The Answer Sheet - School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else).

Posted at 04:47 PM ET, 06/10/2013

The bottom line on student tracking

By Valerie Strauss

What the overwhelming evidence really shows.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:47 PM ET, 06/10/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Ability Groupings, What Research Really Shows

Posted at 05:02 AM ET, 04/18/2013

School principals and the rhetoric of 'instructional leadership'

By Valerie Strauss

Today in the education world principals are supposed to be, above most everything else, "instructional leaders." What does that means, and is it accurate?

By Valerie Strauss | 05:02 AM ET, 04/18/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: The Role of Principals, What Research Shows

Posted at 10:10 PM ET, 03/01/2013

How sequester will affect University of Maryland

By Valerie Strauss

Here's the letter the president of the University of Maryland sent out detailing how the school will be affected by the sequester.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:10 PM ET, 03/01/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Financial Aid, Funded Research, Sequester, University of Matryland

Posted at 11:21 AM ET, 02/24/2013

The Grammys, the Oscars and now the Bunkum Awards

By Valerie Strauss

Unlike the Grammys and the Oscars, the Bunkum Awards are given to winners who would rather not receive them.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:21 AM ET, 02/24/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Education Research, For Awful Education Research

Posted at 10:48 AM ET, 01/31/2013

Charter schools that start bad stay bad, study finds

By Valerie Strauss

Charter schools that start out doing poorly aren't likely to improve, and charters that are successful from the beginning most often stay that way, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University who also analyzed charter management organizations.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:48 AM ET, 01/31/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: And Good Ones Stay Good, Charter Schools, Education Research

Posted at 04:11 PM ET, 11/19/2012

Study: Homework linked to better standardized test scores

By Valerie Strauss

Researchers who looked at data from more than 18,000 10th-graders found little correlation between the time students spent doing homework and better grades in math and science courses. But they did find a positive relationship the time spent on homework and standardized test scores.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:11 PM ET, 11/19/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Education Research, Homework, Standardized Tests

Posted at 11:06 AM ET, 10/28/2012

Eight hurricane experts and the cool things they study

By Valerie Strauss

There's more to the study of hurricanes than figuring out the strength of the winds and where they are going to hit. Here are 10 experts on different aspects of hurricanes and the interesting things they study.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:06 AM ET, 10/28/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Hurricane Sandy, Research

Posted at 12:03 PM ET, 10/26/2012

Study: Demography remains destiny in NYC despite school choice reforms

By Valerie Strauss

School reformers like to say demography is not destiny. But a new study of New York City's reform effort, which made school choice a priority, has failed to bring about educational equity.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:03 PM ET, 10/26/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Education Research, Research, School choice

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 02/28/2011

'Brain-based' education: Run from it

By Valerie Strauss

A veteran educator explains why teachers should run from any curriculum that says it is "brain-based."

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 02/28/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Larry Cuban, Learning, Research | Tags: brain research, brain-based education, daniel willingham, education and brain, larry cuban

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 01/22/2011

How about a 21-hour school day?

By Valerie Strauss

Educators are talking about extending the school day by a half hour or so. Just maybe, it is posited here, what we need is a 21-hour school day.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:00 AM ET, 01/22/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: extending school day, kipp, length of school day, research and school time, school day, school reform, seat time, time in school

Posted at 12:35 PM ET, 01/21/2011

Say it isn’t so on IMPACT, Mayor Gray

By Valerie Strauss

Here’s why I was so disappointed to a plan by D.C. schools officials to have the flawed IMPACT teacher evaluation system reviewed by a Harvard think tank.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:35 PM ET, 01/21/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags: d.c. schools, edulabs, harvard research, harvard thinktank, harvard university, mayor gray, mayor vincent gray, merit pay for teachers, michelle rhee, performance pay, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation

Posted at 01:25 PM ET, 01/19/2011

New report on educational productivity: a waste of resources?

