This unique contribution to global educational debate and policymaking aims to highlight the adverse impacts on children and young people of not having access to effective formal education. In reviewing the emerging commitment to universal education and the difficult history of trying to give effect to this commitment, the author draws on three bodies of literature--on education specifically, on the development process generally, and on human rights. This book shifts the debate from sheer numbers of pupils, funding mechanisms, and market forces, to a deeper discussion about what the right to education should really comprise, how governments actually give effect to it, and what happens to young people within the educational process itself.

This unique contribution to global educational debate and policymaking aims to highlight the adverse impacts on children and young people of not having access to effective formal education. The author is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education. In reviewing the emerging commitment to universal education and the difficult history of trying to give effect to this commitment, particularly in the past half century, the author draws on three bodies of literature - on education specifically, on the development process generally, and on human rights. Her intention is to develop an approach which shifts the debate from sheer numbers of pupils, funding mechanisms and the recent preoccupation with market forces to a deeper discussion about what the right to education should really comprise, how governments and other institutions actually go about, or fail in, giving effect to it on a universal and non-discriminatory basis, and what happens to young people within the educational process itself. The book is an indispensable tour d'horizon of the history and problems encountered in the global quest for universal education. It also points up the discrimination and abuses of power this quest has involved and what needs now to be done.

With all the talk of failing schools these days, we forget that schools can fail their brightest students, too. We pledge to "leave no child behind," but in American schools today, thousands of gifted and talented students fall short of their potential. In Genius Denied, Jan and Bob Davidson describe the "quiet crisis" in education: gifted students spending their days in classrooms learning little beyond how to cope with boredom as they "relearn" material they've already mastered years before. This lack of challenge leads to frustration, underachievement, and even failure. Some gifted students become severely depressed. At a time when our country needs a deep intellectual talent pool, the squandering of these bright young minds is a national tragedy. There are hundreds of thousands of highly gifted children in the U.S. and millions more whose intelligence is above average, yet few receive the education they deserve. Many school districts have no gifted programs or offer only token enrichment classes. Education of the gifted is in this sorry state, say the Davidsons, because of indifference, lack of funding, and the pernicious notion that education should have a "leveling" effect, a one-size-fits-all concept that deliberately ignores the needs of the gifted. But all children are entitled to an appropriate education, insist the authors, those left behind as well as those who want to surge ahead. The Davidsons show parents and educators how to reach and challenge gifted students. They offer practical advice based on their experience as founders of a nonprofit organization that assists gifted children. They show parents how to become their children's advocates, how to win support for gifted students within the local schools, and when and how to go outside the school system. They discuss everything from acceleration ("skipping" a grade) to homeschooling and finding mentors for children. They tell stories of real parents and students who overcame poor schooling environments to discover the joy of learning. Genius Denied is an inspiring book that provides a beacon of hope for children at risk of losing their valuable gift of intellectual potential.

Tells the story of a family's clash with public school, special education bureaucracy.

While the repression and human rights violations by the Iranian government are well documented, less attention is paid to the specific situation of Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities. From hate speech and police intimidation to denial of fundamental rights and opportunities, Iran’s minorities are routinely denied equal access to justice, education, employment and political participation. While Iran’s Constitution guarantees religious freedoms, it only extends these rights to Islam and three other recognized religions – Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism – leaving practitioners of other faiths, including Bahá’í, Sabean-Mandaeans and Yarsanis, with no guaranteed protections. At the extreme end, members of religious minorities – in particular, Iran’s sizeable Bahá’í community – have been vilified, arrested and even executed on account of their beliefs. They are frequently punished harshly with broad charges of threatening public morality or national security, resulting in long prison terms and even death sentences. Ethnic minorities, including Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks and Baluchis, have been treated as second-class citizens, targeted on the basis of their identity and sidelined from education, health care and other basic services. Minority-populated regions such as Khuzestan, Kurdistan and Sistan-Baluchestan remain underdeveloped and excluded, with higher poverty levels and poorer health outcomes. These inequalities have contributed to profound discontent and resentment, reflected in the arrests of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in these regions. Prison data shows that at least three quarters of Iran’s political prisoners are from ethnic minorities. Despite some limited gestures of conciliation since the election of Hassan Rouhani in 2013, hopes of a more inclusive and rights-based approach to Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities have yet to be realized. For this to be achieved, Iranian authorities will need to embark on a more comprehensive process of reform: this should include equitable economic development and political representation for minorities, as well as the lifting of all restrictions on their religious and cultural rights.

A comprehensive source that demonstrates how 21st century Christianity can interrelate with current educational trends and aspirations The Wiley Handbook of Christianity and Education provides a resource for students and scholars interested in the most important issues, trends, and developments in the relationship between Christianity and education. It offers a historical understanding of these two intertwined subjects with a view to creating a context for the myriad issues that characterize—and challenge—the relationship between Christianity and education today. Presented in three parts, the book starts with thought-provoking essays covering major issues in Christian education such as the movement away from God in American education; the Christian paradigm based on love and character vs. academic industrial models of American education; why religion is good for society, offenders, and prisons; the resurgence of vocational exploration and its integrative potential for higher education; and more. It then looks at Christianity and education around the globe—faith-based schooling in a pluralistic democracy; religious expectations in the Latino home; church-based and community-centered higher education; etc. The third part examines how humanity is determining the relationship between Christianity and education with chapters covering the use of Christian paradigm of living and learning; enrollment, student demographic, and capacity trends in Christian schools after the introduction of private schools; empirical studies on the perceptions of intellectual diversity at elite universities in the US; and more. Provides the breadth and depth of knowledge necessary to gain a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of the complex relationship between Christianity and education and its place in contemporary society A long overdue assessment of the subject, one that takes into account the enormous changes in Christian education Presents a global consideration of the subject Examines Christian education across elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels The Wiley Handbook of Christianity and Education will be of great interest to Christian educators in the academic world, the teaching profession, the ministry, and the college and graduate level student body.