Yong Zhao

Yong Zhao shines a light on the long-ignored phenomenon of side effects of education policies and practices, bringing a fresh and perhaps surprising perspective to evidence-based practices and policies. Identifying the adverse effects of some of the “best” educational interventions with examples from classrooms to boardrooms, the author investigates causes and offers clear recommendations. “A highly readable and important book about the side effects of education reforms. Every educator and researcher should take its lessons to heart.” —Diane Ravitch, New York University “A stunning analysis of the problems encountered in our efforts to improve education. If Yong Zhao has not delivered the death blow to naive empiricism, he has at least severely wounded it.” —Gene V. Glass, San José State University “This book is a brilliantly written analysis of well-known educational change efforts followed by a concrete call for action that no policymaker, researcher, teacher, or education reform advocate should leave unread.” —Pasi Sahlberg, University of New South Wales, Sydney “Nothing less than the future of the republic is dealt with in this wonderful and crucial book about the field of educational research and policy.” —David C. Berliner, Arizona State University

What Works May Hurt—Side Effects in Education

The secrets behind China's extraordinary educational system – good, bad, and ugly Chinese students' consistently stunning performance on the international PISA exams— where they outscore students of all other nations in math, reading, and science—have positioned China as a world education leader. American educators and pundits have declared this a "Sputnik Moment," saying that we must learn from China's education system in order to maintain our status as an education leader and global superpower. Indeed, many of the reforms taking hold in United States schools, such as a greater emphasis on standardized testing and the increasing importance of core subjects like reading and math, echo the Chinese system. We're following in China's footsteps—but is this the direction we should take? Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? by award-winning writer Yong Zhao offers an entertaining, provocative insider's account of the Chinese school system, revealing the secrets that make it both "the best and worst" in the world. Born and raised in China's Sichuan province and a teacher in China for many years, Zhao has a unique perspective on Chinese culture and education. He explains in vivid detail how China turns out the world's highest-achieving students in reading, math, and science—yet by all accounts Chinese educators, parents, and political leaders hate the system and long to send their kids to western schools. Filled with fascinating stories and compelling data, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? offers a nuanced and sobering tour of education in China. Learn how China is able to turn out the world's highest achieving students in math, science, and reading Discover why, despite these amazing test scores, Chinese parents, teachers, and political leaders are desperate to leave behind their educational system Discover how current reforms in the U.S. parallel the classic Chinese system, and how this could help (or hurt) our students' prospects

Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?

Leadership, Assessment, School Improvement, None

Reframing Education Evaluation

Counting What Counts

At a time when globalization and technology are dramatically altering the world we live in, is education reform in the United States headed down the right path? Are schools emphasizing the knowledge and skills that students need in a global society--or are they actually undermining their strengths by overemphasizing high-stakes testing and standardization? Are education systems in China and other countries really as superior as some people claim? These and other questions are at the heart of author Yong Zhao's thoughtful and informative book. Born and raised in China and now a distinguished professor at Michigan State University, Zhao bases many of his observations on firsthand experience as a student in China and as a parent of children attending school in the United States. His unique perspective leads him to conclude that "American education is at a crossroads" and "we need to change course" to maintain leadership in a rapidly changing world. To make his case, Zhao explains * What's right with American education; * Why much of the criticism of schools in the United States has been misleading and misinformed; * Why China and other nations in Asia are actually reforming their systems to be more like their American counterparts; * How globalization and the "death of distance" are affecting jobs and everyday life; and * How the virtual world is transforming the economic and social landscape in ways far more profound than many people realize. Educators, policymakers, parents, and others interested in preparing students to be productive global citizens will gain a clear understanding of what kinds of knowledge and skills constitute "digital competence" and "global competence," and what schools can--and must--do to meet the challenges and opportunities brought about by globalization and technology.