By Valerie Strauss

It's hard to argue with the general notion in a new report about educational productivity released today that says -- are you surprised -- that we waste a lot of money. But beyond that, I'm trying to figure out what else of value the report offers. Help.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:25 PM ET, 01/19/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Accountability, Accountability | Tags: center for american progress, education, educational productivity, educational research, productivity, research and education

Posted at 11:01 AM ET, 01/13/2011

New analysis challenges Gates study on value-added measures

By Valerie Strauss

A new analysis challenges a Gates Foundation study said to support the validity of value-added measures to evaluate teachers by using students' standardized test scores.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:01 AM ET, 01/13/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research | Tags: bill gates, gates foundation, gates foundation study, gates-funded research, how to evaluate teachers, teacher assessment, value-added, value-added measures

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 01/12/2011

The big 5: A teacher's translation guide for policymakers

By Valerie Strauss

Those hoping for educator buy-in on the next big education reform idea should first consult this translation guide , which explains some catchphrases and buzzwords that set off warning bells for teachers.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:00 PM ET, 01/12/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: edu-speak, education buzzwords, education policy, educational rigor, failure is not an option, paradigm shift, research-based methods, rick hess, roxanna elden, teachers

Posted at 01:40 PM ET, 01/10/2011

How colleges can identify depressed students

By Valerie Strauss

One out of every four or five students who visits a university health center for a routine cold or sore throat turns out to be depressed, but most centers miss the opportunity to identify these students because they don’t screen for depression, according to new research.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:40 PM ET, 01/10/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research, Research | Tags: depressed students, depression, depression and college, northwestern university, research on depression, screening for depression, students and depression, university health centers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/07/2011

What 2010 education research really shows about reform

By Valerie Strauss

A review of 2010 education research on charter schools, value-added measures and merit pay shows that the results were not great news for supporters of these reforms.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 01/07/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: charter schools, education research, market-based reforms, shankar blog, value-added, value-added measures

Posted at 10:38 AM ET, 12/28/2010

A hard look at education research

By Valerie Strauss

Here's a back-and-forth between authors of a report hailing Florida's school reform and a critique of that report. It shows how controversial education "research" really is.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:38 AM ET, 12/28/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags: education research, florida school reform, florida schools, heritage foundation, school reform

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/27/2010

Who in education says 'oops'?

By Valerie Strauss

A former school superintendent explains why virtually nobody in education policy ever admits that they "either goofed or would reconsider their decision."

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 12/27/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Charter schools, Charter schools, Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags: charter schools, education policy, education policymakers, gates foundation, larry cuban, research on charter schools, technology in education

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 12/06/2010

Willingham: Close to a magic bullet in education

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham writes about something that he says may come as close to being a magic bullet in education as anything.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:30 AM ET, 12/06/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Achievement gap, Achievement gap, Achievement gap, Achievement gap | Tags: achievement gap, daniel willingham, education research, gender gap, school reform

Posted at 12:46 PM ET, 11/20/2010

Why teaching experience really matters

By Valerie Strauss

Bill Gates just urged school districts and states to stop rewarding teachers for their experience in the classroom and/or advanced education degrees. Arne Duncan makes the same argument. But evidence shows that teaching experience DOES matter.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:46 PM ET, 11/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: arne duncan, bill gates, class size, does experience matter, education department, education secretary duncan, lowering class size, raising class size, research on class size, research on teaching experience, school reform, schools, shankar blog, standardized tests, teacher experience, teacher pay, teacher quality, teacher salaries, teachers, teaching experience, value added

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 11/20/2010

The Matthew Effect, Plinko, and the achievement gap

By Valerie Strauss

The argument for integration of low-income students into more affluent schools is that it offers an opportunity to level the playing field and provide high expectations to students who are not traditionally held to the same schooling standards as the white upper and middle class. However, as a Black male who attended Montgomery County Public Schools for high school, I am not convinced that a culture of high expectations extends beyond honors, AP, and IB classrooms.

