New Reports
“According to his Way”: Blended Learning. A White Paper About How Jewish Day Schools are Using Blended Learning issued by the Jewish Day School Affordability Center, a partnership of PEJE and the OU (April 2013).
A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes With a Laptop — Article in June 2014 Scientific American that discusses newly published research on memory and note-taking. While students who take notes on laptops record nearly verbatim what the teacher says in class, little is retained. Conversely, students who take notes by hand, while not recording all of the presentation, have a better retention rate both immediately after the presentation and more than one week later.
Connected Educator Month Report (Feb. 6, 2013): discusses the findings of the first ever Connected Educator Month, August 2012, including recommendations for fostering greater collegial engagement online.
Immersive & Experiential Education. This Reader’s Guide from the Berman Jewish Policy Archive (May 2014) offers articles on such topics as: What is Experiential Jewish Education?; Jewish Service Learning; Jewish Environmental Education; Short and Long-Term Israel Immersion Programs; and Camp Programs.
Multiple Identities in Jewish Education (International Journal of Jewish Education Research). This issue from December 2013 includes articles on such topics as how camps, Israel, and Jewish denominational settings affect Jewish identity formation.
AviChai report on Online and Blended Learning in Jewish Day Schools. Based on a survey of schools conducted in 2011/12 to explore the use of online course offerings in Jewish day schools.
Primary Sources:2012 America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession. Commissioned by Scholastic and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this report is based on a survey of more than 10,000 teachers nationwide.
Rethinking Jewish Education in Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, Vol. 7, Issue 1 (2013). Some articles available for free download.
Call for Papers
YaYidion
The quarterly journal of RAVSAK: The Community Day School Network. Upcoming editions will focus on:
- Summer 2014 — Size Matters (on school size)
Online Journals Available Free Without Subscription
Whether in a specific discipline of Judaic Studies or in the general field of Jewish education, academic journals are a great way to keep up with the latest research and discussions. While many journals are subscription only, a few are available for free. Here are a sampling:
The American Jewish Archives Journal
Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel
Jewish Educational Leadership (some articles are free, others available only by subscription)
The Jewish Educator: NewCAJE Journal of Jewish Education
The Journal of Hebrew ScripturesQuest. Issues in Contemporary History
Min-Ad: Israel Studies in Musicology Online