Education Learning Issues

OF MICE AND... Working memory is improvable -- at least in mice, according to a study reported in ScienceDaily. Researchers put mice through exercises to improve the rodents' working memory and found that "mice that underwent this working memory 'exercise' exhibited improved proficiency on a wide range of cognitive tests." And your gifted, young AD/HD child? Read more.

OF BOYS AND GIRLS. Boys lose... again. Male students lag females in reading, and girls' scores in math are matching boys', according to an an article in Education Week. Differences vary by state. One educator says, “We’ve been talking about closing the achievement gap in so many different ways... but we have not focused on the gender gap, which is very clear and startling in this report.” Find out more.

YOU'RE SMART? Your kids might think they're genetic nerds. That's the conclusion from a recent "Baby Blues" comic strip. Did you get A's in high school? Read the strip.

WALLACE SYMPOSIUM. According to the Belin-Blank website, the early registration deadline has been extended until March 31. You'll have to judge whether attendance at this research-oriented event will be of use to you, but mid May in cozy Iowa City could be pleasant. Here's the B-B skinny on the event: "The Wallace Research Symposium on Talent Development is internationally renowned for being one of the premiere scholarly conferences where the latest in gifted education research is presented." Find out more.

NEW BOOKLETS FROM GLEN ELLYN MEDIA. We've added two booklets to our "Spotlight on 2e Series." The two titles are Understanding the Gifted Child with Attention Deficit and The Mythology of Learning, the latter authored by the highly capable staff at Bridges Academy. As publishers, we think the booklets are pretty good, but -- more importantly -- so did those who purchased the booklets when we exhibited at Rich Weinfeld's "Diamonds in the Rough" conference earlier this month. You can see tables of contents and ordering information at our site.

SUBSCRIBERS! The March/April issue is still coming. We've delayed it to include coverage of the aforementioned conference. Look for your issue of 2e Newsletter within the next week or so.