Education Learning Issues

TEMPLE GRANDIN BIOPIC. An HBO movie about autistic achiever Temple Grandin airs for the first time this Saturday night. Grandin frequently speaks at conferences where twice-exceptionality is a topic. Her "real" job is animal behavioralist and livestock consultant. The New York Times says this about the movie: "Hers is a tale that could be easily be played up for drama, intrigue and weepy reconciliations, but this narrative is loyal to Ms. Grandin’s credo: emotions are secondary to tangible results. And the result is a movie that is funny, instructive and also intangibly charming." Read the Times article. Hear a recent NPR interview with Grandin.

AP FAILURE RATES. USA Today notes that even while the number of students taking Advanced Placement exams is rising, the rate of failure among those taking the exams is also rising. In some states, more than 50 percent of AP test-takers fail. Read more. Jay Matthews, education writer for the Washington Post, also commented on the problem.

VISION, DYSLEXIA, AND LEARNING is the subject of a recent article at LD Online. The article notes a joint statement between the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on Children with Disabilities, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology on visual problems and dyslexia, along with possible treatments. Read the LD Online piece; read the full statement.

TEACHING THE GIFTED is a topic of an article from the San Diego News Network. The article offers strategies that can positively affect learning in high-ability young people. Read it.

EDUTOPIA EVOLVES. The organization Edutopia, here-to-fore the publisher of a print magazine of the same name, has announced it will no longer publish the print edition, instead using the Internet "to deliver deeper, more relevant stories, especially with video, about innovation in teaching and learning. New community and content-sharing tools make it possible for educators to find and exchange tips and solutions with each other whenever they wish." Find out more.

CEC COMMENTS ON THE NEW EDUCATION BUDGET. The Council for Exceptional Children offers its opinions on a couple things the federal government is proposing that involve IDEA and the Javits act, and the Council is not happy. Read why.

TIDBITS. ScienceDaily offers three news items for those of you with an interest in certain exceptionalities in that gifted child you raise or teach. One article describes how children with AD/HD may have differences in the brain's reward system. Another article covers a study on similarities between symptoms of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and AD/HD. And a third study links excessive Internet use to depression, although the population in question uses the Internet so much that the article uses the word "addicts" to describe them.

AD/HD VERSUS GIFTEDNESS. Mom and blogger Kelly Burns recently posted a long piece offering information and advice to parents in regard to giftedness being misdiagnosed as AD/HD. One of her main suggestions: find a qualified psychologist for an assessment. Read the blog.

REFORMING EDUCATION. An opinion piece in Monday's New York Times contained the following language: "Our current educational approach — and the testing that is driving it — is completely at odds with what scientists understand about how children develop during the elementary school years and has led to a curriculum that is strangling children and teachers alike." To read the suggestions for ways to reform the typical school day, go here.

ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. Got a gifted kid with AD/HD and sleep problems? Check out the most-recently posted issue of Attention Research Update, in which David Rabiner reviews a study comparing sleep disturbances in non-medicated children with AD/HD to "controls." The basic conclusion: AD/HD children who are non-medicated are more sleep-impaired than other children. Read more.

"FRONT OF THE CLASS," a Hallmark movie inspired by Brad Cohen, the award-winning teacher who has Tourette Syndrome, is re-airing on CBS on Friday, February 5th, according to a good friend of 2e Newsletter. She urges all of us to "check your local listings." More information here.

TOO MUCH PRAISE for that high-ability kid? A UK commentator recently wrote this: "American authors Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson have sparked fierce debate in child psychology circles with their book NurtureShock, which suggests, among other things, that too much "positive reinforcement" can stunt a child's development." We've mentioned in past postings the negative effect praise can have; read the commentary.

THE RISE OF NEUROSCIENCE. You certainly read the word "neuroscience" frequently in this blog. The discipline has had a tremendous effect on the amount of information available to us as we raise, teach, and counsel our gifted and twice-exceptional kids. If it seems as if the discipline came from nowhere, well, maybe it has. An article at io9.com shows "how neuroscience went from a hodgepodge of unconnected scientific disciplines to a unified science that's one of the most important today, in just under 10 years." The best part is a creative graphic showing the interrelationship of disciplines contributing to neuroscience. See the article.