Education Learning Issues

IN THE OSCARS TELECAST last weekend, those watching saw one winner with a wider range of gifts and talents than most, a one-time semi-finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. Read more about Natalie Portman and her straight-A average.

CHILDHOOD MENTAL ILLNESS. On March 1st, the Chicago Tribune hosted an online chat on the topic, featuring a couple noted practitioners in the field. The pair fielded questions from their audience, addressing topics that included AD/HD and PDD-NOS. The chat is available online. 

PRESSURED AND LOSING SPIRIT. At the Huffington Post, a Harvard grad who for years interviewed applicants to the school offers stories of those interviews illustrating the pressure and even self-deceit that some of the high-achieving applicants showed. The author, a family therapist, writes about rote responses, activities chosen only for how they'd look on a transcript, and kids whose spirits were beaten out of them at the same time they (and their parents and educators) packaged them for success. The advice offered at the end of the article -- don't frighten them; encourage a natural sense of wonder; and more -- applies to that gifted (and LD) child you raise or teach. Find the article. 

CONTINUING ON THAT HAPPY THEME, a reader jerked our chain by asking if we know about the film "Race to Nowhere." One of the partners at 2e Newsletter did; the other evidently spends too much time writing these blogs. From the film's website: "Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, "Race to Nowhere" points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired." Sounds like a film to see. Thanks, Catherine, for the email. (Catherine said in her email, "I had the opportunity to see a screening of it last weekend, and it was very informative and thought-provoking.")

RTI ENTHUSIAST? An Education Week article covers how RTI, which began as a way to help struggling learners, is being applied for all students. Find the article. 

AD/HD AND SLEEP. Losing even an hour of sleep a night affects AD/HD kids poorly, according to a study reported at Nurse.com. Find out more.

iPAD TECHNOLOGY FOR AUTISM. The Chicago-area Daily Herald ran an article on applications that can help not only young people with autism but also those with other learning challenges.  Among the challenges addressed by iPad apps: the need for structure; communication skills; and social skills. Read the article.  

SENG WEBINAR ON MARCH 24TH. "You Can't Make Me Do It," on the topic of encouraging "motivation from the inside," is to be presented by Cheryl Franklin-Rohr. The event starts at 7:30 pm Eastern time and costs $40. Find more information.

GOT THOSE DUE-PROCESS BLUES? Check out tips and advice from Wrightslaw in Special Ed Advocate. 

AND FINALLY, THIS. Dr. Seuss' birthday is today, March 2nd; he would be 107. According to The Baltimore Sun, his 60+ books sold over 222 million copies, even more than a good issue of 2e Newsletter. So today remember your favorite Seuss book or stanza, 'coz they entertained adults and kids alike. Read more. 

GIFTED EDUCATION AND THE BUDGET. A thoughtful and fact-filled article in the San Francisco Chronicle highlights the effect of budget-cutting on gifted education, focusing on California. The article quotes one expert as saying, "Children who could have a tremendous impact on our planet are shortchanged." Find the article.

ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. David Rabiner has posted the March and April editions of his e-newsletter. The March issue covers a study noting that year-to-year in-class evaluations of a child's AD/HD may vary, due in part to teacher/classroom context. One conclusion: don't over-rely on one teacher's observations (either pro-AD/HD or con) in diagnosing. In April, Rabiner comments on a study of adults with AD/HD, all on AD/HD meds, to see how the adults perceived their own impairments.

COMPETITIONS. The 2010 Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology began on April 30. High school students may enter individually or as part of a team. The deadline for entries is October 1. Got a gifted scientist or mathematician in your house? Find more information.

$10 MILLION FOR LD RESEARCH. A Silicon Valley venture capitalist with LDs in his family has donated $10 million to the University of Southern California to help provide tutoring, counseling, technological assistance and treatment to students there with AD/HD dyslexia, and other learning difficulties. The donation will also help fund academic research. Find out more in the Los Angeles Times.

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS. One hundred forty-one high school seniors have been selected as the 2010 U.S. Presidential Scholars. The students have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, service, and contribution to school and community, according to the US Department of Education. The Scholars will be honored for their accomplishments in Washington D.C., from June 19-22. Read a press release. Or, see if any high-achieving kids you know made the cut on the list of honorees.

GENDER AND ACHIEVEMENT. Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews says he used to think that boys' relative underachievement compared to girls meant only that girls were catching up. Lately, he reports, he read a book called Why Boys Fail, by Richard Whitmire, that caused him to change his mind. Find out why.

UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Tamara Fisher previews some "great summer learning opportunities" for educators, including Edufest, Confratute, The Hormel Symposium, and the Conference on the Autonomous Learner Model for the Gifted. Find her blog.