American Education in the Age of Globalization

Catching Up Or Leading the Way

Jay McTighe

In the second edition of Leading Modern Learning, A Blueprint for Vision Driven Schools authors Jay McTighe and Greg Curtis offer the reader a fully rethought version of their blueprint for major education reform. More than a simple refresh, this new edition incorporates new insights, thinking, and experiences to refine approaches to, and tools for, implementing effective modern learning practices in a department, school, or district. With new Notes From the Field elements, McTighe and Curtis highlight key observations from their work with schools, including how to avoid potential missteps, misunderstandings, and time wasters that inhibit progress when implementing reform.

A Blueprint for Vision-driven Schools

Leading Modern Learning

Sheng Zhou

Bin Liu

Wenying Chen

Maosheng Duan

Alun Gu

Chuanyi Lu

Mingshan Su

Qing Tong

Gehua Wang

Yanjia Wang

Zhihong Wei

Zongxin Wu

Aling Zhang

Xiaohua Zhang

Xiliang Zhang

Xiusheng Zhao

This unique book offers a timely and insightful look into China's present energy situation and the emerging challenges of balancing energy supply and demand over the forthcoming decades. It presents a holistic analysis of the growing pressures on the energy system as a result of the country's dynamic socio-economic progress.The volume considers current hot topics and will be useful as a reference for those aspiring to understand more about what is happening in China's energy sector today.

China's Energy Outlook 2004

"a New Approach"

Developing Sustainable Cultural Tourism in the Tourist-historic City of Xi'an, China

Punya Mishra

Matthew J. Koehler

This book attempts to offer not just a bird's-eye view of the communities of designers project, but also to help identify broad themes and issues that can inform discussions and policies of technology integration at other institutions.

Integrating Technology in Higher Education

Faculty Development by Design

Michael Wehmeyer

Children are born learning machines who want to learn and can organize and manage their own learning. Unfortunately, today children have little choice over what they do in school and how and when they do it. Children prepared in this "other-determined" manner will be poorly equipped to navigate an adult world requiring that they act autonomously and self-direct learning to acquire skills in rapidly changing environments. In Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners, Michael Wehmeyer and Yong Zhao explore the how and why of self-determined learning—which emphasizes autonomy and choice, turning over ownership for learning to students by supporting them in engaging in activities that are of personal value to them, thus enabling them to act volitionally. You'll learn * How to promote self-determined learning in your classroom or school * The importance of autonomy supports, competence supports, and relatedness supports * Conditions that enable self-determined learning * Teaching strategies for self-determined learning * Assessment strategies in self-determined learning * The role of technology in self-determined living The practical strategies, case studies, advice, and resources here will help you help your students to motivate themselves and become self-determined learners

Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners

Qi Chen

Wei Qiu

Ruhui Ni

Wenzhong Yang

This booklet contains five case studies of successful schools in the China. Each school is examined in detail and the elements that have contributed to success are explored and conclusions are drawn. The booklet supplements Why Not the Best Schools? (ISBN 978 0 86431 955 5)

The China Report

Why Not the Best Schools?

I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter dark sayings concerning days of old; That which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us, We will not hide from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wondrous works that He hath done. —PSALM 78:2–4 Midrash Sinim: Hasidic Legend and Commentary on the Torah, author Yong Zhao explores the Scripture in light of Jewish tradition, archaeology, history, linguistics, literature, sociology, mathematics, geology, and so on. He offers thoughtful and intelligent commentaries, for example, Prior to creating the world, G-d kept the Sabbath. Adam’s first prayer was for a help meet for him and the tree of life was actually an atonement tree. By means of the flood, G-d destroyed the heaven and the earth, and re-created a new world. Compared with Joseph, Judah was the real hero. Genesis 38 has a narrative function within the wider Joseph narrative, but far more is involved. “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars” (Prov. 9:1). The seven pillars refer to seven books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Talmud and Zohar) and seven righteous men (Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Amram and Moses). In Exodus event the aliens converted to Judaism on a large scale. While many other works on the Scriptures exist solely to relay content to readers, Midrash Sinim is found provocative and intriguing, much interesting food for thought. It unveils numerical codes, deciphers long-term puzzles, solves controversial questions and provides gripping tales of Biblical figures, through which the profundity of the Torah and Jewish traditions shines with even greater brilliance.

