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New England STEAM Trip

New England STEAM Trip

On February 1st, fifteen teachers from Beijing #80, a top-ranked high school situated in the heart of China’s capital city, arrived in the New England area to learn more about how STEAM ( Science Technology Engineering Art and Math) teaching methodology has been pioneered and practiced in the United States. This group of teachers will be participating in a model STEAM ninth grade class next September overseen by the Beijing Education Bureau. The teachers began their tour at H

Shanghai Math Sweeps England

Shanghai Math Sweeps England

Over the course of the summer, England’s minister of education, member for Bognor Regis Nick Gibbs proclaimed "We are seeing a renaissance in maths teaching in this country, with good ideas from around the world helping to enliven our classrooms." Gibbs was, for the most part, referring to his recent decision to fund the adoption of Chinese math teaching strategies throughout England ’s primary schools. Under Gibbs’ leadership, Her Majesty's government has allocated around 41

Starting Small

Starting Small

A recent Wall Street Journal article documents a trend that could end up the reshaping the future of Sino-American relations. More and more Chinese students are choosing to study in the United states in larger numbers than ever before. And they are doing it at an increasingly early ages. The Journal article anchors its narrative to the story of Kevin Yang, a twelve-year old from the Jiangxi province who currently goes to school a full 7,000 miles away from his family in Missi

Founder of Pinyin dies at 111

Founder of Pinyin dies at 111

We hope you all noticed a well-crafted remembrance of Zhou Youguang in the pages of the Washington Post. The long-lived Mr. Zhou, who passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 111, revolutionized the instruction of Chinese around the world when he spearheaded the development of the Pin Yin transliteration system in 1955. Zhou's romanized pronunciation system replaced the method of pain-staking, time-killing rote memorization that had defined Chinese-language instruction for c

Tribune Highlights Teacher Exchange

Tribune Highlights Teacher Exchange

Check out the Chicago Tribune’s recent coverage of teaching exchanges between the U.S. and China in the Chicago suburbs. This article spotlights a program in Orland Park Schools that brought a sizable group of Chinese teachers to Illinois to exchange perspectives on a variety of American and Chinese teaching methodologies. District Superintendent D.J. Skolsberg hailed the visit as an opportunity to expand our learning community’s global connections” with Principal Prince Bri

Test Results Signal Need for Education Reform

Test Results Signal Need for Education Reform

As 2017 begins and the world moves into the season of resolving to make significant changes large and small, now is as good a time as any to reflect on the outcomes of the latest PISA exam released last December. The test, dubbed the Programme for International Assessment (PISA), is sponsored by the OECD--a collection of the world's developed nations--and is administered to over 500,000 fifteen year-olds in 69 countries once every three years. The results point to consistent

China Hosts G-20 Summit in Hangzhou

China Hosts G-20 Summit in Hangzhou

Back in the fourteenth century, when Europe was at long last about to quit the dark ages and its merchants finally regained contact with much of Asia, the explorer Marco Polo sent back vivid accounts of the East that captivated the occidental imagination for generations. One city, however, beggared the famously prolix Polo’s powers of description; he simply pronounced the city of Hangzhou “without a doubt the finest and most splendid city in the world.” This week, China seems

The Case for STEAM Education

The Case for STEAM Education

Head over to FoxNews.com to read a powerful opinion piece outlining the reasons businesses should band together and work with the government to support STEAM education at all levels of schooling. The argument was crafted by Blair Blackwell, an executive with Chevron, and 100Kin10 founder Talia Milgram-Elcot. The article begins by acknowledging the real progress that has already been made; President Obama’s 2011goal to train a hundred thousand highly-competent STEAM teachers

China Launches First Quantum Communications Satellite

China Launches First Quantum Communications Satellite

In recent years China has pumped billions of dollars into pioneering scientific research and lately that sizable investment is beginning to pay off. Chinese media reported yesterday that the nation had sent the world’s first quantum communications satellite into orbit. The the space-vessel’s name was chosen with care; it was dubbed Micius, a ancient philosopher famous for his opposition to offensive war. Lifting off from a launch-pad deep in the Gobi desert, the satellite uti

President Obama Touts STEAM Education

President Obama Touts STEAM Education

A recent exchange in the New York Times, prompted by Gardiner Harris’s article outlining the Obama administration’s effort to promote STEM education, is well worth reading. The piece analyzes and expands on a comment that Obama recently made to Bloomberg Business News, stating that the promotion of science literacy is one of the few national issues he will continue to actively pursue in his post-presidency. As his tenure draws to a close, President Obama has made it known tha

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