Articles

Each month, EDC posts several new feature articles. This page provides an archive of past articles, including reports of emerging research and profiles of new EDC publications and Web sites.

Just Back: Scott Pulizzi

Scott Pulizzi, of EDC’s Health and Human Development Programs (HHD), recently returned from Kenya and Uganda, his latest of more than 30 trips to Africa, where he is working to alleviate HIV. He talked with us about what he’s learned through his special connections to teachers there, and how their experience has changed his thinking and reinvigorated his work.
Powering Up in Rural Uganda

In Uganda, where interruptions to the power supply are frequent, Internet access is spotty. But a low-cost, low-energy computer lab set up for training rural teachers averts these problems, which tend to damage computer equipment and make it hard to reliably access the Web.
Youth Creativity Around the World

Building on young people’s natural creativity and interconnectedness, Adobe Systems Incorporated has launched a five-year, $10 million program to encourage young people to use multimedia tools, such as film, digital art, and animation, to comment on their world and take an active role in their communities.
Linking Mathematics Teachers and Special Educators

Thousands of teachers across the nation teach a wide range of learners, and with No Child Left Behind and IDEA legislation, they are increasingly accountable for the performance of all their students, including those with disabilities.
How Do We Increase Youth Interest in Science?

EDC has gathered educators from across the country for a February symposium in Washington to share their strategies for actively engaging youth interest in science, math, and technology.
President Bush Visits EDC Program in Indonesia

“Creative and joyful” were the adjectives President Bush used to describe classroom lessons he observed in Indonesia while visiting with students and teachers taking part in EDC’s national education program there.
What Does It Take to Own Your Own Home?

How hard is it to afford your own home? Do you have to be rich? A new EDC project is helping students in Massachusetts understand the costs of owning a home and brainstorm ways that communities can make it possible for more low-income families. Students apply what they’ve learned by developing plans for their communities to offer more options for lower-income residents. The combined instruction-community service project was so successful in five high schools that additional schools have adopted it this year.
21st Century Schools

Watch young people at home today, and you’re likely to see them managing technology with an ease that can inspire awe and envy. They text and they IM; they Google and they design their own Web pages; they download music and burn CDs—all in service of their friendships, romances, interests, and hobbies. But watch young people at school, and you’re more likely to find them seated at desks, listening to lectures, reading from textbooks, and penciling in little oval bubbles on standardized tests.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

EDC is working on a new English translation of an obscure French textbook, Geometrie Elementaire, a simple yet highly influential text more than 100 years old, written by Jaques Hadamard, considered a giant of 20th century mathematics.
Tackling Ethics in High School Biology

High school biology needn’t be all about memorization and lab reports. EDC is crafting a free bioethics curriculum that will have students discussing such thought-provoking topics as genetic enhancement, clinical trials, vaccination, and genetic screening.
Assisting Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress

A promising new treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) will be used nationally, thanks to an EDC team that collaborated with researchers from the U.S. Veterans Administration on a program to train mental health clinicians in its use.
Suicide and the Armed Forces

According to the U.S. Armed Forces Medical Examiner, suicide is the third leading cause of death within the armed forces, behind accidents and illness. To help clinicians better assess and manage suicide risk, the U.S. Air Force awarded the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) Training Institute at EDC a contract to train 1,300 clinicians at 45 Air Force installations around the world.
A Dangerous Strategy

A new word has entered the New Oxford American Dictionary: “pre-gaming.” Not a sports or recreation term, it’s the practice of downing alcohol before attending a school event or party where liquor is banned or in short supply.
College Bound in Arkansas

Researchers at EDC are working with school leaders around the country to boost the involvement of Latino parents in their children’s education, recently focusing on an Arkansas county with one of the fastest-growing Latino populations in the United States. Researchers will work with leaders from the Helen Tyson Middle School, part of the Springdale Public Schools, to apply lessons from the EDC project PALMS—Postsecondary Access for Latino Middle-Grades Students.
What About the Man with the Yellow Hat?

