Executive Director of the Regional Institute of Tutorial Education
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Dr. Judith A. Cochran is the E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Tutorial Education and Executive Director of the Regional Institute of Tutorial Education at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. She has lived in the Middle East, held two Fulbright Senior Lectureships in Education, and published three books and over 50 book chapters and articles on education. She teaches History of Middle East and Women of the Middle East and directs a collaborative of six universities and school districts and ten youth service agencies assisting under-served youth.
If the future of a nation is built on the competencies learned by its children, then the future of Syria gives cause for great concern. Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, at least 3 million children have been unable to go to school, the vast majority of them within Syria itself.[1] Interventions are urgently required to educate these children so that they can help rebuild Syria.
External and Internal Partnerships in Israeli Education
Educational reform in Israel has repeatedly shifted from expecting individual excellence to expecting access for all. Excellence and access reflects the early history of the country when Jewish funders from France, England, and Germany established educational systems for Jewish children. The Zionist organizations that structured much of the curriculum and the external funding streams insured the Jewish schools were far better funded than the British-supported schools during the Mandate.
Leadership in the Middle East: The Story of Women in Lebanon
Leila Saad and Emily Nasrallah are Lebanese women whose impact on women has been remarkable and yet not well-known. Leila has established schools on six continents while Emily is the most frequently included female author in Lebanese textbooks. In most regions, leaders in politics, business, education, and literature arise from among those who have the educational qualifications for entry positions. From there, outstanding people demonstrate the ambition, character, and knowledge to move into leadership positions.
