Parent Cortical Mass

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

The public conversation about math continues for a third week. New brain research shows rote memorization of math facts contributes to later math achievement. This research doesn’t align well with the approach common core math standards are taking. 1 Have you heard of the Flynn effect? It’s worth knowing. It shows how the IQ of the worlds’ population is increasing over time. 2 Alfie Kohn explains what recent research says about the 10,000 Hour Rule. It’s essential reading. 3 In education there's two items to point out. First, Michelle Rhee has stepped down as head of her political action organization. Was she too controversial to be effective? 5 6 The second item concerns accountability requirements of NCLB. Many superintendents this year will inform parents that their schools are failing. Even when they aren’t. Why? It’s the law. Congress has failed to fix the problems with NCLB. So, parents will have to make sense of whether schools are, or are not, failing. 4 Many times in the course of life, you find yourself staring into the star-filled night. A four-minute video could enhance your background knowledge as you gaze! 7

Parenting

10 Things Teachers Wish Parent Knew Before School Starts - Lisa Flam, Today Parents

Global Parenting Habits That Haven't Caught On In The U.S. - Emily Lodish, NPR

Encouragement for the Digital Parent - Dr. Elizabeth Milvidov, A Platform for Good

6 Things that Happy Families Have in Common - Eric Barker, Barking up the Wrong Tree

We Don't Need No Education - Ben Hewitt, Outside Online

Harry Potter Casts a Spell for Tolerance - Annie Murphy Paul, Motherlode, NTYT

Learning

1 How Kids' Brains Reorganize When Learning Math Skills - Lauran Neergaard, ABC News

2 How Every Child Can Be a "Math Person" - Miles Kimball, Quartz

3 Perfect, It Turns Out, Is What Practice Doesn't Make - Alfie Kohn, Huffington Post

Why Students Prefer to Learn From a Machine - Annie Murphy Paul, Slate

Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain - Daniel J. Levitin, New York Times

Education

4 Superintendents Must Tell Parents Schools are Failing, Even Though They Aren’t - V Strauss, WP

Teaching Is Not a Business - David Kirp, New York Times

Building Better Teachers - Sara Mosle, The Atlantic

Common Core Tests: Tough Questions, Curious Choices - Robert Pondiscio, Education Next

5 StudentsFirst: Our Next Chapter - Michelle Rhee, Students First

6 Michelle Rhee drops out of school group - Stephanie Simon, Politico

High Schools Letting Students Sleep In to Improve Grades & Health - Kathryn Baron, Ed Week

Video Games and the Future of the Textbook - Jordan Shapiro, Mind/Shift

Resources

7 What Light Can Teach Us about the Universe - TedEd

Tom Hanks Just Released a Typewriter App for iPad - Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge

History Channel Launches Planet H, Edu Moblile Game for Kids 7-11 - Erik Sass, Media Post

Disney Tsum Tsum Mobile Game Hits 20 Million Downloads - Saquib Shab, What Mobile

Guide to Student Data Privacy: How and Why Data Is Collected - edSurge

Teach the Whole Family to Code: MIT's Family Creative Learning Guide - Justin Reich, EdWeek

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 Top Articles on Learning & Education, for Parents

Education Policy is getting curiouser and curiouser! A California judge's ruling on the case Vergara v California shook things up. Every media outlet covered the story. It’s not just big in the education realm. The ruling impacts politics as well. Election level politics, even. While media coverage was noisy, politicians were strangely silent. (Now that’s impact.) Below find articles explaining different viewpoints on this significant ruling, including commentary from our Top Influencers, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Randi Weingarten, and Diane Ravitch. ● A government study released this week compares teen behavior trends over the last 20 years. It provides stats on teen drinking, fighting, texting, sex, and media use. There’s some good news. ● Annie Murphy Paul reviews the book, How Not to Be Wrong. Doesn’t that sound like essential reading for parents? Read it before your teen does!

Parenting

Study: Teens Are Drinking Less, Texting More - Mike Stobbe, Sacramento Bee

Subtweeting: Inside the Harmful New Social Media Trend - Steven Woda, uknowkids

When Texting Goes Wrong: Helping Kids Repair & Resolve Issues - Devorah Heitner, Platform for Good

The Case for Dedicated Dads - Jessica Lahey, The Atlantic

The Daddy Juggle: Work, Life, Family, and Chaos - L. Weber and J. Lublin, Wall Street Journal

Secret Parent: 10 Things We'd Like to Say to Teachers - The Guardian

For Parents and Kids, Sleep is Critical to Keeping Pounds Off - Rick Nauert, PhD, PsychCentral

Sports Should Be Child's Play - David Epstein, New York Times

Learning

The 1 Thing That Will Improve Math Learning - Daniel Willingham, RealClearEducation

12 Minutes of Exercise Improves Attention - Janice Wood, PsychCentral

What's the Best Way for Toddlers to Acquire Verb Meaning? - Northwestern University, PsyPost

Synchronized Brain Waves Enable Rapid Learning - MIT, PsyPost

The Woman Who Forgot the Names of Animals - I. Viskontas & C. Mooney, The Atlantic