By Valerie Strauss | 08:00 AM ET, 11/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Achievement gap, Achievement gap | Tags: achievement gap, brain development, brain research, closing achievement gap, guest bloggers, plinko, the Matthew Effect, the matthew effect

Posted at 12:09 PM ET, 11/15/2010

Willingham: How 'mind-wandering' affects students

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham writes about "mind-wandering" --or zoning out of what you are doing -- and how it affects students at school.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:09 PM ET, 11/15/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: brain research, cognitive science, daniel willingham, mind-wandering

Posted at 01:21 PM ET, 10/12/2010

Study shows deep disparities in funding for schools

By Valerie Strauss

A new study starkly shows deep disparities in the way school districts across the country are funded, a reality that raises big questions about how effective “reforms” that don’t deal with the issue of equity can really be.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:21 PM ET, 10/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Equity, Equity | Tags: cost per student, equity, funding report card, how to fund schools, is school funding fair?, report card, research, school funding, school resources

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/08/2010

Poll: Americans misunderstand learning disabilities

By Valerie Strauss

A new poll shows that a majority of Americans have severe misperceptions of learning disabilities, the causes and even the definition. This can affect when children are diagnosed and given help that they need.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 10/08/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities | Tags: autism, learning disabilities, mental retardation, research, roper

Posted at 12:11 PM ET, 10/05/2010

Report: Schools, teacher ed programs ignore how kids really learn

By Valerie Strauss

James Comer and Robert Pianta write about a new report that says: "Despite big advances in our understanding of how children and adolescents grow and learn, little of that knowledge has found its way into schools or educator preparation programs."

By Valerie Strauss | 12:11 PM ET, 10/05/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research, Research | Tags: achievement gap, education research, james comer, research, robert pianita, student achievement, teacher education, teacher evaluation, teacher quality

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/04/2010

Book blasts research base for Obama reform plan

By Valerie Strauss

A new book analyzes the research base for President Obama's blueprint for education reform and finds that it is, at best, very weak.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 10/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research | Tags: diane ravitch, education research, esea, no child left behind, obama blueprint, obama schools, reform blueprint, research, research summary, school reform, welner

Posted at 12:56 PM ET, 09/21/2010

RIF study: Access to print materials helps student achievement

By Valerie Strauss

A comprehensive new study shows that children's book lending and ownership programs were shown to have positive behavioral, educational, and psychological outcomes.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:56 PM ET, 09/21/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: guest bloggers, reading, research

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 09/20/2010

Willingham: Left/right brain theory is bunk

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains why the left brain/right brain theory is pure mythology.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:00 AM ET, 09/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags: brain research, daniel willingham, left brain/right brain, mike gazzaniga

Posted at 04:00 PM ET, 09/16/2010

Why 'Waiting for Superman' premiere was chilling

By Valerie Strauss

Something chilling happened at the Washington D.C. premiere of "Waiting for Superman" that involved Michelle Rhee and the A-list audience.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 PM ET, 09/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: D.C. Schools | Tags: adrian fenty, al franken, arne duncan, charter schools, d.c. schools, david axelrod, fenty and gray, george miller, melody barnes, michelle rhee, movie premiere, obama and refoms, obama reform, president obama and school reform, research and education, research on charter schools, rhee and gray, superman film, superman premiere, teachers and unions, vincent gray, waiting for superman, what will rhee do?, when will rhee leave?, who will replace rhee

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 09/10/2010

Why we can't afford small classes anymore: One view

By Valerie Strauss

A veteran teacher says the country can no longer afford to maintain small classes, and would a bigger bang for its buck by concentrating on improving teacher quality.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:00 AM ET, 09/10/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: class sizes, florida and class size, florida and class size and referendum, research on class size, small classes, teacher quality

Posted at 11:23 AM ET, 09/04/2010

How 'Twilight,' other dark fiction affect teen brains

By Valerie Strauss

Scientists, authors and education experts are meeting this weekend at Cambridge University to investigate how fiction with dark themes, such as the "Twilight" saga and the "Harry Potter" series, affects and alters the teenage brain. Here's a Q&A with the conference organizer, who talks about what parents can/should do about it.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:23 AM ET, 09/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Literature, Literature, Literature | Tags: altering teen mind, brain research, cambridge university conference, dark themes in young adult literature, edward cullen, effects on teen brains, emergent adult, emergent adult conference, harry potter and twilight, his dark materials, how teen brains are affected by reading, neuroscience and teenage brain, teenage brain, themes in YA lit, twilight, twilight and teen mind, twilight saga, young adult literature

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 08/25/2010

'Impossible' working conditions for teachers

By Valerie Strauss

Will Fitzhugh writes about a recent trip to Florida, where he did a workshop with teachers on student research papers -- and then realized that the teachers can't use what they learned in the classroom.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 08/25/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers, Teachers | Tags: class loads and teachers, class size, florida teachers, history papers, research papers, right to work state, teachers

Posted at 11:23 AM ET, 08/17/2010

Willingham: Big questions about the LA Times teachers project

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains why using value-added measures to judge the effectiveness of a teacher is a mistake, and says that the Los Angeles Times writers who helped evaluate more than 6,000 teachers in this fashion, "are either uniformed or disingenuous about the status of the value-added measures."

