Parent Cortical Mass

Week's Best Articles on Learning and Education, for Parents

The parent movement to “opt out” of excessive standardized tests has been so persuasive it actually won over President Obama this week. He announced that his administration needed a "smarter" testing policy. Just about all the pundits agreed. Still, diverse opinions abound. 1 2 3 5 The President’s announcement came two days before scores on the latest Nation’s Report Card were released. For the first time since the launch of these tests in the 1990s, scores declined. What does this mean? Get some facts, read some opinions. 4 5 6 7 8 You’ve probably heard of "adaptive learning software," but, could you explain it to a neighbor? Read Will Oremus’ primer and get informed. 9 In the eighties, E.D. Hirsch developed the controversial “cultural literacy” list, his codification of common knowledge all American’s should know. This list was an ancestor of the Common Core. Thirty years later an effort to establish a new list is underway, and of course it’s crowdsourced! What 10 items would you include? 10

Parenting

Everything You Need to Know About the New SAT - Eric Hoover, New York Times

'Affirmative Testing' a New Way to Look at Learning Process - Leanna Landsmann, uexpress

How the Internet Has Changed Bullying - Maria Konnikova, The New Yorker

Parents’ Dilemma: What Should My School Do About New Technologies - Yalda Uhls, Larry Cuban's Blog

"How to Raise an Adult," a Q&A with Julie Lythcott-Haims - Patt Morrison, L.A. Times

How to Give Your Child the Gift of Failure - Nico Pitney, Huffington Post

Learning

For Babies, Copy-Cat Games Provide a Social Compass - Susan Pinker, Wall Street Journal

Can You Get Smarter? - Richard A. Friedman, New York Times

8 Brain 'Facts' We All Get Wrong - Kate Horowitz, mental_floss

Best Way to Learn Math Is to Learn How to Fail Productively - Jenny Anderson, Quartz

Education

1 Open Letter to America's Parents and Teachers on Smarter Testing - Pres. Barack Obama, Huff Post

2 Study Says Standardized Testing Is Overwhelming Public Schools - Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post

3 The President's Pledge to Reduce School Tests Is Meaningless - Robert Pondiscio, US News

4 U.S. Student Performance Slips on "Nation's Report Card" - Emma Brown, Washington Post

5 Our National Test Fixation Isn't Just Bad for Kids, It Doesn't Work - Diane Ravitch, Salon

6 Beware the NAEP Overreactions - Matt Barnum, The 74 Million

7 Heartbreak on NAEP - Michael J. Petrilli, Flypaper

8 Why Did NAEP Scores Drop? - Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, Brookings

No Child Left Behind: What Worked, What Didn't - Cory Turner, nprEd

9 Adaptive Learning Software Is Replacing Textbooks, & Reshaping US Education - Will Oremus, Slate

Resources

10 What Every American Should Know - whateveryamericanshouldknow.org

Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2015 - The New York Times

A Demo of the Pythagorean Theorem Using Water - Flowing Data

Apps That Actually Help Kids Learn - Annie Murphy Paul, The Brilliant Blog

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. Follow us on Twitter at @ParentCorticalM. Thank you!

Week's Best Articles on Learning and Education, for Parents

Silly dads, you are vindicated. Putting that chicken on your head really does help your kids get smarter! 1 Confused by that growing list of “non-cognitive” learning factors, like character traits, PERMA, grit, and mindsets? This is a good week to get clarity on these education buzzwords. 3 6 Math is in the spotlight this week—common core math and preschool math. 4 5 And if you’re looking for a way to brush up on your high school math, there are many online options. Here’s just one. 9 Forever, a parent’s job has been about protecting their kids. But today’s parents stand on the front line of the internet. It’s essential for you to get knowledgeable about privacy and cybersecurity. For generations parents thought it was tricky talking to kids about sex. Now you have to have a conversation about Tor, too. 2 7 8

Parenting

1 Want to Boost Your Toddler's Development? Put a Toy Chicken on Your Head - Science Daily

2 Trusting Parents to Make Smart Choices on Student Data - Jules Polonetsky, The Hill

3 Which Character Strengths Are Most Predictive of Well-Being? - S. B. Kaufman, Scientific American

New Study Shows Parents Misjudge Children’s Happiness - Janice Wood, PsychCentral

Reviews on Recent Parenting Books: Get Out and Play - Julianne Smith, Library Journal

Millennial Dads vs. Work-Family Policies - Claire Cain Miller, New York Times

Learning

Researchers Find That Frequent Tests Can Boost Learning - Annie Murphy Paul, Scientific American

Memory Problems? Go Climb a Tree. - Kurzweil News

A Good Night's Rest Helps Us Remember Things During the Day - Kathleen Lees, ScienceWorldRpt

