PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report

PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report

PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says

National study finds Black students and low-income children don’t reap the small gains achieved by white, Asian and high-income children

Gifted education is often a flash point in school desegregation debates; in large cities, these programs often operate as an essentially separate school system, dominated by white and Asian children. Though gifted programs touch only 3.3 million school children, about 7 percent of the U.S. student population, it’s disturbing that Black and Hispanic children are rarely chosen for them. 

Some progressives have proposed eliminating gifted programs altogether. Others are seeking ways to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students. Only 4 percent of Black children and 5 percent of Hispanic children are in gifted programs compared with 8 percent of white and 13 percent of Asian children, according to the most recent federal figures.

Against this political backdrop, a new study raises big questions about whether gifted education benefits the kids who are lucky enough to be in it. Researchers analyzed the records of about 1,300 students, drawn from a nationally representative sample of children across the country, who started kindergarten in 2010 and participated in a gifted program for at least one year during their elementary school years through fifth grade. 

In school systems that offer gifted programs, children generally begin their schooling in a regular kindergarten classroom with children of mixed CONTINUE READING: PROOF POINTS: Gifted programs provide little to no academic boost, new study says - The Hechinger Report

Students didn't just learn nothing during school closures — they actually regressed, study says | Salon.com

Students didn't just learn nothing during school closures — they actually regressed, study says | Salon.com

Students didn't just learn nothing during school closures — they actually regressed, study says

Researchers say students "made little or no progress while learning from home" — and many suffered "learning loss"

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the pandemic caused "the largest disruption to education in history" — and children are suffering from learning loss as a result.

The study, which was co-authored by researchers affiliated with the University of Oxford, analyzed national examinations that occurred in the Netherlands both during and after their school lockdowns. They selected that country because the lockdown there was brief, schools there receiving equitable funding and the nation has "world-leading rates of broadband access." In other words, it provided a "best-case" scenario for people who hope that children aren't learning less as a result of the pandemic lockdowns.

Yet despite the country's "favorable conditions" for education, researchers found that students "made little or no progress while learning from home."

"Learning loss was most pronounced among students from disadvantaged homes," the authors write.

The study has far-reaching implications for the global state of education during the pandemic, particularly at the primary and secondary level. In the United States, most states closed schools at first before enacting remote learning plans involving so-called "Zoom classrooms," named for the eponymous video conference app. Some schools have reopened since, though school reopening plans vary tremendously among districts and public or private schools. CONTINUE READING: Students didn't just learn nothing during school closures — they actually regressed, study says | Salon.com

Marion Brady: Free Courses of Study to Think Differently | Diane Ravitch's blog

Marion Brady: Free Courses of Study to Think Differently | Diane Ravitch's blog

Marion Brady: Free Courses of Study to Think Differently

Marion Brady is a progressive educator who has never given up the fight to make education a lively and engaging experience.

He wrote the following to me:

Diane,The courses of study I give away were developed for Prentice-Hall over a period of seven years, working with dozens of middle school teachers nationwide. They taught every lesson, providing feedback and suggestions, and those that P-H thought were most insightful were brought together for a week at the end of every semester to go over final versions. 
P-H shelved it and gave me copyrights when the marketing department concluded that Phyllis Schafley’s claim that departures from tradition were a slippery slope to communism.
Since my brother and I put them online and free, downloads of files range from 600 to 1600 per week without a dime to advertise. 
Standardized testing is the major obstacle to acceptance.I’ve double-checked the links. They’re important.
Thanks much for all you do.

Marion

Salvaging public schooling

By Marion Brady

Public schooling should be the bedrock of democracy, but the institution’s failure to produce a citizenry more resistant to authoritarianism and fantastical conspiracy theories is surely evidence of a serious institutional problem. 

Unfortunately, it’s also a problem that most schools are CONTINUE READING: Marion Brady: Free Courses of Study to Think Differently | Diane Ravitch's blog