By Valerie Strauss | 11:23 AM ET, 08/17/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags: daniel willingham, la times story, la times story on teachers, los angeles times and teachers, research and value added, teacher evaluation, value added evaluation, value added measures

Posted at 12:06 AM ET, 07/23/2010

From a list of ideas to an 11,200-word essay

By Valerie Strauss

In this letter a high school student details how he wrote a scholarly history paper that was published and what he learned from the experience.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:06 AM ET, 07/23/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: History | Tags: concord review, history, how to write a research paper, walter johnson high school, writing research papers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/15/2010

What does "charterness" mean, exactly?

By Valerie Strauss

“Charterness” is not a policy, an education researcher writes. If a particular policy or set of practices seems to help increase student performance, we should replicate those practices, not entire schools that adopted them. Doing the latter is sort of like buying a second home just to have a garage.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 07/15/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Charter schools, Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags: al shanker, al shanker institute, charter schools and research

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/11/2010

A new look at Teach for America

By Valerie Strauss

Here's a new look at the independent research on the effectiveness of Teach for America teachers.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 07/11/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers, Teachers | Tags: research on teach for america, research on tfa, teach for america, teachers and attrition

Posted at 10:11 PM ET, 07/09/2010

College students hitting books less, study shows

By Valerie Strauss

Add this to the common lament that things aren’t the same as they used to be: College students are apparently not studying anywhere nearly as much as they used to.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:11 PM ET, 07/09/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: College Life, College Life | Tags: college life, how much do college students study, how much do students study?, leisure college, research on studying, students studying less, study hours decline, studying and college

Posted at 12:30 PM ET, 07/08/2010

Ravitch on teachers and her critics

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch brings down the house at a teachers convention and answers her critics.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:30 PM ET, 07/08/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags: charter schools and research, death and life of great american school system, diane ravitch, ed week and ravitch, national education association and convention, nea convention, ravitch and nea, ravitch and teachers, ravitch and video, teachers convention

Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 06/29/2010

Two new studies on charter schools

By Valerie Strauss

Two new studies are released today on charter schools, one on financing and the other on student achievement. Neither is especially good news for charter schools.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:00 AM ET, 06/29/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags: charter school financing, charter school movement, charter schools, mathematica research, research on charter schools, student achievement and charter schools

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/29/2010

New analysis of achievement gap: ½ x ½ = 1½

By Valerie Strauss

David Berliner, a prominent education researcher, writes about new data and analysis showing that when it comes to student achievement, family resources are important, school resources are important and the joint effect of the social and fiscal resources found in families and schools appears to be much greater than either alone.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 06/29/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: arizona state university, coleman report, coleman report and 1960s, david berliner, educational research, effects on student achievement, how much does school affect student achievement?, parental influence and student achievement, standard deviations

Posted at 01:14 PM ET, 06/28/2010

Willingham: Newsweek story on single-sex ed research misses mark

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham critiques a Newsweek article on single-sex education and how faithfully it represents research on the issue.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:14 PM ET, 06/28/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: dan willingham, daniel willingham, education research, newsweek, research and education, single-sex education, single-sex education and effectiveness.

