The Huffington Post: Are girls bad at math? From a talking Barbie doll saying “Math class is tough” to Larry Summers, the ex-President of Harvard University, speaking on the “different availability of aptitude,” it’s an issue that’s seen plenty of controversy. As one of the most sensitive topics in education More
The Washington Post: For decades, the prevailing wisdom in education was that high self-esteem would lead to high achievement. The theory led to an avalanche of daily affirmations, awards ceremonies and attendance certificates — but few, if any, academic gains. Now, an increasing number of teachers are weaning themselves from More
The New York Times: A recent Times article, “Motivating Students With Cash-for-Grades Incentive,” looks at efforts around the world to pay students for academic achievement. In it, Edward Deci, a psychologist at the University of Rochester and author of of “Why We Do What We Do,” is quoted: “It is More
Los Angeles Times: Ethan Longstreet (Eliot Berger), age 11, has formed a gang at his Brooklyn school but has excluded classmate Zachary Cowan (Elvis Polanski), also age 11. When Zachary confronts him, Ethan taunts Zachary and continues to keep him out of the group. Zachary responds to this rejection by More
The New York Times: People who do well on a test of one mental ability — let’s say a test of verbal ability — will tend to do well on tests of others — math ability, spatial ability, and so on. This finding, which has been replicated thousands of times More
NPR: If you’re the parent of a teenager, you likely find yourself routinely embroiled in disputes with your child. Those disputes are the symbol of teen developmental separation from parents. It’s a vital part of growing up, but it can be extraordinarily wearing on parents. Now researchers suggest that those More
