COVID-19 has placed American higher education at a crossroads. This book is the roadmap. COVID-19 triggered an existential crisis for American higher education. Faced with few safe choices, most colleges and universities switched to remote learning during the 2020 spring semester. The future, however, provides more choices about how institutions can fulfill their mission of teaching and research. But how do we begin to make decisions in an uncertain and shifting environment? In this concise guide, authors Edward J. Maloney and Joshua Kim lay out clear ways colleges and universities can move forward in safe and effective ways. The Low-Density University presents fifteen scenarios for how colleges and universities can address the current crisis from a fully online semester to others with students in residence and in the classroom. How can changing the calendar or shifting to hybrid models of blended classrooms impact teaching, learning, and the college experience? Could we emerge from this crisis with new models that are better and more adapted to today's world? The Low-Density University focuses primarily on teaching and learning, but student life (housing, athletics, health, etc.) are core to the college experience. Can we devise safe and effective ways to preserve the best of that experience? The lessons here extend beyond the classroom. Just as the pandemic will change American higher education, the choices we make now will change what college looks like for generations to come.

Combining expert knowledge, experience and reflections from senior leaders to distil collective leadership experiences, this book explores the realities of leadership at universities rather than the imagined and often-unrealistic expectations and perceptions of how leaders should act. This key text is an informed insider’s guide to leadership transitions that will assist talented individuals in considering whether to apply for, how to prepare for and how to take on the task of leading a university. The collection of leadership experiences provided will help universities to be more successful, students to have great educational experiences and staff at all levels to have more-fulfilling working environments. It will also consider how to avoid the emotional pain and suffering that can arise when leaders find themselves poorly equipped, unprepared, unable or unwilling to provide the sound and competent leadership that universities deserve. Centred on the practice and experience of leadership, this book will be a must-read for all new and existing heads of universities. It will also provide useful insights to those actively involved in the recruitment and development of senior leaders, members of senior leadership teams and those who hold governance roles in universities. Further updates and details about the application of the ideas in the book in practice can be found at www.leadershiptransitionsatthetop.com/.

Ultimately, the authors make a compelling case not only for this turn to learning but for creating new pathways for nonfaculty learning careers, understanding the limits of professional organizations and social media, and the need to establish this new interdisciplinary field of learning innovation.

This publication examines key issues related to the development of the education sector in Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on the primary and secondary levels. Topics discussed include: background context, structure of the education system, education finance, learning outcomes and conditions, and educational quality aspects; as well as a chapter on the organisation, quality and financing of the higher education sector.

Praise for How Learning Works "How Learning Works is the perfect title for this excellent book. Drawing upon new research in psychology, education, and cognitive science, the authors have demystified a complex topic into clear explanations of seven powerful learning principles. Full of great ideas and practical suggestions, all based on solid research evidence, this book is essential reading for instructors at all levels who wish to improve their students' learning." —Barbara Gross Davis, assistant vice chancellor for educational development, University of California, Berkeley, and author, Tools for Teaching "This book is a must-read for every instructor, new or experienced. Although I have been teaching for almost thirty years, as I read this book I found myself resonating with many of its ideas, and I discovered new ways of thinking about teaching." —Eugenia T. Paulus, professor of chemistry, North Hennepin Community College, and 2008 U.S. Community Colleges Professor of the Year from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education "Thank you Carnegie Mellon for making accessible what has previously been inaccessible to those of us who are not learning scientists. Your focus on the essence of learning combined with concrete examples of the daily challenges of teaching and clear tactical strategies for faculty to consider is a welcome work. I will recommend this book to all my colleagues." —Catherine M. Casserly, senior partner, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching "As you read about each of the seven basic learning principles in this book, you will find advice that is grounded in learning theory, based on research evidence, relevant to college teaching, and easy to understand. The authors have extensive knowledge and experience in applying the science of learning to college teaching, and they graciously share it with you in this organized and readable book." —From the Foreword by Richard E. Mayer, professor of psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara; coauthor, e-Learning and the Science of Instruction; and author, Multimedia Learning

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, efforts have been made to monitor both school closures (and re-opening) and the measures put in place to ensure continuity of learning. These include the Survey of Ministries of Education on National Responses to COVID-19, jointly supported by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank. However, to date, no systematic evidence has been available on how students' learning is being affected by the disruptions caused by the pandemic or on the impact of education response measures initiated by governments. This report contributes to filling this evidence gap and includes a series of simulations of potential learning losses due to COVID-19 and exploration of their longer-term implications. The analysis is based on the Enabling learning for all framework, which outlines access, engagement and enabling environment as the three crucial enablers for learning, while the simulation assumptions are informed by the evidence on school closures and governments' education-related responses, collected through the joint survey.