Parent Cortical Mass

PCM's Top Articles of the Week

Since it's the beginning of the school year, how about we start with a few questions? What are the scientifically-proven best methods of study? What do you think about rewarding good grades with money? Do we understand technology's impact on youngsters' learning? Can kids master critical thinking skills without using their background knowledge? Do you prefer teachers who are parents themselves? Do ‘self-regulation’ diagnoses treat kids who learn better while not sitting still unfairly? What is a 'failing' school? Fifty years after the “I Have a Dream” speech, has poverty replaced race as the significant educational divider? Does poverty impact working memory? ● Reading just two top articles each week will make you smarter by the start of winter semester. And you will increase the collective knowledge of parents at the same time!

Parenting

Why Parenting Can Never Have a Rule Book - SPSP, PsyPost

Should You Pay a Kid for Getting Good Grades? - Demetria Gallegos, Wall Street Journal

Sesame Street Widens Its Focus with Pre-K STEM - Elizabeth Jensen, New York Times

New Study: Yelling Doesn't Help with Teens - Adam Reger, Eurekalert

Free Choice, Not Coercion, Makes Kids More Generous - Gwen Dewar,PhD, BabyCenter

What DNA Can and Cannot Tell Us - Richard Rende, PhD, Parenting

The Myth of the Trend Story Stay-at-Home Mom - Jessica Grose, Slate

Learning

Cog Scientists Identify Best Ways to Study - Dunlosky, et al., Scientific American

Grow a Brain, Already - Gary Marcus, The New Yorker

Is Technology Scrambling My Baby's Brain? - Ben Popper, The Verge

A New Theory of Elite Performance - Christine Carter, PhD, Huffington Post

Debunking the Genius Myth - Holly Korbey, Mind/Shift

Thinking is Knowing is Thinking - Nicholas Carr, Rough Type

How Poverty Taxes the Brain - Emily Badger, Atlantic Cities

Education

American Schools are Failing Nonconformist Kids - Elizabeth Weil, New Republic

When Class Became More Important Than Race in Child's Education - S. Garland, Atlantic

Being a Parent Made Me a Better Teacher - Sara Mosle, Slate

All or Nothing on Teacher Accountability - Michael Petrilli, Flypaper

Geoffrey Canada Interviewed: American Dream (Unfulfilled) - Williams & Sawyers, Huff Post

Diane Ravitch on What is a 'Failing' School? - Huff Post

E.D. Hirsch on The Test of the Common Core - Huff Post

Tracing Student Failure in Algebra to Upper Elementary - Think Through Math

7 Characteristics of Great Education Systems - The Globe and Mail

Resources

Tools for Backyard Bug Hunters - Anna Kuchment, Scientific American

Netflix Academy: Best Edu Videos Available for Streaming - Michael Petrilli, Education Next

Top 25 Picture Book Apps of the Year (Ages 2-12) - Carisa Kluver, Digital Media Diet

AppoLearning Helps Parents Find Ed Apps Worth Buying - Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

Documentary Film, "Is School Enough?" - Katrina Schwartz, Mind/Shift

Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids - Warren Buckleitner, Children's Technology Review

PCM's Top Articles of the Week

After a few weeks spent relocating from Chicago to Cambridge, we are back with our weekly Top Articles newsletter. During our time away the school year came to an end, graduation addresses inspired, and legislators actually proposed several NCLB reauthorizations. ● Pew Research released two topical reports, one on teens and social media and another on current family breadwinning practices. ● The DSM-5 was re-written and Richard Rende translates for parents what they need to know. ● Find out how to use summer's informal learning time to prevent “brain drain.” ● An article this week questions if there’s more to greatness than what the 10,000 Hour Rule of talent plus deliberate practice suggests. ● Commencement addresses given at Harvard by Geoffrey Canada and Oprah are worth watching.

Parenting

Some Thoughts on Pew's Latest Report on Teens - Danah Boyd, DMLcentral

New Texting Service to Report Bullying Gets National PTA Support - Michele Molnar, Ed Week

Stop Using the Word "Bullying" in School, Researchers Say - Anne Collier, NetFamilyNews

Have American Parents Got It All Backwards? - Christine Gross-Loh, Huff Post

Breadwinner Moms - Wendy Wang, Kim Parker, Paul Taylor, Pew Research

DSM-5: Why (and What) Parents Should Know About It - Richard Rende, Red Hot Parenting

How Parents Can Encourage Summer Reading: 13 Ideas - Dr. Kimberly Tyson, Learning Unlimited

Keeping Kids Academically Sharp During Summer - Sherri Wilson, National PTA, Learning First

How to Encourage Moral Behavior - Daniel Willingham, Science & Education Blog

Learning

Picking Up a 2nd Language Is Predicted by Ability to Learn Patterns - ScienceDaily

The Bottom Line on 'Learning Styles' - Daniel Willingham, Washington Post

Preschool Math: Evidence that Home Environment Matters Most - G. Dewar, Parenting Science

The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talent or Practice - Scott Barry Kaufman, Creativity Post

