Education Learning Issues

HELP EXPLAINING MATH. An online column from The New York Times might be of help to parents attempting to help their bright children with math. Steven Strogatz says of his column, "I’ll be writing about the elements of mathematics, from pre-school to grad school, for anyone out there who’d like to have a second chance at the subject -- but this time from an adult perspective. It’s not intended to be remedial. The goal is to give you a better feeling for what math is all about and why it’s so enthralling to those who get it." Find the columns here.

LEARNING STYLES, ONE MORE TIME -- and probably not the last. In a thoughtful article in Teacher Magazine, a psychological scientist and husband of a classroom teacher provides his take on the controversy between those who insist that learning styles exist and those who deny it, and tries to explain how basic cognitive science can apply to teaching. Read it.

ALL KINDS OF MINDS is an organization that has focused on turning research into educational practices to meet the needs of all students. The organization has announced its list of "Schools of Distinction" that "exemplify how schools can build expertise in learning in order to develop individual intellects, talents, and creativity through innovative teaching; implement a wide range of creative learning concepts that take into consideration students' strengths, affinities and challenges; and help solve problems through addressing student learning issues." Find the list.

MAYBE NOT VACCINES, BUT TOXINS, along with genetics, are the cause of autism, writes Nicolas Kristof. He describes current scientific thinking on the topic, and provides some practical advice on what to avoid -- such as phthalate-containing personal care products. He worries about sensationalizing the risk -- as happened with vaccines -- but says, "On the other hand, in the case of great health dangers of modern times — mercury, lead, tobacco, asbestos — journalists were too slow to blow the whistle. In public health, we in the press have more often been lap dogs than watchdogs." Read the column.

THE CLUSTER GROUPING HANDBOOK is the topic of an interview by Michael Shaughnessy with authors Susan Winebrenner and Dina Brulles. The interview covers how the book can help gifted students, the inclusion in the book of professional development plans and a CD of tools such as interactive lesson plans, and how to "sell" cluster grouping. Find the interview. (2e Newsletter's May, 2009, issue included an article by Brulles and Winebrenner on cluster grouping. Subscribers may read that in the subscriber-only area of the 2e Newsletter website.)

LD RESOURCES. On Feburary 26th, The New York Times published two articles dealing the learning disabilities. One article deals with ways to make sure a child is getting the educational help needed, for example by knowing rights granted under IDEA. The second article offers resources for parents of students with LDs.

EDUTOPIA's current online issue features parent participation at school -- what it can accomplish and how to encourage it.

THE G-FACTOR might not reside in a specific area of the brain, but rather in a network of regions across the brain, according to a study reported in ScienceDaily. One of the reasearchers says, "...the particular regions and connections we found are quite in line with an existing theory about intelligence called the 'parieto-frontal integration theory.' It says that general intelligence depends on the brain's ability to integrate -- to pull together -- several different kinds of processing, such as working memory." If you're into the nuts and bolts -- the neurons and synapses -- of intelligence, read the article.

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