Talent Sometimes is Better Than Practice, Brain Reveals - Catherine Griffin, ScienceWorldReport

Education

4 Parents Are Getting Schooled by Common Core Math - Alia Wong, The Atlantic

5 Preschoolers Can Do More Math Than We Might Think - John Higgins, Seattle Times

6 “Grit,” “Mindsets,” and “Stereotype Threat”: a Primer - Mikhail Zinshteyn, The Atlantic

The Myth of the Overstressed American Teen - Robert Pondiscio, US News

What’s the Point of Education if Google Can Tell Us Anything? - Ibrar Bhatt, The Conversation

What Classrooms Can Learn From Informal Learning - Terry Heick, TeachThought

How Conservatives Forced Changes to AP US History to be More "Pro-American" - Libby Nelson, Vox

The Continuing Reality of Segregated Schools - Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times

Resources

7 What Are the Deep Web and the Dark Web? - Common Sense Media

8 Back-to-School Cybersecurity: 7 Things College Students Should Do - Jason Glassberg, HuffPost

9 Brush Up on High School Maths with UNSW Online Course - Tim Dodd, Australian Financial Review

Great Audiobooks for Kids - Common Sense Media

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!

Week's Best Articles on Learning and Education, for Parents

Are we expecting too much of our kids, or not enough? Give it some thought this week. 1 2 3 4 Have you heard of Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize winner and best-selling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow? Parents should know about him and his discoveries on humans’ bias to overconfidence. Really, read this one! 5 Heard of Nicholas Christakis’ work on the impacts of our social networks? His article this week is a pitch to college freshman. He explains the informal learning of “peer effects” and describes the critical window for forming friendships. You will get smarter. 6 It’s inevitable that one day your kid will ask why auctioneers talk like they do. Inevitable. Whatchagonnasay Nowhowyagonnatopper? 7

Parenting

1 Today's Exhausted Superkids - Frank Bruni, New York Times

2 Why the Lazy Days of Summer Shouldn’t Be Quite So Lazy - Randye Hoder, Grown and Flown

3 Is It a Mistake to Tell Kids, "You Can Be Anything" - Leslie Garrett, Aeon

4 Are You Holding Your Own Daughter Back? 5 Ways to Raise Girls to Be Leaders - Amy Joyce, WP

Parents Know Hovering Doesn’t Help Kids Succeed. So Why Is It Hard to Stop? - KJ Dell'Antonia, NYT

How Well You Learn to Share in Kindergarten Is a Good Predictor of Later Success - Emma Brown, WP

Were We Wrong About the Link Between Birth Order and Personality? - Carolyn Gregoire, Huff Post

Learning

5 Daniel Kahneman: If I Had a Magic Wand I'd Eliminate Overconfidence - D. Shariatmadari, Guardian

6 For Freshman, An Informal Curriculum in Making Friends in New Places - Nicholas Christakis, NYT

Why It’s Easy to Forget the Several Things You Tried to Remember at Once - C. Benderev, Mind/Shift

Inadequate Hydration Can Impair Cognitive, Emotional Function - K. Feldscher, Harvard Gazette

Don’t Underestimate the Simple Power of Writing Down Your Goals - Melissa Dahl, Science of Us

Education

Why Civil Rights Groups Want Standardized Testing - Libby Nelson, Vox

How the Big New Education Law Could Cut Testing Time - Anya Kamenetz, Mind/Shift

The Rise and Demise of the Much-Loathed SAT - Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post

Testing, Testing - Linda Darling-Hammond, TEDxStanford

The New Frontier for Advanced Placement: Online AP Lessons, for Free - Nick Anderson, Wash Post

The New AP U.S. History Framework Is Scrupulously Fair-Minded - Rick Hess & Max Eden, Nat'l Review

The GOP Is Wrong to Run Away from Common Core - William J. Bennett, The Seventy Four

Do Students Need Grit & Growth Mindsets in the Classroom? - Mikhail Zinshteyn, The Atlantic

Our Parent Checklist Empowers Families to Support Kids' School Success - U.S. Dep't of Education

Resources

Math Hacks to Give You an Edge in Monopoly - Hannah Keyser, Mental Floss

7 Why Auctioneers Talk Fast, Explained by the World Champ - Phil Edwards, Vox

What's the Difference Between Hispanic, Latino & Spanish (video) - Larry Ferlazzo's Blog

Warren Buckleitner Curates a Starter Set of Apps - School Library Journal

Richard Rende's New Book for Parents with Lessons from Entrepreneurs - L. Italie, Yahoo! News

Teacher Recommended: 50 Favorite Classroom Apps - Katrina Schwartz, Mind/Shift

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!