Why We Should Read Literature: It Makes Us Smarter - Annie Murphy Paul, Time

The Banality of Deeper Learning - Tom Loveless, Brookings

Study: Forget a Word? Make a Fist - James Hamblin, The Atlantic

Students Can Learn by Explaining, Studies Say - Sarah Sparks, Education Week

Physical Activity at School Might Boost Grades, Studies Show - Celia Baker, Deseret News

Education

Plans to Replace NCLB Bring Dueling Visions of Federal Role in Ed - Lyndsey Layton, WP

Were All Those Standardized Tests for Nothing? NCLB Lessons - T. Ahn, J. Vigdor, AEI

Public Spending Per Student Drops - Stephanie Banchero, Wall Street Journal

Do Americans Know How Well Their State's Schools Perform? -Martin R. West, Brookings

Reading Gains Lag Improvements in Math - Motoko Rich, New York Times

Caution and the Common Core State Standards - The Editorial Board, New York Times

In the Economic Recovery, College Majors Matter - Kelsey Sheehy, US News

Is Coding the New Second Language? - Peg Tyre, Smithsonian

Geoffrey Canada: "You Might Be Greatest Generation Yet" - Commencement Address, Harvard

Michelle Rhee: How She Misled Education Reform - Nicholas Lemann, New Republic

Why Private Schools Are Dying Out - Chester Finn, The Atlantic

Resources

Coolest Tech Gifts for Dad Under $50 - coolmomtech

Penguin Classic Wallpaper - Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing

Kidaptive Debuts "Parent's Pad," A New Way to Track Kid's Ed Devp - Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

10 Kid Reads Exploring U.S. History and Patriotism, - Natalie Singer-Velush, ParentMap

Your Kids Fav Nickelodeon Shows, Now on Amazon Prime. Free! - coolmomtech

Oprah's Harvard Address on Failure & Finding Your Purpose - Maria Popova, BrainPickings

PCM's Top Articles of the Week

This week news about Plan B contraception turned parenting media to topics of sex, sex education, and sexting. Get informed. ● A new survey shows parents are quite positive toward the use of mobile technology for learning in school. Yet, recent research on multitasking shows shallower learning when students shift focus from schoolwork to "blinking inboxes" on their mobile devices. Would students have the discipline to resist? ● Recently, we’ve featured articles on government funding of brain research, but who can actually understand these projects? Tim Verstynen’s amusing article explains it to us like we were two year olds. ● Find articles about poverty, wealth and the achievement gap, extending learning time, the global achievement gap, language dancing, and out-of-school learning. ● PCM's Top 10 Influencers Arne Duncan and Geoffrey Canada were conspicuous in this week’s news. ● Don’t miss the PBS News segment about a science program at a middle school in Maine. Wow.

Parenting

Parents See Benefit of Mobile Tech, Want Schools To Take Advantage - J. Bolkan, The Journal

Parents May Devote More Teaching Time to Girls Than to Boys - Shankar Vedantam, MindShift

At What Age Should Sex Education Begin? - Room For Debate - NYTimes

Is There Emergency Contraception in Your Medicine Cabinet? - KJ Dell'Antonia, NYTimes

Understanding the Spectrum of Motivations in Sexting - Anne Collier, NetFamilyNews

Real Reason Your Kid Won’t Listen To You? Your Western Parenting Style - Nicholas Day, Slate

“Life is Good”: 4 Ways to Nurture Optimism In Your Kids - Richard Rende, RedHotParenting

The Mark of an Educated Mind - Jessica Lahey, Coming of Age in the Middle

Learning

Why Learning and Multitasking Don’t Mix - Annie Murphy Paul, The Creativity Post

The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper vs Screens - Ferris Jabr, Sci Am

Lack of Sleep Blights Pupils' Education - Sean Coughlan, BBC News

Have Standardized Tests Really Helped Kids Learn More? - Carol Burris, Washington Post

Explained: the BRAIN Initiative vs. the Human Connectome Project - Tim Verstynen, Psyc Today

Early Math and Reading Ability Linked to Job and Income in Adulthood - Science Daily

Critical Thinking Is Best Taught Outside the Classroom - Dennis M. Bartels, Scientific American

Education

Louisiana Supreme Court Rules School Vouchers Unconstitutional - Valerie Strauss, Wash Post

Are ‘No Excuses’ Reformers & Their Critics Finding Common Ground? - S. Garland, Hechinger

You'll Be Shocked by How Many of World's Top Students Are American - J. Weissmann, Atlantic

No Rich Child Left Behind - Sean F. Reardon, New York Times

To Close the 'Opportunity Gap,' We Need to Close the Vocabulary Gap - M. Petrilli, Ed Week

Growing Movement Seeks to Expand Length of School Day - Celia Baker, Deseret News

Arne Duncan’s Moment of Truth - John Merrow, Taking Note

Geoffrey Canada: Our failing schools. Enough is enough! [Video] - TED Talk

Resources

PBS News Segment: Problem Solvers - Produced by John Tulenko & David Wald, Learning Matters

TED Teams Up With PBS for Education Program - Elizabeth Jensen, New York Times

Can These iPad Apps Teach Your Kid to Code? - Lauren Goode, AllThingsD

Life Doesn’t Frighten Me: Maya Angelou’s Children's Book - Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

Picture Book about Mouse in Space, Written by a Shuttle Pilot - Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing