Information about education provided online, with recent results of scientific research and useful information for teachers, parents, students and the general public. Contributing to an informed debate.
Good teaching is not a special measure
Why the principles that support children with special educational needs are the foundations of effective teaching for all.
David Didau
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Is Testing the Next Frontier in Ed Reform?
A short-lived experiment in Louisiana suggests the power of tying reading tests to content that students have been taught.
Natalie Wexler
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The Box Metaphor for Working Memory
How many boxes can you hold? Late last year, I went to a talk by Dr. Sarah Oberle where she posed this question and I have been using a modified version of this metaphor ever since. It is clearly a trick question. The answer, like so many things in our complex world of education is, of course, it depends. It depends on several factors that match up quite nicely with the same questions of what we can hold in working memory. Below I’ll walk through a few of these and hopefully it will give you a better way of thinking about working memory as well.
Cindy Nebel
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What's Really Behind the "Southern Surge"?
Improved reading scores in states like Louisiana are due to far more than “phonics” or “accountability.”
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Notetaking Formats
One of the most common metaphors to describe what the first few years of medical school is like is that it is like drinking water from a fire hose. There is an overwhelming amount of information that students need to learn, and need to learn fast. One of the areas that I help medical students with is in improving their notetaking to help them manage the “fire hose” of information.
Althea Need Kaminske
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The Key to Motivating Students--and Maybe Everyone Else Too
Students won’t learn unless they’re motivated. But the best way to motivate them is to enable them to experience achievement.
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To Boost Learning, Weave Writing Activities Into Regular Instruction
Weaving explicit writing instruction into class discussion can maximize the benefits of any content-rich curriculum—and help students become proficient writers.
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Want Students to Be Good Speakers? Teach Them to Write
A push for "oracy" in England points up connections between writing and oral language
Thinking is Hard
Thinking is hard. As someone whose career is more or less based on thinking thoughts, and communicating those thoughts effectively, I have a love-hate relationship with thinking.
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Do two weeks of instruction time matter?
In Madrid, public schools cut two weeks from their school year without altering the syllabus. We examined student test scores before and after this change and compared them with private schools, which didn't experience this shift.
Ismael Sanz Labrador
Juan de Dios Tena Horrillo
Dramatic new evidence that building knowledge can boost comprehension and close gaps
Building students’ general knowledge can lead to dramatic long-term improvements in reading comprehension, a new study suggests—casting serious doubt on standard teaching approaches.
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The gift of gifted children
When discussing education systems, the focus is usually on low-performing students. Often the reasons for a low performance are linked to the students’ disadvantaged socioeconomical or immigrant background: youngsters who struggle with their shortcomings, their motivation to learn and even to be at school. The other end of the spectrum is discussed less frequently.
Gunda Tire
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