Education Learning Issues

A FOOT IN TWO CAMPS. "Twice-exceptional" is the intersection of ability and disability, GT and LD, so we tend to pay attention to resources in both areas. One such resource is the National Center for Learning Disabilities, NCLD. NCLD holds monthly "LD Talks," text-based online discussions. One advantage to this format is that transcripts are available for those who don't participate in the actual discussion. June 30th's discussion is titled "NCLB and Students with LD: Myths, Facts, and What the Future Holds." If you're interested in this topic or just the concept of LD Talks, you can check it out at their site.

RUDDERLESS YOUTHS. Education Week holds weekly chats in a format similar to LD Talk, although on topics of more general interest than LDs. The topic for this week was "Rudderless Youths," based on a new book by William Damon. Read about the book or find out more about Education Week's Live Chat.

GENDER DIFFERENCES DEBATE. In May, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) published a report they'd sponsored downplaying gender differences in American schools, highlighting instead differences in income and ethnicity as causes for achievement gaps. A commentary by author and psychologist Leonard Sax in recent issue of Education Week took exception to the report, saying that the report has "substantial holes" and that the report "missed the point." Sax's points: there is a real gap based on motivation and on learning differences between the genders. For example, he says, "It turns out that the best way to teach physics to girls is different than the best way to teach it to boys." Sax is an advocate and consultant for single-sex education.

ANOTHER DYSLEXIC ACHIEVER. He says he reads at about a fifth-grade level. Yet the Michigan native graduated from the University of Michigan at 19 with a perfect 4.0 average, according to the Detroit Free Press. On June 5th, the man, Benjamin Bolger, 32, was expected to receive his 11th advanced degree, a PhD in design from Harvard. He plans to teach at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.