the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Brought to you by: Jumpstart:HR - HR Outsourcing for Small Businesses and Start-Ups Learn More: www.jumpstart-hr.com About This Episode: One out of every six people in the U.S. spends each day in a K-12 public school, yet America’s school buildings have a problem that is hiding in plain sight. The 2016 “State of Our Schools” report from the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) finds a $46 billion annual shortfall in the funding needed to keep our nation’s school buildings healthy, safe and conducive to learning.   It has been proven that the places where our children attend school have a significant impact on their health and educational performance. Students thrive in well-lit, well-ventilated, healthy school environments, but there are millions of students across the country who are learning in dilapidated, obsolete and unhealthy facilities that pose substantial obstacles to learning and overall wellbeing.   On this episode, Director of the Center for Green Schools and SVP of Knowledge at the U.S. Green Building Council, Rachel Gutter shares the results of this report, which highlights a state by state national comparison and findings. She also discusses information at the local and federal level concerning the current conditions of public school infrastructure. The state of schools in our country is vital to the development and growth of our younger generations. Learn More Here about The Report: http://www.usgbc.org/articles/infographic-2016-state-our-schools-americas-k12-facilities  About Rachel Gutter: Rachel is Senior Vice President of Knowledge at the U.S. Green Building Council and Director of the Center for Green Schools. Rachel’s dynamic leadership provides a powerful voice for the green schools movement, convening international corporations, globally recognized institutions, and government entities around a singular purpose: to put every student in a green school within this generation. Under her direction, the Center for Green schools has published more than 1,000 pages of technical guides and original research and deployed more than half a million volunteers who have contributed $46 million in donated time to transform schools across the world. In 2007, she launched LEED for Schools, a version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s popular green building certification program that facilitates the design, construction and operations of high-performance green schools. Follow Rachel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelgutter

Dr Noah Uhrig discusses ground-breaking new research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation exploring the links between sexual orientation and poverty.

"Baruch College School of Public Affairs presents a series of events at the Fourth Annual Public Affairs Week. At the second night of the Week, two panelists speak on ""Closing the Educational Achievement Gap"": Herman Badillo, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; and Richard Rothstein, Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute. Herman Badillo is a former U.S. Congressman, Deputy Mayor of New York City, Bronx Borough President, and Chairman of the Board of the City University of New York. He is currently a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Of Counsel to Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C. He just published One Nation, One Standard: An Ex-Liberal on How Hispanics Can Succeed Just Like Other Immigrant Groups. Mr. Badillo holds a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from City College and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. From 1999 to 2002 he was the national education columnist for The New York Times. He is the author of Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap; The Way We Were? Myths and Realities of America's Student Achievement; The Charter School Dust-Up: Examining the Evidence on Enrollment and Achievement; and All Else Equal, Are Public and Private Schools Different?. David Birdsell, Dean of School of Public Affairs, gives the welcoming remarks. The event is moderated by Dorothy Shipps, Professor, School of Public Affairs, and sponsored by Ackerman Lecture Series and Center for Equality, Pluralism and Policy. The event takes place on March 20, 2007 at the Baruch College Vertical Campus, 14th floor, with questions and answers at the end."

"Baruch College School of Public Affairs presents a series of events at the Fourth Annual Public Affairs Week. At the second night of the Week, two panelists speak on ""Closing the Educational Achievement Gap"": Herman Badillo, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; and Richard Rothstein, Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute. Herman Badillo is a former U.S. Congressman, Deputy Mayor of New York City, Bronx Borough President, and Chairman of the Board of the City University of New York. He is currently a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Of Counsel to Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C. He just published One Nation, One Standard: An Ex-Liberal on How Hispanics Can Succeed Just Like Other Immigrant Groups. Mr. Badillo holds a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from City College and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. From 1999 to 2002 he was the national education columnist for The New York Times. He is the author of Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap; The Way We Were? Myths and Realities of America's Student Achievement; The Charter School Dust-Up: Examining the Evidence on Enrollment and Achievement; and All Else Equal, Are Public and Private Schools Different?. David Birdsell, Dean of School of Public Affairs, gives the welcoming remarks. The event is moderated by Dorothy Shipps, Professor, School of Public Affairs, and sponsored by Ackerman Lecture Series and Center for Equality, Pluralism and Policy. The event takes place on March 20, 2007 at the Baruch College Vertical Campus, 14th floor, with questions and answers at the end."

"Baruch College School of Public Affairs presents a series of events at the Fourth Annual Public Affairs Week. At the second night of the Week, two panelists speak on ""Closing the Educational Achievement Gap"": Herman Badillo, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; and Richard Rothstein, Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute. Herman Badillo is a former U.S. Congressman, Deputy Mayor of New York City, Bronx Borough President, and Chairman of the Board of the City University of New York. He is currently a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Of Counsel to Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C. He just published One Nation, One Standard: An Ex-Liberal on How Hispanics Can Succeed Just Like Other Immigrant Groups. Mr. Badillo holds a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from City College and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. From 1999 to 2002 he was the national education columnist for The New York Times. He is the author of Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap; The Way We Were? Myths and Realities of America’s Student Achievement; The Charter School Dust-Up: Examining the Evidence on Enrollment and Achievement; and All Else Equal, Are Public and Private Schools Different?. David Birdsell, Dean of School of Public Affairs, gives the welcoming remarks. The event is moderated by Dorothy Shipps, Professor, School of Public Affairs, and sponsored by Ackerman Lecture Series and Center for Equality, Pluralism and Policy. The event takes place on March 20, 2007 at the Baruch College Vertical Campus, 14th floor, with questions and answers at the end."

Inequalities between socially marginalized and non-marginalized groups have led to poorer school and health outcomes for African Americans, Latino Americans, and other non-Asian ethnic minorities. In this university podcast, Stanford assistant professor Greg Walton examines one psychological factor contributing to these inequalities: concern about social belonging — a sense of having positive relationships with others. He reports the significant academic and health-related consequences of a brief intervention aimed at buttressing college freshmen’s sense of social belonging in school. Walton spoke at The Science of Getting People to Do Good briefing held at Stanford. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/the_science_of_getting_people_to_do_good

Dean's Dialogue, "The Educational Achievement Gap"