Posted at 02:35 PM ET, 06/23/2010

Texas judge rejects creationist master's degree

By Valerie Strauss

A federal judge has denied an effort by the Institute for Creation Research to issue masters degrees in science education from “a Biblical scientific creationist viewpoint,” instead siding with state officials who initially refused to allow the program to go forward.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:35 PM ET, 06/23/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Science | Tags: creationism, creationism vs. evolution, creationist science, earth science institute and texas, institute for creation research, judge rejects creationist masters degree, judge sam sparks and ruling, texas and creationist institute, texas higher education coordinating board

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 06/16/2010

Minorities drive biggest jump in college freshman enrollment in 40 years, study says

By Valerie Strauss

Hispanics and other minority students drove the largest rise in freshman enrollment in the last 40 years at the nation’s 6,100 four-year post-second institutions from fall 2007 to fall 2008, the first year of the recession, according to a study released today by the Pew Research Center. But the enrollment boom was concentrated in certain states and highly focused on a very small number of the largest colleges and universities.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:00 PM ET, 06/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: College Admissions, College Admissions | Tags: college enrollment, freshman college enrollment, freshman enrollment jumps, freshman enrollment rises, pew enrollment study, pew research center, pew study on college enrollment

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/15/2010

How homicides affect test scores - study

By Valerie Strauss

School reformers who say that poverty and family circumstance are only excuses for poor student performance might do well to look at a new study which found African-American children in Chicago scoring a lot lower on reading and vocabulary tests within a week of a homicide in their neighborhood--even if they did not directly witness the violence.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 06/15/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research | Tags: effects of homicide on schoolchildren, effects of poverty on school performance, effects of violence on children, new york university research, school reform

Posted at 09:30 AM ET, 06/11/2010

The subjects college students most heavily research on-line

By Valerie Strauss

What subjects are the most heavily researched on line by college students. Here's a list.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:30 AM ET, 06/11/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research | Tags: on-line libraries, online research, questia, research on the web, research topics

Posted at 10:42 AM ET, 06/03/2010

Sheep deaths in university research lead to probe

By Valerie Strauss

Put this in the category of the perils of research: Nine University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and officials are being investigated to see if they broke state law by killing or allowing sheep to be killed through decompression as part of an experiment on “the bends.”

By Valerie Strauss | 10:42 AM ET, 06/03/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research | Tags: research, sheep deaths, special prosector and sheep, university of wisconsin at madison

Posted at 11:04 AM ET, 05/30/2010

School junk food ban works, study finds

By Valerie Strauss

Banning junk food from schools actually does have a beneficial effect on students, a new research study shows.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:04 AM ET, 05/30/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Health, Health | Tags: banning junk food, healthy school breakfasts, healthy school lunches, nutrition policies, research on junk food, school lunches, school nutrition policies, study on banning junk food, university of nebraska-lincoln

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/25/2010

Concern over accented teachers not original to Arizona

By Valerie Strauss

The state of Arizona has gotten a lot of attention lately for its decision to remove teachers who speak with pronounced foreign accent and/or whose speech is ungrammatical from classrooms with students learning to speak English. But the idea wasn’t original to the Arizona Board of Education.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 05/25/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Learning | Tags: arizona and accents, arizona remove teachers with accents, foreign accents and teachers, research on teachers with accents, teachers with accents

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 05/24/2010

Data shows kids shouldn't multitask -- Willingham

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham looks at the data about whether kids really can effectively multi-task in the way many of them think they can.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:00 PM ET, 05/24/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: can kids multitask?, daniel willingham, data on multitasking, multitasking and kids, research on multitasking

Posted at 04:15 PM ET, 05/18/2010

Report looks at role of poverty, parents in student success

By Valerie Strauss

A new report by the Casey Foundation shows the close link between poverty and student success in reading, and makes recommendations for schools and community members.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:15 PM ET, 05/18/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Reading, Reading, Reading | Tags: Casey Foundation, Casey Foundation report on reading, achievement gap, achievement gap in reading, new report on reading, parental involvement, parental responsibility in school, poverty and student achievement, reading research

Posted at 12:26 PM ET, 05/17/2010

Is education research all dreck? -- Willingham

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist evaluates whether education research is all garbage or has some value.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:26 PM ET, 05/17/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags: Daniel Willingham, aera, education research, value of education research

Posted at 05:08 PM ET, 05/05/2010

Accented teachers may be better for English language learners: study

By Valerie Strauss

Arizona may be making a mistake by trying to remove heavily accented Hispanic teachers from classrooms filled with Hispanic English-language learners. A new study on how well students learn second languages from teachers with accents suggests that tudents can learn a second language better from a teacher who speaks in the same accent as the student.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:08 PM ET, 05/05/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Learning, Learning, Learning | Tags: Arizona, Arizona and accented teachers, Arizona and teachers, Arizona orders teachers with accents out of class, Arizona schools, English language learners, accented teachers, how accents affect learning, language research, research, research on accents, research study on accents, teachers with accents, the answer sheet and arizona

