Category Archive for ‘Research and Reports’ at The Core Knowledge Blog

Archive for the 'Research and Reports' Category

Does “Nature Deficit Disorder” Effect the Brain?

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 17, 2008 in Research and Reports. 6 Comments

Richard Louv, is the author of the best-seller The Last Child in the Woods, which makes a passionate case that our children are suffering from “nature deficit disorder,” growing up disconnected from the natural world. He links this lack of contact with nature to obesity, ADD and depression. According to his website, Louv and his book have inspired “No Child Left Inside” initiatives in 27 states.

It’s easy to see why his message resonates with parents and teachers in our risk-averse and increasingly wired world. At a recent appearance described by the Providence Journal’s education columnist Julia Steiny, ”Louv was mid-sentence when an irate leader of a Girl Scout troop in the audience interrupted to complain that the scout camp forbids the girls to climb trees or walk on logs. The girls in the troop with her nodded with insulted agreement. Then a teacher piped up and said that her preschool forbids her to let the children touch fallen snow. Louv shrugged, shook his head and put his hands up in surrender.” Notes Steiny:

Most intriguing to me was his discussion of nature’s effect on our brain’s “executive function,” which he described as “the voice in your head.” I would add that executive function governs your ability to assimilate lots of different kinds of information, and to act or make choices as a result. Louv said, “The best way to develop executive function is through imaginative, made-up games. But both independent play and nature have been disappearing. From Suzuki [music lessons] to soccer to the flip-down screen in the SUV so the kids can watch nature shows on the way to the play date, kids are dramatically split from nature. As a result, a 7-year-old today has the executive function of a 5-year-old in 1940.” One reason is that “on a playground, leaders tend to be the physically strongest. But in nature, leaders are the smartest because they are the ones making up the games.” “If you really want to get into Harvard, go outside,” he intones.

Quite a bold claim. Whenever someone makes grand research-based claims about the brain, I always wonder WWDWS? Or, What Would Dan Willingham Say? I emailed Dan, the UVA professor and American Educator’s Ask the Cognitive Scientist columnist.

“It’s hard to even guess what data he thinks supports this,” he said. “I’d like to know more about what Louv has in mind, and not judge based on what someone reported he said, but this sounds unlikely.”

“Days of Children Reading Books Are Numbered”

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 9, 2008 in Research and Reports. 0 Comments

The days of children reading traditional books are numbered, says the man in charge of a campaign to improve literacy in Britain’s schools. Jonathan Douglas, the director of the National Literacy Trust says publishers must adapt titles for readers who spend more time on the internet if they want future generations to read.

Britain’s Independent points to new research that shows reading drops dramatically as children get older. “The typical eight-year-old reads nearly 16 books a year but, by the time they reach 15 or 16, this has dwindled to just over three books per year,” the paper notes. “The study, based on interviews with nearly 30,000 pupils aged seven to 16, also shows a growing trend towards reading comics, magazines, newspapers and online articles, and playing computer games, after the first year at secondary school.”

What this means, says Douglas, is that publishers must “reinvent the book.”

Aggressive as a Toddler, Bullied as a Kid

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 8, 2008 in Research and Reports. 0 Comments

Kids who are aggressive early on in life are more likely to be victimized by bullies than non-aggressive kids. That’s one of the key findings of a new study this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Newsweek notes experts have previously documented a link between being aggressive and being tormented.

When volatile and angry children act out on their frustrations—smashing a toy after someone takes their ball away—they aren’t exactly beloved by their peers….Kids who take their wrath out on other kids, as the children did in the study, are also at risk. Their classmates don’t like them—and some will eventually make their displeasure known. Prior research has focused largely on school-age kids, around age 4 or 5, and the studies have been relatively small. The new study, which followed 1,970 children in Canada, traces behavior all the way back to toddlerhood.

The researchers found two other risk factors for “peer victimization” as well, Newsweek reports: harsh or reactive parenting—anger, shouting and spanking when the kids were fussy—and lower income families.

The New Playground

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 7, 2008 in Research and Reports. 1 Comment

Three out of four teenagers report they were bullied online at least once in the last year, according to a new study by UCLA psychologists. Not yours? Only one in 10 reported cyberbullying to parents or other adults.

At Ars Technica, blogger John Timmer has a smart take on this. Parents and teachers are concerned that the anonymity of online bullying exacerbates the problem. But the study suggests it’s less of a new phenomenon than the playground gone digital.

The authors feel strongly that the fact that real-world bullying strongly predicts cyberbullying and the parallels in behavior both suggest that cyberbullying may not actually be a distinct phenomenon. “These findings further underscore the continuity between adolescents’ social worlds in school and online,” they conclude.

The Manhattan Project of Research

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 7, 2008 in Research and Reports. 0 Comments

A 20-year, $3.2 billion study to be launched in January will track the health of 100,000 American children from before birth to age 21. The National Children’s Study will seek to identify factors behind a host of conditions including autism, learning disabilities, ADHD and obesity.

