Looking at the lessons we can learn from international research in urban and regional planning, this book explores the challenges in using cross-country studies. The contributors address how to approach researching planning in other countries, and how to then diffuse the planning information. Key topics include: comparable urban data, and how to use it working with international agencies methodological issues in cross-country research translating theory into practice Case studies include researching new towns in France and Poland, and problems doing empirical work in Eastern Europe.

This edited book focuses on the state of language learning in Anglophone countries and brings together international research from a wide range of educational settings. Taking a contextual perspective on the language learning crisis currently facing Anglophone countries, the authors examine systemic challenges, real-world practices, and broader cultural trends that have an impact on the uptake of modern foreign languages in different Anglophone settings. This book will be of interest to scholars working in applied linguistics and language education, particularly those with a focus on educational policy and Global English.

Set against the backdrop of Karachi, Pakistan, Saadia Faruqi’s tender and honest middle grade novel tells the story of two girls navigating a summer of change and family upheaval with kind hearts, big dreams, and all the right questions. Mimi is not thrilled to be spending her summer in Karachi, Pakistan, with grandparents she’s never met. Secretly, she wishes to find her long-absent father, and plans to write to him in her beautiful new journal. The cook’s daughter, Sakina, still hasn’t told her parents that she’ll be accepted to school only if she can improve her English test score—but then, how could her family possibly afford to lose the money she earns working with her Abba in a rich family’s kitchen? Although the girls seem totally incompatible at first, as the summer goes on, Sakina and Mimi realize that they have plenty in common—and that they each need the other to get what they want most. This relatable and empathetic story about two friends coming to understand each other will resonate with readers who loved Other Words for Home and Front Desk.

Following three teenagers who chose to spend one school year living in Finland, South Korea, and Poland, a literary journalist recounts how attitudes, parenting, and rigorous teaching have revolutionized these countries' education results.

This book focuses on how politics shapes the capacity and commitment of elites to tackle the learning crisis in six developing countries. It deploys a new conceptual framework to show how the type of political settlement shaptes the level of elite commitment and state capacity to improving learning outcomes.

Why is catch-up rare and why have some nations succeeded while others failed? This volumes examines how nations learn by reviewing key structural and contingent factors that contribute to dynamic learning and catch-up.

By intelligence officials for intelligent people