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The Forum on the Future of Public Education

The Forum on the Future of Public Education strives to bring the best empirical evidence to policymakers and the public.

The Forum draws on a network of premier scholars to create, interpret, and disseminate credible information on key questions facing P-20 education. The Forum pursues original research and facilitates collaboration between researchers and policymakers to examine the pressing issues shaping the future of public education. Key constituencies of the Forum include scholars who influence research, policy and practice; policy makers and policy making bodies at all levels; members of the media who influence public opinion; foundations, organizations, business groups and others who support, criticize and advocate for reform; and citizens who make choices about education for themselves and their children.

America is witnessing a drastic redefinition of the policies and practices associated with “public education.” Too often, discussions around the future of public education are strong on passion but short on actual evidence. The Forum for the Future of Public Education is filing that gap by building a resource of objective, research-based insights on key educational issues. We are establishing an open venue- a true public forum to debate controversial and consequential policy issues that will shape American’s future.

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"I Feel, Therefore I Am: A Look at Social-Emotional Development in Tajikistan" presented by Associate Professor Kristen Bub

by jkellogg@illinois.edu / Sep 14, 2016

­Department of Educational Psychology Brownbag Seminar Series
Taking Educational Psychology Abroad

"I Feel, Therefore I Am: A Look at Social-Emotional Development in Tajikistan"

Thursday, November 17, 2016
12:00 – 12:50
22 Education Building

In this presentation I will discuss recent research I have been doing in Tajikistan in collaboration with the Aga Kahn Foundation. In particular, I will describe the process we used to determine the cultural and contextual relevance of existing social-emotional measures and discuss the development of a new measure for use in rural Tajik communities. Additionally, I will summarize findings from a preliminary study of the impacts of Early Childhood Education on children’s language, mathematics and social skill development and highlight how these findings informed an ongoing longitudinal impact study in Tajikistan. Finally, I will illustrate how we have taken this research and are using it to create sustainable practice in Tajik schools in an attempt to improve classroom quality across early childhood.