National Institutes of Health officials say they hope the study, to be conducted at 105 locations throughout the United States, can help pinpoint early-life influences that affect later development, with the goal of learning new ways to treat or prevent illness, Reuters reports.

Researchers will collect genetic and biological samples from people in the study as well as samples from the homes of the women and their babies including air, water, dust and materials used to construct their residences, the NIH said.

The first data from the study could be available in 2012 or 2013.

Drugs for Thugs

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 1, 2008 in Research and Reports. 0 Comments

“Officer Krupke, you’re really a square;
This boy don’t need a judge, he needs an analyst’s care!
It’s just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.
He’s psychologic’ly disturbed!”

From the mother country, comes word that teenage thugs could be suffering from a mental illness caused by a hormonal imbalance. A Cambridge University study of boys aged between 14 and 18 found a link between levels of the stress hormone cortisol and anti-social behaviour, London’s Daily Mail reports.

Cortisol is produced in higher amounts at times of stress and is thought to cause more cautious behaviour, helping people to keep a lid on their temper and any violent impulses. But in delinquent youths levels of the hormone tend not to rise when they are put in a high pressure or aggressive environment, the 18-month study found. Its findings point to the possibility of drugs being used in the future to control teenagers’ behaviour.

And while we’re poking around in the chemistry lab that is our body, here’s something else to ponder: another report out of Britain today raises the issue of whether there’s a genetic component to poor reading ability.

Full Speed Ahead!

Published by Robert Pondiscio on September 29, 2008 in Research and Reports. 1 Comment

A few years ago John Cloud of TIME Magazine wrote that the idea that kids are overscheduled and need to slow down is “a fine example of transference. Aren’t you really the one who wants to lose the BlackBerry and go fishing?” Looks like he was right. The Washington Post takes note of new research that indicates kids not only cope with a heavy schedule, but thrive with it. It’s the parents, however, who are stressed out. And, (as is often the case when members of professional classes feel burdened by a problem) it’s not that much of an issue to begin with.

Two studies based on data about how children spend their days show that only a minority are heavily scheduled and that organized activities are linked to positive outcomes in school, emotional development, family life and behavior. The children most at risk have no activities at all, the studies showed.

“I found the opposite of what I expected,” Sandra L. Hofferth, director of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland at College Park, tells the Post. Hofferth “started out with a pretty solid belief that lots and lots of activities are bad for children.” But, says the paper, she found a higher level of activity was not linked to such stress symptoms as depression, anxiety, alienation and fearfulness.

The American Academy of Pediatrics warned in 2006 that a hurried lifestyle could create anxiety or contribute to depression for some children.

Required Reading

Published by Robert Pondiscio on September 28, 2008 in Assessment and Testing, Core Knowledge, Curriculum, Education News, Educational Policy, Homeschooling, No category, Parents, Research and Reports, School News, Teaching and Weekly Roundup. 0 Comments

A weekly roundup of the week’s most important news, information and blog posts about curriculum, teaching, education policy and other items of interest.

Core Knowledge

Counterfeit Equity
A new report from the Brookings Institution’s Tom Loveless notes many students are being pushed into algebra without having mastered basic skills such as multiplication, division and fractions.

Hardy Perennials
From generous grading for failing work to “no homework” policies, there’s lots to cheer about if you’re a fan of lower standards and diminshed expectations.

Notes on a Scandal
Officials in South Carolina are investigating old test results at a poor, inner-city Charleston elementary school that had been hailed as a miraculous success story.

Core Knowledge School Raises Money With Math
O’Dea Core Knowledge Elementary School students in Ft. Collins, Colorado are raising money for their school each time they take a math test until Oct. 3. Students are asking friends and family to pledge money for each correct math problem they get on a marathon test.

Best of the Blogs

The Community Schools Con at the Education Gadfly
Checker & Co. find the idea ”gooey and emotional, focusing on the externalities of daily life that drip into America’s classrooms-poor healthcare, single parent families, unemployment–rather than on what schools can do with the kids who actually turn up there.”

Evolution in Play in Texas at Curriculum Matters
Texas officials are embarking on a revision of their state’s science standards, a process that has generated a furious debate in several states in recent years—most of it focused squarely on the topic of evolution. A first draft of the new standards, released this week, seems likely to please the scientific community.

Cool People You Should Know: Sean Reardon at Eduwonkette
Until recently, we did not have a clear portrait of the differences between black and white high-achievers in elementary school. Thanks to Sean Reardon, a Stanford sociologist of education who studies school segregation and the sources of racial/ethnic achievement gaps, we’ve come a long way.

My Kingdom for a Parking Space at It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages
“If one more person tells me to do it for the kids, I might throw a kid at them,” writes Mimi, who teaches at a NYC elementary school. “It just seems at times as if this job teeters on the brink of being inhumane.”

Teaching and Curriculum

FCAT analysis finds misconceptions about science
Associated Press
Florida students have misconceptions about science, and they need more practice demonstrating its concepts and relating them to the real world, according to an analysis of the state’s standardized test.