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 04/28/2010

Social media addiction: Worse than you think

By Valerie Strauss

So 200 University of Maryland students agreed to go without social media for 24 hours--no cell phones or computers--and their reaction was akin to drug withdrawal. I don’t know if these students are clinically addicted or not, but anybody who remembers enjoying life before the cell phone was invented may find some of the student's blog posts disturbing because they reveal thinking that is markedly narrow, unimaginative and too often historically obtuse.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:00 PM ET, 04/28/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research, Research, Research | Tags: University of Maryland, kids addicted to technology, kids addicted to video, research, social media, social media experiment, technology

Posted at 02:20 PM ET, 04/25/2010

New strategy to teach vocabulary -- Viadero

By Valerie Strauss

A Harvard researcher develops and tests a new strategy for directly teaching all-purpose academic words to middle school students.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:20 PM ET, 04/25/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research | Tags: Catherine Snow, Harvard research, research, teaching vocabulary, vocabulary

Posted at 09:03 AM ET, 04/19/2010

How writing improves reading skills--study

By Valerie Strauss

It is often said that reading can improve a student’s writing. A new study says the reverse--that writing can improve reading skills as well as content learning--is equally true, and identifies three ways that teachers and even parents can help students make the connection.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:03 AM ET, 04/19/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Reading, Reading, Reading | Tags: new study on reading, new study on writing, reading research, study in reading, study on writing, teaching reading skills, teaching writing skills, writing research

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/19/2010

New analysis of violence on campus

By Valerie Strauss

Colleges and universities should strategically review their threat assessment capacities because some of the conventional beliefs about these attacks are not accurate, a new report issued by the federal government says. For example, while much attention is given to the “traveling” attacker, such as the student who killed 32 students in a shooting spree at Virginia Tech in 2007, only 3 percent of the attackers acctually move from building to building.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 04/19/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Higher Education, Higher Education | Tags: campus violence, research on campus violence, school violence, study on campus violence, violence at school

Posted at 04:07 AM ET, 04/12/2010

New Harvard research on teacher effectiveness

By Valerie Strauss

By Debra Viadero. A new statistical analysis from a group of researchers at Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research adds a new wrinkle to the known body of research on the effectiveness of teachers.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:07 AM ET, 04/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: Debra Viadero, Harvard research, research on teachers, teacher effectiveness

Posted at 12:15 PM ET, 03/30/2010

Researchers take new look at teenage brain

By Valerie Strauss

It has become commonplace these days to hear that teens are victims of their own immature brains and raging hormones. But University of Virginia researchers Joseph P. Allen and Claudia Worrell Allen say that while the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed in teens, it’s far from missing, and we still have little evidence that this affects teens’ real-life behavior.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:15 PM ET, 03/30/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research | Tags: brain research, guest bloggers, teenage brain

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 03/10/2010

“Eyeballs in the Fridge”--New data on what drives males, females into science

By Valerie Strauss

What drives males and females to become scientists? A new study finds differences, and suggests that more science should be taught earlier.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:30 AM ET, 03/10/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research, Research | Tags: education research, science

Posted at 12:40 PM ET, 11/13/2009

How well do kids do research today? Should they ever look at Wikipedia?

By Valerie Strauss

Parents: How extensively do your children do research for school papers? Does anybody still own encyclopedias? Teachers: What/how many sources do you require when you assign a research paper? Is Wikipedia acceptable as a source?

By Valerie Strauss | 12:40 PM ET, 11/13/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: research papers, wikipedia

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 09/15/2009

CHECKING IT OUT: Studies on Homework and The Value of Parent Involvement in Education

By Valerie Strauss

THE ISSUE: A new study challenges the notion that students are bogged down in too much homework. DISCUSSION: The research was led by Professor Kenneth A. Kiewra, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He...

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 09/15/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Homework, Homework | Tags: education research, harris cooper, homework, parental involvement

The Answer Sheet: Research