EDNEWS.ORG. Michael Shaughnessy interviews Don M. Winn, author of The Incredible Martin O'Shea, a very intelligent young boy who might have learning challenges. Shaughnessy, who says he suffered from dyslexia as a child, calls the book "profound." Read the interview.

SUMMER CAMP.Dr. Susan Daniels and Dr. Dan Peters will host Camp Summit for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative in Marin Headlands, California, from July 11th to the 17th. The two organizers say that the camp was “created especially for developing the ‘inner and outer nature’ of gifted youth, and is intended to give gifted children ages 9-14 a positive residential camp experience. While not exclusively designed for twice-exceptional children, they are welcome.” (Parents are encouraged to raise 2e issues in advance to ensure that the camp is a good fit for their child.) Find out more.

WE THOUGHT WE WERE IN A NEWS DROUGHT during the first week of 2010, that perhaps we'd used up all of the news on twice-exceptionalities, child development, and gifted education in the last weeks of 2009. But, thankfully, not so. First, though, two non-news items.

REACTION TO "BAD RAP ON LEARNING STYLES." One of our readers, a clinical psychologist with a research degree (Ph.D.) who describes herself as a "fairly educated individual who has spent many years on the inside of the research bubble arguing over and interpreting this kind of research," had this to say about the item we posted on December 19th: "I would interpret this article to suggest that the evidence for or against learning styles is inconclusive because the many studies reviewed lacked equivalent methodologies. This often happens when a meta-analytic study is done... There may indeed be such a thing as learning styles but the current research methods we use have not been able to clearly identify it. Like the authors, I would recommend more research that uses standardized protocols, which can be done. Reading this review from the standpoint of a parent and general consumer, I would be led to conclude that there is no such thing as learning styles, and that would be sad, because I have been able to provide better help to both my son and daughter with their schooling with the info I've gleaned on learning styles." Thanks, Janet.

THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE OF 2e NEWSLETTER is on its way to subscribers. The 25-page issue focuses on what we can do for 2e children in the area of strategies to promote learning. Also included: Part 2 of Marlo Payne Thurman's article "Too Tired: Energy and Wellness in 2e Children." The Bridges Academy "Mythology of Learning" series concludes with a piece on ways to encourage organization in 2e children. Dr. Sylvia Rimm addresses stuttering in a bright young person, and Bob Seney enthusiastically reviews The Unfinished Angel. Columns and the Bridges article will be posted on the public area of www.2eNewsletter.com within a week. Subscribers to the newsletter will then be able to find all content from this issue in the subscriber-only area.

SPEAKING OF RESEARCH, as we did in our first item, the Belin-Blank Center has announced this year's Wallace Research Symposium on Talent Development, to be held on the University of Iowa campus on May 16-18. The Center describes the event as "internationally renowned for being one of the premiere scholarly conferences where the latest in gifted education research is presented." Find out more.

WHEN THE SECOND "e" IS EMIGRATION. The New York Times ran an engaging story about a gifted young man at Princeton who had escaped the poverty and drug violence of Columbia, received his American schooling in a "gritty factory town," achieved valedictory honors, and was admitted to Princeton, where he continued to achieve in and out of the classroom. The problem: his green card was fake, and Princeton was asking to see his documents in response to a federal government requirement. How does the story end? You'll have to read the article.

AD/HD MEETS fMRI. Researchers at the University of Texas are using functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity of people with AD/HD, both on and off the drug Concerta. Evidently the researchers are still looking for additional subjects, so if you're in the San Antonio area and interested, check out the article.

AUTISM IN THE NEWS. Two news releases report on autism research. From the first: "Researchers at UC Davis have identified 10 locations in California where the incidence of autism is higher than surrounding areas in the same region. Most of the areas, or clusters, are in locations where parents have higher-than-average levels of educational attainment. Because children with more educated parents are more likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, one need look no further for a cause, the authors say. The other clusters are located close to major autism treatment centers." Find it. The second release describes an Israeli researcher's definition of "a new, integrated interpretation of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), which makes it easier to understand both the commonalities and differences between ASD and other conditions." You can read the release here, but it looks as if you'll have to find the December issue of The Neuroscientist to get the details. Separately, President Obama's nomination to a seat on the National Council on Disability, a 22-year-old, outspoken Aspie, is thought by some to be "not quite autistic enough," according to a news article. Find out more.

UC DAVIS MIND INSTITUTE. The University of California at Davis, as we found when we went to the site to check out one of the press releases above, is home to the M.I.N.D. Institute, self-described as "a collaborative international research center, committed to the awareness, understanding, prevention, care and cure of neurodevelopmental disorders." On its site, the Institute offers a resource center with pointers to resources in a number of areas of interest to those who raise, teach, and counsel twice-exceptional children. Find it.