no child left behind

Should Preschools Direct Children’s Learning?

I’m hard pressed to find a preschool these days that doesn’t call itself a “childhood learning center” or the like. But in a recent article in Slate, “Why Preschool Shouldn’t Be Like School,” Alison Gopnik discusses two studies that have found “While learning from a teacher may help children get to a specific answer more […]

National Education Standards: Good or Bad?

Less than two months ago, U.S.  governors and state school chiefs released recommendations for national education standards in math and English. The standards were developed by the states, which can choose whether to adopt them, but U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he is “ecstatic” about the initiative. The New York Times reports today that 27

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Politics and Law Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida announced a series of improved policies “more responsive to the needs of the LGBT community.” The move was in response to a lawsuit brought by Janice Langbehn, who in 2007 was kept from her partner Lisa Pond who lay dying in the hospital. The couple’s three children

Teaching Science to Kindergarteners

Children get turned off to science early, says Scientific American, saying, “Studies have found that children in kindergarten are already forming negative views about science that could cast a shadow across their entire educational careers. . . . Furthermore, even before first grade, fewer girls than boys say they like science.” One solution, from educational

Kindergartens Under Pressure

Last week, I mentioned the demise of PBS Kids’ Reading Rainbow and the perils of teaching the mechanics of reading without the love of it. I also mentioned a New York Times editorial about some of the failings of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Seems like several papers are all over this issue as we

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