Pearson sent us this report recently–Exploring the Learning Curve. The big idea here is the changing skill needs for students globally. It is based on this idea of an index–a Global Index of Cognitive Skills and Education Attainment. The report explains: “The Global Index of Cognitive Skills and Educational Attainment compares the performance of 39 countries and one region (Hong Kong) on two categories of education: Cognitive Skills and Educational Attainment. The Index provides a snapshot of the relative performance of countries based on their education outputs.” In short, it is formatted around 6 lessons and 8 skills. The lessons…

William Cuthbert Faulkner (/ˈfɔːknər/;[1][2] September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer and Nobel Prizelaureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays, and screenplays. He is primarily known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where he spent most of his life.[3] Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers in American literature generally and Southern literature specifically. Though his work was published as early as 1919, and largely during the 1920s and 1930s, Faulkner was relatively unknown until receiving the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, for which he became the only Mississippi-born Nobel winner. Two of…

 Clinton calls Trump a 'creep' in her new book, 'What Happened' Hillary Clinton's new book, 'What Happened,' published Sept. 12 and aims to "pull back the curtain" on her losing presidential bid. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Hillary Clinton’s new memoir of her failed presidential campaign is titled “What Happened.” A better title would be “What Happened?” because Clinton apparently has no idea. Clinton has blamed her loss on an ever-changing cast of characters — Russia, WikiLeaks, James B. Comey and Bernie Sanders. Now she has put the blame on a new scapegoat: millions of bigoted white nationalists. Clinton told Jane Pauley of…

Apple Inc. had hoped that its iPhone eight might demolish the company’s sales records in China as the country’s burgeoning middle class embraced the phone, thanks in part to its name: Eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture, signifying wealth and fortune. Unfortunately for the world’s most valuable company, this calculus isn’t playing out as well as its massive marketing operation had hoped for one simple reason: The price of the phone is simply too high for most members of the company's target demographic. However, Apple investors reacted positively to news Monday that the company's iPhone 8 would be…

NAIROBI — In a historic decision on Friday, Kenya’s Supreme Court voided President Uhuru Kenyatta’s reelection last month and ordered a second vote to be held within the next 60 days. The judges ruled 4-2 in favor of a challenge by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claimed the country’s electronic voting system had been hacked and the results tampered with after he was declared the loser. In announcing the verdict, Judge David Maraga called Kenyatta’s victory “invalid, null, and void,” adding that the electoral commission had “neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with…