THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Students' grades and health improve with later high school start times
Later high school start times improve student grades and overall health, according to a new University of Minnesota study, released today. The three-year project, using data from more than 9,000 students attending eight high schools in three states, found that, when switching to a later start time: * attendance, standardized test scores and academic performance in math, English, science and soc
Bullying Raises Kids' Suicide Risk
Children and teens involved in bullying -- victims and perpetrators alike -- are more likely to think about suicide or attempt it. And cyber bullying appears more strongly linked to suicidal thoughts than other forms of bullying, a new research review finds.The findings "establish with more certainty that bullying is related to suicide thoughts and attempts," said study lead author Mitch
MAR 13
Trends and Consequences of School Segregation
Since the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, researchers and policymakers have paid close attention to trends in school segregation. While Brown focused on black-white segregation, here we review the evidence regarding trends and consequences of both racial and economic school segregation. In general, the evidence regarding trends in racial segregation suggests that the mos
MAR 11
Obesity associated with lower academic attainment in teenage girls, says new study
Obesity in adolescent girls is associated with lower academic attainment levels throughout their teenage years, a new study has shown.The research conducted by the Universities of Strathclyde, Dundee, Georgia and Bristol is the most comprehensive study yet carried out into the association between obesity and academic attainment in adolescence. The results are published in the International Journal
Gesturing with hands is a powerful tool for children’s math learning
Children who use their hands to gesture during a math lesson gain a deep understanding of the problems they are taught, according to new research from University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology.Previous research has found that gestures can help children learn. This study in particular was designed to answer whether abstract gesture can support generalization beyond a particular problem and w
Using Student Test Scores to Measure Principal Performance
Expansion of the use of student test score data to measure teacher performance has fueled recent policy interest in using those data to measure the effects of school administrators as well. However, little research has considered the capacity of student performance data to uncover principal effects. Filling this gap, this article identifies multiple conceptual approaches for capturing the contrib
Marketers Are Busy in Schools
Schoolhouse commercialism continues virtually unabated, despite the harm it does, and neither federal nor state lawmakers are moving to further control the practice, according to a new report released today.The pervasiveness of commercialism in education has become so broad, its threat so great, and its reported benefits so minor that the report’s authors call on policymakers to ban any such activ
Dual Enrollment with Career and Technical Education Focus Improves College Completion
An increasing number of students are participating in dual enrollment courses with a career and technical education focus, a trend that research shows should serve states interested in improving college completion and workforce investment. The Education Commission of the States has released a report highlighting research that links CTE dual enrollment courses with improved outcomes for traditional
MAR 07
Infants using known verbs to learn new nouns
Before infants begin to talk in sentences, they are paying careful attention to the way a new word is used in conversationsThere is a lot that 19-month-old children can't do: They can't tie their shoes or get their mittens on the correct hands. But they can use words they do know to learn new ones.New research from Northwestern University demonstrates that even before infants begin to talk in sent
Preschoolers can outsmart college students at figuring out gizmos
Preschoolers can be smarter than college students at figuring out how unusual toys and gadgets work because they're more flexible and less biased than adults in their ideas about cause and effect, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Edinburgh.The findings suggest that technology and innovation can benefit from the exploratory learning and p
Head Start more beneficial for children whose parents provide less early academic stimulation
One year of Head Start can make a bigger difference for children from homes where parents provide less early academic stimulation, such as reading to children, helping them recognize and pronounce letters and words, and helping them count. Showing parents how they can help their children with reading and counting may help, too.Those are the conclusions of a new study by researchers at the Universi
Classroom Focus on Social and Emotional Skills Can Lead to Academic Gains
Classroom programs designed to improve elementary school students’ social and emotional skills can also increase reading and math achievement, even if academic improvement is not a direct goal of the skills building, according to a study to be published this month in American Educational Research Journal (AERJ). The benefit holds true for students across a range of socio-economic backgrounds. In
Preschoolers Can Do Algebra, Psychologists Find
Millions of high school and college algebra students are united in a shared agony over solving for x and y, and for those to whom the answers don’t come easily, it gets worse: Most preschoolers and kindergarteners can do some algebra before even entering a math class. In a recently published study in the journal Developmental Science, lead author and post-doctoral fellow Melissa Kibbe and Lisa Fei