Raising Empowered Learners is a game-changing resource for both parents and educators. Author Ed Madison dispels myths about the “reluctant learner” and offers invaluable insights about how to advocate for kids and empower them to advocate for themselves. When teachers tap into students' authentic interests, adopt a journalistic approach, and encourage them to write for real-world, authentic audiences beyond their teachers, he explains, they elicit their best work and make learning more dynamic and engaging. Madison’s thoughtful insights, practical strategies, research, and anecdotes make this book an essential tool for anyone who wants to foster children’s love of learning and help them develop the skills they need to reach their full potential.

Phyllis L. Fagell, LCPC, nationally board-certified school counselor, licensed psychotherapist, journalist, and author of “Middle School Matters” and “Middle School Superpowers.”

Raising Empowered Learners by Professor Ed Madison offers parents and educators effective strategies to empower young people to believe in themselves and advocate for ways to save our planet and end global conflicts. It is an important guide that should be in the hands of all parents and educators.

Esther Wojcicki, co-founder of Journalistic Learning Initiative

Ed Madison brings the skills of a journalist and the heart of an educator to Raising Empowered Learners, a manifesto that should be required reading for educators and parents alike. This book brings together all of the great work of the Journalistic Learning Initiative in one volume, with each chapter containing recognizable real-world stories plus action steps to help enact ‘journalistic learning’. This is a thoughtful book that gently, yet resolutely, tells it like it is.

William Kist, professor emeritus, Kent State University