From our journals: There’s no place like home, policy relevance and learning in the digital age

From our journals: There’s no place like home, policy relevance and learning in the digital age
February 08, 2021
Meghan Krein

When there’s no Yellow Brick Road

By: Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin, Madison 

Published in: Education Review, Jan. 2021

Ladson-Billings framed her Acquired Wisdom essay on one of her favorite films, “The Wizard of Oz.” The lead character, Dorothy, wound up in the magical land of Oz and was directed to “follow the yellow brick road” in order to find her way back to the Emerald City. As a working-class, Black girl growing up in the pre-Civil Rights era, Ladson-Billings says, there was no yellow brick road for her. Along with teachers, colleagues and mentors, she says, “I was going to have to actually make the road.” This essay documents that journey.

Education faculty as knowledge brokers: Seeking policy relevance and access to New York state print media 

By: Gary Anderson, New York University; Nakia M. Gray-Nicolas, Queens College, CUNY; Madison Payton, New York University

Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, Feb. 1, 2021

In an environment in which new policy entrepreneurs and networks are influencing policy and public opinion, many university faculty members are increasingly seeking ways to mobilize knowledge beyond academic conferences and journals. Using New York state as a case, the authors searched Access World News to compare the level of media access of academics with other knowledge brokering organizations such as think tanks, teachers’ unions and advocacy organizations. They offer a discussion of how disinvestment by the state from higher education and current incentive systems make it more difficult for academics to engage in knowledge mobilization beyond universities.

Shaping the Futures of Learning in a Digital Age

Published in: Current Issues in Education, Jan. 7, 2021

Guest edited by: Sean Leahy, director of technology initiatives at MLFTC

The final installment of ShapingEDU Special Issue is available at CIE. A complement to the first publication installment, this special issue shares 11 articles that unpack various intertwined journeys to embark on to bolster digital equity and inclusion, recognize all forms of learning and to spur more harmonious connections between our institutions and the workforce of the future. 

About our journals

MLFTC sponsors three innovative, open-access journals on education scholarship. EPAA is a peer-reviewed, international, multilingual and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and development analysts concerned with education policies. Education Review publishes reviews of books on education topics and Acquired Wisdom essays by esteemed educational researchers, and CIE is a peer-reviewed journal led by MLFTC graduate students. 


Contact Stephanie McBride-Schreiner to learn more about our journals.