For many parents with seniors in high school the college application season is ramping up. This week the cost of a college education is in the news. 1 2 The article from Phillip Levine at Brookings explains why figuring out the cost is so difficult. It could help. 3 There’s an opportunity this week to get a little smarter about testing and accountability. Read Anya Kamenetz for a good overview. 5 Read Alicia Caldwell to hear the argument for why overtesting is a myth. 6 To understand what the science of learning says about testing, read Benedict Carey’s article. 4 And, if you have apprehensions about America's performance on international tests, read Yong Zhao’s warnings about China’s harmful test prep culture. 7 The holiday weekend is coming. What will you do with that extended family time? Suggestion: learn how to make the best paper airplane! It's about life skills, people. 8
Parenting
1 Is College Worth the Cost? - Andrew Rossi, CNN
2 Student Debt: A Calculator Focused on College Majors - David Leonhardt, New York Times
3 Why Are College Costs So Hard to Figure Out? - Phillip B. Levine, Brookings
The Cult of Kiddie Danger - Lenore Skenazy, Weekly Wonk
Online Safety: What Does It Mean to You? - Sue Scheff, Huffington Post
Children's Books Don't Need Gender-Specific Titles - Glosswitch, New Republic
Learning
4 Studying for the Test by Taking It - Benedict Carey, New York Times
How Your "Working Memory" Makes Sense of the World - Peter Doolittle, TED Talk
Why Highlighting Doesn't Actually Help You Remember - Drake Baer, Business Insider
Does Exercise Really Make Us Smarter? - Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times
Education
5 Testing: How Much Is Too Much? - Anya Kamenetz, nprEd
6 The Myth of Too Much School Testing - Alicia Caldwell, Denver Post
7 Common Core, Don't Copy China's Test-Prep Culture - Yong Zhao, CNN
Why Kids in London do Better in School - Simon Burgess, The Atlantic
How Many K-12 Students Are Illegal Immigrants? - Valerie Strauss, Washington Post
Save the Humanities in Our Public Schools - Helen Vendler, New Republic
Privacy Concerns for ClassDojo and Other Student Tracking Apps - Natasha Singer, New York Times
The Case Against Universal Preschool - Alia Wong, The Atlantic
Resources
8 How to Fold the World's Best Paper Airplane - Kottke.org
Introducing The Psychology Podcast with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman - Scientific American
Shop Smart: Gift Ideas and Tips for Every Age and Stage - Caroline Knorr, CommonSenseMedia
The MindShift Guide to Digital Games and Learning - Ki Sung, Mind/Shift
The Best Children's Books of 2014 - Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
The 20 Hottest Kids' Toys of 2014 - Kristina Martin, Huff Post Parents
Read a few articles each week, and gain parent cortical mass! If you enjoy our weekly article roundup, please email it to a friend, or share on social media. Thank you!