Hasidic Legend and Commentary on the Torah

Midrash Sinim

Han Zhang

Jichun Tian

Jiansheng Chen

Guangfeng Chen

Peng Wu

While focusing on various interactions between trait genes/QTL and dynamic expressions of conditional QTL genes, this book also discusses aspects of molecular marker-assisted breeding, and applications of molecular markers associated with yield, quality, physiology and disease resistance in wheat. It covers QTL studies in wheat breeding and presents the available information on wheat MAS breeding. This volume provides a wealth of novel information, a wide range of applications and deep insights into crop genetics and molecular breeding, which is valuable not only for plant breeders but also for academic faculties, senior researchers and advanced graduate students who are involved in plant breeding and genetics. Dr. Jichun Tian is a professor at the Department of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China.

Conditional QTL Analysis and MAS

Genetic Analyses of Wheat and Molecular Marker-Assisted Breeding, Volume 2

Jing Lei

Gaoming Zhang

Do what you do best and let technology do the rest Technology has transformed lives. Why then, has it not transformed education? What needs to change to ensure integration that empowers students and enhances teacher depth? Learn how to let technology cultivate student autonomy, creativity, and responsibility while focusing on lessons that hone higher-order and critical thinking skills. See technology as a complement rather than a replacement Embrace its creation potential over consumption Encourage personalized learning, autonomy, and creativity over outcomes Celebrate digital competence over curriculum improvement Focus on tech-pedagogy over product usage

Correcting the Top 5 EdTech Mistakes

Never Send a Human to Do a Machine's Job

This book presents convincing evidence-based arguments about the necessity and possibility for breaking the traditional boundaries that limit learning. It outlines strategies with examples from around the world that can take learning out of the confinements of pathways, curriculum, standards, and physical locations. It is a call to action for all involved in education to create a new learning environment for each student to remove the boundaries of learning.

New Learning Pathways for All Students

Learners Without Borders

Paul F. Conway

This book takes a serious historical and international look at the "digital pencil" movement to equip every student with a computing device with wireless connection. Using an ecological perspective as an overarching framework, and drawing on their own studies and available literature that illuminate the issues related to one-to-one computing, the authors present well-reasoned discussions about a set of complex and critical issue facing policy makers, educators, students, parents, and the general public. The Digital Pencil addresses four key questions: Is the digital pencil a good idea? The authors analyze the costs and benefits of one-to-one computing programs through consideration of multiple indicators and examine the evaluation reports of various projects within their analytical framework to present a comprehensive summary of outcomes of one-to-one computing projects. What happens when each child has a networked computer? The authors analyze existing data with the goal of gaining insights and making suggestions and recommendations for policy makers, teachers, and parents. What should schools purchase or lease - is there an ideal device? These authors examine the relative advantages and disadvantages of different devices and implementation schemes. How do we know if one-to-one computing is making a difference? The authors review the evaluation plans of the various projects and propose a framework for comprehensive evaluation and research on one-to-one computing. This book is intended for researchers, school administrators, educational technology professionals, and policy makers in the U.S. and around the world, and as a supplemental text for advanced courses in education, technology, and technological innovation.

One-to-one Computing for Children

The Digital Pencil

Lakhmi C. Jain

Jeng-Shyang Pan

Tsu-Yang Wu

Tang-Hsien Chang

This book highlights papers presented at the Second International Conference on Smart Vehicular Technology, Transportation, Communication and Applications (VTCA 2018), which was held at Mount Emei, Sichuan Province, China from 25 to 28 October 2018. The conference was co-sponsored by Springer, Southwest Jiaotong University, Fujian University of Technology, Chang’an University, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Fujian Provincial Key Lab of Big Data Mining and Applications, and the National Demonstration Center for Experimental Electronic Information and Electrical Technology Education (Fujian University of Technology). The conference was intended as an international forum for researchers and professionals engaged in all areas of smart vehicular technology, vehicular transportation, vehicular communication, and applications.