Education

Does Tenure Protect Bad Teachers or Good Schools? - Room for Debate, New York Times

Arne Duncan: Drawing the Right Lessons from Vergara - HomeRoom, Dep't of Education

Michelle Rhee: California Tenure Ruling is a Win for Teachers and Kids - Washington Post

Diane Ravitch: Vergara Decision Is Latest Attempt to Blame Teachers - Huffington Post

Randi Weingarten: Moving From 'Test and Punish' to 'Support and Improve' - Huffington Post

Will California's Ruling Against Teacher Tenure Change Schools? - Dana Goldstein, The Atlantic

Putting Teacher Tenure in Context - Adam Ozimek, Forbes

What Does Teacher Tenure Mean for Parents? - Carol Lloyd, GreatSchools

Delay Urged on Actions Tied to Tests by Schools - Motoko Rich, New York Times

The Untold Story of School Finance Reforms in the U.S. - CJ Libassi, EdCentral

Resources

How High Schoolers Use Pot, in 3 Maps - Niraj Chokshi, Washington Post

Summer Reading Favorites for Kindergarteners - Mary Ann Scheuer, GreatKidsBooks

New Chapter Books for Summer Reading, Ages 6-18 - Melissa Taylor, Imagination Soup

12 Games that Teach Kids to Code, AND are Fun - Dan Crawley, VentureBeat

Map: There Have Been 74 Shootings at Schools Since Newtown - Niraj Chokshi, Wash Post

Book Review: How Not to Be Wrong; Why Math Fills So Many of Us with Dread - Annie Murphy Paul, WP

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 Top Articles on Learning & Education, for Parents

A new PISA test topped education news the last few weeks. It tested the general problem-solving skills of students around the world. America’s students rank poorly on international math and language tests. So, policy wonks wonder how the U.S. economy continues to dominate. Could America’s students be better problem-solvers than subject matter test-takers? Not so much, according to the test's results. Is America’s mediocre performance on global achievement tests a harbinger of national decline? That idea is at the heart of education reform. ● Confused about common core math standards? Jessica Lahey’s article explains the difference between curriculum and common core. Read it and enjoy the clarity! ● Does listening to curt repartee inform you? Then, the words this week from Influencers Arne Duncan, Diane Ravitch and Michelle Rhee will do the trick. ● Have you spent a fortune on legos, or plan to? There’s a startup for you.

Parenting

Confusing Math Homework? Don't Blame the Common Core - Jessica Lahey, The Atlantic

Should Parents Opt Out of School Testing? - Room for Debate, New York Times

Why I Opted my Child Out -Not of Tests, But of Test Prep - Matthew Levey, Chalkbeat

Protect Your Kids From Failure - Alfie Kohn, The Atlantic

Our Mothers Were Right: Hard Work Pays Off - Marilyn Achiron, OECD Education Today

Is Parental Involvement in Homework a Bad Thing? - Samatha Stainburn, Education Week

Is College Really Harder to Get Into Than It Used to Be? - Jocaba Urist, The Atlantic

The Drugging of the American Boy - Ryan D'Agostino, Esquire

This is Not Your Father's STEM Job - Jessica Lahey, The Atlantic

Learning

Parents Teaching Reading at Home: Why It Might Not Seem Worth It - Daniel Willingham, RCE

Research on Children and Math: Underestimated and Unchallenged - Annie Murphy Paul, NYT

The Impact of Creativity on the Brain - Judy Willis, TeachThought

Common Misconceptions About Focus - Daniel Goleman, Mindful.org

The Science of Memory (and 4 Uncommon Ways to Enhance It) - Belle Beth Cooper, The Next Web

The Need for Variety in Learning - Jonathan Wai, Mind/shift

Education

The Two Tracks of School Reform - Michael Petrilli & Chester Finn, Education Next

Understanding the Propaganda Campaign Against Public Education - Diane Ravitch, BillMoyers.com

And the World's Best Problem Solvers Are... - Joy Resmovits, Huffington Post

The Brainy Questions on Finland's Only High Stakes Standardized Test -Pasi Sahlberg, Wash Post

4 Reasons Common Core Critics Should Reconsider - Joshua Bleiberg, Hechinger Report

Trying to Close a Knowledge Gap, Word by Word - Motoko Rich, New York Times

Do School Boards Actually Matter? - Rick Hess, Education Week

Arne Duncan Defends Against Criticisms from Left and Right - Judy Woodruff, PBS

My Favorite Arne Duncan Line: What's Yours? - Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch's Blog

Opting Out of Standardized Tests? Wrong Answer - Michelle Rhee, Washington Post

Michelle Rhee Still Doesn't Get It - Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

Literacy Is Knowledge - Robert Pondiscio, City Journal

Resources

9 Novels Both Girls and Boys Can Love - KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times

Neurocomic: A Graphic Novel About How the Brain Works - Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

Monument Valley Is a Legend in the Making - Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch

6 Questions Critical Thinkers Ask: A Poster - Education Technology and Mobile Learning

This Startup Rents Legos - John Koetsier, Venture Beat

50 Great Books for Parents and Teachers - Katie Lepi, Edudemic

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!