Professor Barry McGaw, Former OECD Education Director, Joins Academic Partnerships as a Senior Advisor

Education expert brings unique international perspective to improve online education instruction

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Jan 29, 2013, 06:00 ET

DALLAS, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Academic Partnerships, one of the largest representatives of public universities' online learning in the United States, announces that Australia-based Barry McGaw has joined the company as a Senior Advisor. In this role, Professor McGaw will tap his decades of experience in education development to support Academic Partnerships' collaboration with institutions and faculty in the creation of pioneering learning experiences for online students. Throughout his career and his recent tenure as Director for Education at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Professor McGaw has been recognized as a leader in international educational quality and equity, curriculum development and student outcomes.

Academic Partnerships partners with public universities to deliver student degree programs online. The company uses its innovative learning expertise and global marketing capabilities to help universities meet the needs of the growing population of students who require the flexibility of online instruction to advance their education and careers.

"Today's students are using the best of technology to learn in novel and dynamic ways," said Professor McGaw. "In turn, the curriculum required for success in these new learning environments is also changing and I'm excited to collaborate with Academic Partnerships in advancing course development to give online students around the world the finest education."

"We're proud to enlist a true leader in curriculum and international education development on Academic Partnership's advisory team. Professor McGaw's successful track record and pioneering international efforts - stretching from Paris to Melbourne - will add tremendous value to our partner universities and their students in the U.S. and abroad," says Randy Best, founder and chairman of Academic Partnerships.

Recipient of numerous academic accolades throughout his career, Professor McGaw is a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at The University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. He recently served as Foundation Executive Director of the international Cisco, Intel, Microsoft project Assessment and Teaching of 21^st Century Skills.

From 2006 to 2010, he was a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and served as Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute from 2006 to 2008.

Prior to returning to Australia at the end of 2005, Professor McGaw was Director for Education at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development based in Paris. Prior to that, he was Executive Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), Professor of Education at Murdoch University, Head of the Research and Curriculum Branch in the Queensland Department of Education, and a science and mathematics teacher in Queensland secondary schools.

Professor McGaw is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society, the Australian College of Educators and the International Academy of Education. He has served as President of the Australian Association for Research in Education and the International Association for Educational Assessment. He is currently President and Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Professor McGaw received an Australian Centenary Medal in 2001 and was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2004. He also received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from The University of Illinois' College of Education in 2001 and in 2006 was awarded the university's International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement. In 2010, Murdoch University conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate in Education. Professor McGaw holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also received a Bachelor's degree in Education, a Diploma in Education, and a Bachelor in Science in Chemistry and Psychology from The University of Queensland.

About Academic Partnerships
Academic Partnerships (AP) helps universities convert their traditional degree programs into an online format, recruits qualified students and supports enrolled students through graduation. Serving more than 40 state institutions, AP is one of the largest representatives of public universities' online learning in the United States. The company was founded by social entrepreneur, Randy Best, an 18-year veteran of developing innovative learning solutions to improve education. AP is guided by the principle that the opportunities presented through distance learning make higher education more accessible and achievable for students in the U.S. and globally. For more information, please visit http://www.academicpartnerships.com.

SOURCE Academic Partnerships