Curious George, the mischievous little monkey of the classic children’s books created by Margret and H.A. Rey, has packed up for the bright lights and big city—he’s now starring in his own show on public television. The animated half-hour program, airing on PBS and featuring ideas from EDC researchers, encourages preschoolers to explore the world around them.
Preschool Scientists

What does it take to close the achievement gap in science? Researchers in EDC’s Center for Children & Families would tell you that real solutions involve starting early. They’ve developed Foundations of Science Literacy, a college-level science course for preschool teachers. Foundations introduces fundamental concepts in the physical sciences at the adult level along with strategies for making the material fun and accessible for preschoolers.
Putting the ART in "Smart"

According to a growing body of research, art class may be a boon to top performance on standardized tests, rather than an expendable “extra.” With arts education, student performance in such core academic subjects as mathematics and science has risen, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds often making the biggest gains.
After an Attempt

When someone has attempted suicide, they and their loved ones need assistance coping, recovering, and moving forward after treatment in an emergency department (ED). ED physicians often also need information and resources in order to provide the best care possible for these patients. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) in EDC’s Health and Human Development Programs (HHD) has created three brochures to help with the healing process.
SmART Schools

Music, art, and drama may not be “extras” after all. A growing body of research suggests that schools that have cut back on these classes in their quest for high performance on standardized tests may do better to reinstate them. Quality arts education bolsters rather than detracts from student performance in core academic subjects like mathematics and science, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds making the biggest gains, according to numerous studies.
Teaching in Sudan

Shaban Ladeu has taught at Haddow Primary School in Maridi, Western Equatoria, since 2001. A teacher since 1981, Shaban is a dedicated educator; until the Government of Southern Sudan began paying teachers’ salaries this year, Shaban worked without remuneration, only occasionally receiving a small allowance culled from students’ tuition fees. The 80 students in his first grade class range in age from 6 to 12, and most began their formal education only this year.
What is 'Affordable Housing?'

High-priced housing is not a typical topic for a high school social studies class. This year, students in five Massachusetts high schools learned about the lack of affordable housing and then developed action plans to improve options for low-and moderate- income families in their communities. The combined instruction-community service project was so successful that at least four additional schools have adopted it this year.
Making Mathematics Accessible

Chanté genuinely loves teaching seventh grade math. But she feels overwhelmed by the wide range of students in her class—a third of whom have disabilities. And she worries that by making accommodations for them she may be watering down the mathematics.
Study Investigates High-Risk Drinking on Campus

As colleges crack down on happy hours, frat parties, and underage drinking, the number of students showing up drunk at campus-sponsored and other events may still be on the rise. In a practice known as “pre-gaming,” students evade new restrictions on drinking by loading up on alcohol in private settings before heading out for the night.
Learning Continues Despite Instability

Najmo is an eight-year-old girl who lives with her parents in the Hodan district in Mogadishu. She is in first grade at Al Imra School. Surrounded by dangerous mortar fire and lawlessness, Najmo’s parents have been very worried about the family’s safety.
Conquering the Mysteries of Science

For many students, science can seem “dark, murky, and unconquerable” says Jackie Miller of EDC’s Center for Science Education (CSE). The sometimes-difficult subject matter, the precision of experimentation, and the varying results that arise from the same set of conditions intimidate many students.
Traffic Safety

Staff from the Children’s Safety Network (CSN in EDC’s Health and Human Development Programs (HHD) have created education resources especially designed to prevent traffic safety deaths among Latinos.
Up Close with Mike Laflin, EDC Senior Vice President

Mike Laflin directs EDC’s International Development Division (IDD), based in Washington, D.C. IDD, which employs approximately 400 staff in 26 countries, is a leader in the use of technology to address issues of access and quality in learning. IDD is also implementing national educational reform programs in several countries. A former teacher in England and Kenya, Laflin has three decades of experience in international development. He has been at EDC since 1992.
Two Initiatives Feature Ford PAS

The Ford PAS program, an interdisciplinary high school program developed by Ford Motor Company Fund in collaboration with EDC, is the anchor of two new initiatives designed to help prepare students for careers in fields such as business, engineering, math, science, and technology.
EDC Project Will "Open Many Doors" for Teens in Haiti

EDC is working to assist thousands of out-of-school young people in Haiti who are living on the streets, in domestic servitude, or with families too poor to provide them an education.
EDC in Indonesia: Improving Teaching and Learning

EDC’s initiative to decentralize and revitalize Indonesia’s schools by improving the quality of teaching has taken root in 535 schools and will ultimately include more than 2,000 schools in the world’s fourth most populous country. The USAID-funded project, Decentralized Basic Education 2 (DBE2), is moving schools away from a rote-memorization tradition to a more “interactive approach with students working together on projects,” says EDC’s seven provinces.”