Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/08/2014 -- With school back in session, Between the Synapse Radio explores Education in America in a three-part series beginning on Thursday, September 4 at 1 pm ET with a conversation with the best-selling author of "Excellent Sheep." The September 25th show, 1 pm ET, features American Enterprise Institute scholar and co-editor of "Teacher Quality 2.0. Finally, the October 2nd broadcast, 1 pm ET, brings together two nationally prominent women focused on improving educational opportunities for children with learning challenges.

Part One features a conversation with the best-selling author of Excellent Sheep (Simon & Schuster, 2014), Bill Deresiewicz. An award-winning essayist and critic, Deresiewicz was a Professor at Yale University from 1998-2008 before his essay, “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education” received over one million hits. Dr. Deresiewicz’ follow up, Excellent Sheep, currently sits at number one on Amazon’s best sellers’ list in the category of Philosophy & Social Aspects of Education. Provoking a significant national discussion on the virtues of an Ivy League education, Excellent Sheep set its sights, "on the high-pressure conveyor belt that begins with parents and counselors who demand perfect grades and continues into college," before lamenting how college has become a factory where students are "losing the ability to think for themselves (instead of) a time for self-discovery, when young people can establish their own values and measures of success in order to forge their own path."
(Learn more by visiting http://www.billderesiewicz.com)

Part Two of the series enters the fierce debate over teacher quality with American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederick M. Hess and co-editor of Teacher Quality 2.0 (Harvard Education Press, 2014). In this just released volume, Hess and his co-editor Michael Q. McShane explore how current practices may affect the next generation of innovative teaching by arguing that, “much cutting-edge work in teacher quality is happening in nontraditional environments such as online or hybrid learning, where teacher roles can be very specialized, or in charter schools that are experimenting with new approaches to staffing.”
(Learn more by visiting http://www.aei.org/issue/teacher-quality-20)

Finally, Part Three seeks to understand how schools can best educate children who exhibit challenging behavior or learning issues. Board certified behavior analyst Jessica Minahan, co-author of the Behavior Code Companion: Strategies, Tools, and Interventions for Supporting Students with Anxiety-Related or Oppositional Behaviors (Harvard Education Press, 2014) will join the broadcast along with RespectAbilityUSA‘s CEO & President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. Minahan’s new book incorporates years of experience supporting students to, “reveal a systematic approach for deciphering causes and patterns of difficult student behaviors and matching them with proven strategies that get students back on track academically.” RespectAbilityUSA is, “a national, non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to reshape the attitudes of American society so that people with disabilities can more fully participate in and contribute to society.” Recently, the organization took a look at elite private schools that do not frequently welcome children with disabilities.
(Learn more by visiting http://www.jessicaminahan.com & http://www.respectabilityusa.com)

Says show host Mark Toubin, “This country’s educational system requires significant improvement for all our kids to have a meaningful shot at a quality future. Fortunately, many innovations have risen to prominence which may help our teachers teach more effectively, improve access to quality education, and provide road maps for how schools can reach all types of students. I’m excited to host this three-part series with guests at the forefront of educational innovation.”

The Voice America TM Network offers the latest conversations in a talk radio format, providing education, interaction, and advice on key issues live, on demand as well as through podcast download. If interested in hosting a talk show on VoiceAmerica Network, contact Jeff Spenard, President of Internet Radio at 480-294-6417 or at jeff.spenard@voiceamerica.com.

Contact Executive Producer Winton Price at 480-553-5752 for advertising /sponsorship or other show details.

About Between the Synapse with Mark Toubin
Based on the blog of the same name, Between the Synapse explores topics that fall in-between the obvious and typical with insight, clarity and humor in the realm of politics, pop culture, foreign affairs, and sports. Between the Synapse is broadcast live every Thursday at 10 AM Pacific, Noon Central and 1 PM Eastern time on the VoiceAmerica Variety Channel.

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