Is the U.S. Falling Behind in Higher Education?

By Mary Ellen Flannery The United States, once the global leader in the production of a most singular resource—its talent pool of college graduates—is losing ground to emerging nations like South Korea and China. The recent, “Education at a Glance,” an annual report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), found that about [...]

NEA’s Van Roekel Elected Vice President of Education International

By Leona Hiraoka CAPE TOWN – NEA President Dennis Van Roekel was elected vice president of Education International (EI) at the organization’s 6th World Congress here today. EI’s July 22-26 conference, centered on the theme of “Building the Future Through Quality Education,” has brought together some 1,800 delegates from unions in 154 countries. Officials including [...]

Global Education Leaders: Nations Must Elevate the Teaching Profession

By Tim Walker and Rebeca Logan At the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, which concluded late Thursday afternoon, participants strongly agreed that elevating the professional status of teachers was critical for improved, sustainable student achievement. The summit, co-hosted by the National Education Association (NEA), marked the first time education ministers, teachers and union leaders from [...]

International Summit Puts Best Reform Ideas on the Table

By Tim Walker High-performing countries have strong unions. They also support teachers and engage them in the reform process. Many right-wing politicians in the United States may want to ignore these facts, but in Finland, Canada, Singapore, and other nations, collaboration with teacher unions has been a keystone in their successful efforts to improve student achievement [...]

Education Leaders to Meet for International Summit on Teaching

By Tim Walker Education leaders from around the world are gathering in New York City next month to shine a spotlight on the critical role teachers play in successful schools. The occasion is the first International Summit on the Teaching Profession and will convene on March 16-17. The National Education Association will be co-hosting the [...]

The Economics Behind International Education Rankings

By Cynthia McCabe This week’s release of international education rankings placing U.S. students in the middle of the pack for reading and science and below average in math contained few surprises. But what might have been overlooked in the horse race coverage of how the students stacked up is an economic link that further supports [...]

Global Activists Continue Campaign for Financial Transaction Tax

by Tim Walker With Congress on the verge of approving a new round of tax cuts and unemployment still unacceptably high, the political climate isn’t exactly ideal to talk about higher taxes. Painful spending cuts were the centerpiece of the Bowles-Simpson Deficit Commission report unveiled last week. Outside the United States, many governments are favoring [...]

World Teachers’ Day Celebration Begins

By Tim Walker Recovery begins with teachers – that’s the message millions of educators, students, and parents across the globe will be celebrating today on World Teachers Day. Held annually on October 5 since 1994, World Teachers Day is an occasion to honor the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels. [...]

Global Education Effort Gets Boost From Senator

By Tim Walker The campaign for universal education got a big boost last week when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Education For All Act of 2010. The legislation would assist developing countries in strengthening education systems, facilitate U.S. support of a Global Fund for Education, and promote universal education as a core development priority [...]

Tackling Child Labor With Education

More than 200 million children scattered across the globe work in conditions intolerable to the healthiest adults. From construction sites in Afghanistan to factories in Albania to farms in rural Morocco to domestic workers in El Salvador, children between the ages of 6 and 14 work long hours in grim, often dangerous conditions. Sadly, millions [...]

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