CUSTOMIZED SCHOOLING is the title of a new book on education reform that looks at “how providers might use new tools to deliver or customize services that do not conform to conventional [school] policies or structures," according to its publisher, Harvard Education Press. EdNews.org's Michael Shaughnessey interviews one of the book's authors, who provides examples of what customized services and educational products can mean. The author makes the point several times that such an approach would focus on individual educational needs, and that it would help students with LDs. Find the interview.
WRIGHTSLAW pointed out to us a survey for parents in conjunction with the reauthorization of IDEA sometime in the next few years. According to Wrightslaw, the survey seeks to answer the question, "Are parents treated as equal partners in planning their children's education?" If you have had experience with IDEA or special ed for that gifted kid you raise, find out more about the survey.
ALLERGIES AND DEPRESSION may be linked. If your child has severe seasonal allergies, find out more about the linkages and effects.
FOOD DYES, PART III... or maybe VII, we lose track. If you're interested in reading yet another article on the relationship of food dyes to hyperactivity, the Los Angeles Times published one on April 11 that addressed questions such as "what's the evidence?" and "do food dyes have other risks?" and "how much food dye are we eating?" Find it.
GIFTED LEFT BEHIND IN WYOMING. An article in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle notes how the state lags others in the percentage of kids identified as gifted, and how half of the state's districts identify no students as gifted. Read more about what Wyoming does -- and doesn't do -- for its gifted students.
AND FINALLY, THIS. What do we really need to teach kids in school? "Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams suggests entrepreneurship, based on some of his life experiences, and offers sample lessons based on same:
- Combine skills
- Fail forward
- Find the action
- Attract luck
- And more...
Adams' thesis is that it's the "B" students who should be taught entrepreneurship, rather than the "A" students; he says, "The kids in [the] brainy group are the future professors, scientists, thinkers and engineers who will propel civilization forward." But we think all students could use lessons of the type he proposes. Let us know what you think. Find the article, called "How to Get a Real Education."