Recalculating the 8th Grade Algebra Rush
The Washington Post
“Nobody writing about schools has been a bigger supporter of getting more students into eighth-grade algebra than I have been,” writes Jay Mathews. “Now, because of a startling study, I am having second thoughts.”

Joy in School
Educational Leadership
If the experience of “doing school” destroys children’s spirit to learn, their sense of wonder, their curiosity about the world, and their willingness to care for the human condition, have we succeeded as educators, no matter how well our students do on standardized tests?

Education Policy

NCLB Testing Said to Give ‘Illusions of Progress’
Education Week
Harvard University researcher Daniel M. Koretz says rampantly inflated standardized test scores are giving the misbegotten impression that, as in the fictional town made famous by radio personality Garrison Keillor, all children are above average

Consensus on Learning Time Builds
Education Week
Under enormous pressure to prepare students for a successful future—and fearful that standard school hours don’t offer enough time to do so—educators, policymakers, and community activists are adding more learning time to children’s lives.

Study Details Barriers to Career-Changers Going Into Teaching
Education Week
Experts are pointing to a new opinion survey and research analysis as evidence of a need to overhaul teacher training, compensation, and support, in order to appeal to potential career-changers interested in teaching.

Are high-stakes tests making the grade?
Richmond Times-Dispatch
After a decade, have standards and high-stakes tests improved public education in Virginia? It depends on whom you ask.

Colorado Targets Achievement Gap
The Rocky Mountain News
School districts must focus on and organize help for failing students if Colorado is to close the achievement gap between rich and poor students.

Homeschooling and Parenting

Minneapolis Sets Covenant on Black Achievement
Education Week
The Minneapolis school board and the local African-American community have taken an unusual step toward healing fractured relations and improving schooling for black children by signing a “covenant” that places responsibility for improvement on the shoulders of parents and district leaders.

Homeschooling Surges in U.S. as Parents Reach for Legal Rights
Fox News
States and school districts have a disjointed jumble of ordinances and measures that can make it tough for parents to know exactly what they are permitted to do as homeschoolers.

Father Abandons Nine Kids Under “Safe Haven” Law
KETV.com
A Nebraska father who dropped off his nine children at a hospital emergency room apparently cannot be charged under the state’s new Safe Haven law, which says any child under the age of 19 can be left at a hospital if they’re in immediate danger.

Et Alia

Learning From Mistakes Only Works After Age 12, Study Suggests
Science Daily
Eight-year-olds learn primarily from positive feedback (’Well done!’), whereas negative feedback (’Got it wrong this time’) scarcely causes any alarm bells to ring, a new study suggests. Twelve-year-olds are better able to process negative feedback, and use it to learn from their mistakes.

Stand-up desks provide a firm footing for fidgety students
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Several schools are experimenting stand-up workstations in the classroom. Anecdotally, teachers report greater attentiveness, fewer behavioral problems, better posture and more enthusiasm.

Bay Area Schools Need Earthquake Proofing
Contra Costa Times
Engineers say nearly 8,000 older school buildings in California are prone to collapse during a major earthquake.

To Sleep, Perchance to Teach

Published by Robert Pondiscio on September 25, 2008 in Research and Reports and Teaching. 5 Comments

More than four out of ten teachers report sleeping six hours or less per night, according to researchers at Ball State University. Nearly half admit to missing work or making mistakes due to “serious lack of sleep,” according to the report in Teacher Magazine.

While the study doesn’t correlate teachers’ reported sleep problems with instructional quality or student performance, the researchers speculated that the potential effects on schools could be significant, based on what is known about job performance and lack of sleep. ‘Sleepy teachers are at higher risk of providing insufficient supervision and inferior classroom instruction,’ notes Denise Amschler, a professor of physiology and health sciences and co-author of the study.

It’s not discussed in the report, but I’ve often wondered if sleep deprivation is a factor in poor teacher retention rates, particularly in low-achieving schools. The relentless push for high achievement often feels physically unsustainable. It is very easy to find yourself going weeks on very few hours of sleep per night.

Roland Fryer’s Idea Lab

Published by Robert Pondiscio on September 25, 2008 in No category and Research and Reports. 3 Comments

Roland Fryer is poised to become one of the most influential people in education research, leading a $44 million dollar effort to test the efficacy of various educational theories. The New York Times reports the Harvard economist has quit his job as New York City’s “chief equality officer” to run the Educational Innovation Laboratory. Funded largely by Eli Broad, the effort “is intended to infuse education with the data-driven approach that is common in science and business.”

“If the doctor said to you, ‘You have a cold; here are three pills my buddy in Charlotte uses and he says they work,’ you would run out and find another doctor,” Dr. Fryer tells the Times. “Somehow, in education, that approach is O.K.”

Those who have followed his work will not be surprised to learn the first idea to be put under the microscope are incentive programs that reward students for good grades and passing standardized tests, an idea closely associated with Fryer in New York City.

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