Proceeding of the Second International Conference on Smart Vehicular Technology, Transportation, Communication and Applications, October 25-28, 2018 Mount Emei, China, Part 2

Advances in Smart Vehicular Technology, Transportation, Communication and Applications

Trina E. Emler

Anthony Snethen

Danqing Yin

Discover how education innovations can produce astonishing results in student success both in and out of school. The educators featured in this book were motivated by the conviction that even the best status quo education was not serving current student needs. They responded with radical changes that tap into recent ideas about educational transformation: personalization, student-driven curriculum, student agency and co-ownership of learning direction, school-sheltered student entrepreneurship, student-led civic projects, creativity education, and product-oriented learning. Readers will find carefully researched and detailed stories of on-the-ground models where students learn empathy, cooperation, creativity, and self-management, alongside rigorous academics. Together these stories provide insight into the process of innovation and the elements that can make change successful. An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste will inspire educators in ordinary situations to take extraordinary actions toward a new paradigm of education in which all students can flourish. Book Features: Real-life stories of students, teachers, school principals, and school networks that have made radical innovations in education. Cutting-edge innovations that took place in a broad range of schools—public and private, elementary to high school. Specific strategies and tactics educators can use to counter preconceived or real concerns that prevent them from taking action to change.

How Radical Changes Can Spark Student Excitement and Success

An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Brian Gearin

Imagining the Future of Global Education examines the Grand Educational Narrative (GEN) and the major institutions that shape and disseminate it. The book focuses on national visions of education and the imaginary futures that nations seek to make reality. It critiques how the GEN policy implementation process frequently turns dreams of upward mobility into nightmares. In this way, the book takes a distinctly different approach than most comparative and international education studies. Rather than being oriented toward the past and asking how education systems around the world ended up where they are, chapters in this volume seek an understanding of how various educational visions from around the world inform the present and shape the future. Following an introductory summary of important concepts from scholarship on "imaginary futures" and global education reform, the book is organized around three themes: "What Dreams are Made Of," illustrating, through three case studies, what the GEN looks like at the national level and how it operates across national boundaries; "A Dream within a Dream," considering some of the more novel trends in international education reform in order to provide insight into how dreams seem to function; and "Keeping Dreams from becoming Nightmares," comprising three thematic essays that describe trends in education policy in one or more countries. The book concludes with lessons for scholars and policymakers.

Dreams and Nightmares

Imagining the Future of Global Education

Ruth Garner

Mark G. Gillingham

There has been a huge increase in government and foundation funding for after-school programs, but there is very little published research on processes and outcomes (what is available is single-program analysis, often in the form of reports to funding agencies). This collection provides data on the operation of many programs and takes community contexts into account, showing what children actually like and how programs can attract and retain them.

Community-based After-school Programs for Children

Hanging Out

Discover how education innovations can produce astonishing results in student success both in and out of school. The educators featured in this book were motivated by the conviction that even the best status quo education was not serving current student needs. They responded with radical changes that tap into recent ideas about educational transformation: personalization, student-driven curriculum, student agency and co-ownership of learning direction, school-sheltered student entrepreneurship, student-led civic projects, creativity education, and product-oriented learning. Readers will find carefully researched and detailed stories of on-the-ground models where students learn empathy, cooperation, creativity, and self-management, alongside rigorous academics. Together these stories provide insight into the process of innovation and the elements that can make change successful. An Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste will inspire educators in ordinary situations to take extraordinary actions toward a new paradigm of education in which all students can flourish. “Zhao has, again, written an education book that one cannot put down. He has a profound ability to describe how the world is changing, and that schools should as well.” —Larry Rosenstock, CEO, High Tech High “This is a must-read for school teams seeking seeds of proven success that will ignite truly transformative change.” —Grant Lichtman, internationally recognized thought leader and author

Yong Zhao

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