News related to: learning

California School Districts Learn More About What State Expects During a Long Shutdown

Gov. Gavin Newsom advised school districts on Tuesday that they should expect to be closed the rest of the school year. On Wednesday, a 75-minute webinar led by the California Department of Education, viewed by about 7,000 people, provided guidance on how to provide distance learning, meals for students and limited child care while schools are shut down because of the coronavirus. Read more ›

Comcast’s Internet Essentials Helps Connect Low-Income Families to the Internet

Comcast’s Internet Essentials helps connect low-income families to the internet at home.   New Internet Essentials customers will receive two free months of Internet service, which is available to all qualified low-income households for $9.95 per month plus tax. Read more ›

Report: Special Education in California an ‘Urgent Priority’

One in eight students in California receives special education services, but the state’s schools are often “ill-equipped” to serve them, and funding for students with disabilities has not “kept pace with district costs,” according to a collection of research papers released Tuesday by Policy Analysis for California Education. Read more ›

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to Disseminate CA Dyslexia Guidelines to All Educator Prep Programs

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing commissioners will distribute the California Dyslexia Guidelines across the full spectrum of educator preparation programs in California including teacher preparation, induction, administrator preparation, and pupil personnel services programs. Read more ›

California Pushes Back School Start Times for Middle and High School Students

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Sunday that pushes school start times later. Under the new law, middle schools will start classes at 8 a.m. or after, while high schools will start classes at 8:30 a.m. or after. Optional early classes will still be allowed.
 
The law applies to public and charter schools, though rural school districts are exempt. The new start times go into effect by July 1, 2022, or when a school’s collective bargaining agreement with its employees expires, whichever is later. Read more ›

U.S. Department of Education Announces New Grant Awards to Address School Safety and Improve Access to Mental Health Services

The U.S. Department of Education announced $71.6 million in new funding to enhance safety in schools and improve student access to mental health resources. The Depart of Education made the awards under four grant programs, which support recommendations identified in the final report issued by the Federal Commission on School Safety. Read more ›

October Is International Dyslexia Awareness Month

 International Dyslexia Awareness Month was established by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) to raise awareness and educate others about dyslexia. Read more ›

July 8-13 Is National Summer Learning Week!

Children can lose up to two months of essential math and reading skills during the summer months. Fortunately, there is plenty that families and caregivers can do to support learning during the summer! Read more ›

Free Live Webinar on March 6: How to Find the Best School Match for Your Student with ADHD or LD

School is supposed to be a place where children learn, grow, and thrive, but that isn’t always the case. For kids with ADHD and learning disabilities (LD), certain school environments may not be a good fit, and could even disrupt the educational experience. So when is it time to consider a new school? Are there ways to work with your child’s current school to transform it into a better learning environment?

ADDitude magazine is hosting a free expert webinar about how to choose a school for your child with ADHD/LD featuring Susan Yellin, Esq., on Wednesday, March 6, at 10 a.m. PST. Read more ›

Executive Function Deficits in Kindergarten May Predict Academic Difficulties in Primary Grades

New Penn State research suggests that children’s executive function deficits may be an important risk factor for academic difficulties.

Preliminary findings from a three-year National Science Foundation-funded project, recently published in Child Development, show that executive functions in kindergarten predict children’s mathematics, reading and science achievement, as well as their classroom behavior, in second grade. Read more ›

Elementary Students with Depression Are More at Risk for Skill Deficits

Early elementary students with symptoms of depression are much more likely to be at risk for academic deficits, according to new research. Read more ›

10% of US Children Diagnosed With ADHD, Study Finds

The number of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has reached more than 10 percent, a significant increase during the past 20 years, according to a recent study. Read more ›

Study: A Growth Mindset Helps Students Cope With Academic Setbacks

A new study finds that when students experience an academic setback such as a bad grade, the amount of cortisol—the so-called stress hormone—in their bodies typically spikes. For most students it drops back down to normal levels a day later, but for some it stays high. These students remain fixated on the setback and have difficulty moving forward. Read more ›

Research: Exploring the Link Between Childhood Curiosity and School Achievement

The more curious the child, the more likely he or she may be to perform better in school — regardless of economic background — suggests a new study published in Pediatric Research. Read more ›

For Teenagers, Praising ‘Effort’ May Not Promote a Growth Mindset

Teachers have long been told to praise students’ effort, rather than simply saying they are “smart,” as a way to encourage students to think of their intelligence as something that can grow over time. A new review of research in the journal Child Development suggests just praising the effort of middle and high school students to boost their “growth mindset” can have the opposite effect, with those adolescents praised becoming less likely to believe their work can improve their intelligence or skills. Read more ›

Noted Child Psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz, MD, Speaks Out on the Parkland Shooting

Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology and President of the Child Mind Institute has spoken out on the Parkland shooting and the urgent need to make mental health a priority for research and action. Read more ›

New Study from Stanford University Finds That Positivity Makes Kids More Successful

Scientists from Stanford University have discovered the brain pathway that directly links a positive attitude with achievement.
 
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine studied 240 children ages seven to 10 and found that being positive improved their ability to answer math problems, increased their memories and enhanced their problem-solving abilities. They also used MRI brain scans to map the neurological effects of positivity. Read more ›

Research: Learning to Self-Manage

The ability to exercise self-control — even with a specific, self-imposed goal in mind — is tough, even as it develops with age. New research from the Harvard Graduate School of Education illustrates just how precarious willpower can be for young people: Middle school students who want to achieve a goal and who actively agree to suffer a consequence if they don’t achieve it may still be unable to change their counterproductive behaviors. It’s a reminder for teachers that simply encouraging students to “stay focused” may not help those students cultivate positive habits. Read more ›

Young, Gay and Living On The Street: LGBT Youth Face Increased Odds of Homelessness

As the cost of housing continues to soar in California and elsewhere, an increasing number of young people have become homeless, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Among those homeless, one group has it especially tough: Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Read more ›

Early Test Scores Do Not Predict Future Academic Growth; School Quality Matters More

Early test scores do not predict future academic growth, according to new research from Stanford.

The research was performed by Sean Reardon, a professor who studies poverty and inequality in education at the university, and based upon analysis of test scores of students in grades 3-8 at 11,000 districts across the country. Read more ›

Intervention Offered in Kindergarten Readiness Program Boosts Children’s Self-Regulation Skills

Adding a daily 20 to 30 minute self-regulation intervention to a kindergarten readiness program significantly boosted children’s self-regulation and early academic skills, an Oregon State University researcher has found. Read more ›

How a New Model of Autism Treatment Uses Robots

There are a growing number of assistive therapy (AT) tools to help students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to work independently and navigate classroom routines. Not all AT tools are high-tech: They can be simple, adaptive tools like highlighters and organizers, automatic page-turners, or book holders. They can also be high-tech tools like robots. Read more ›

Survey Finds Majority of Students Feel Engaged, But Less Than Half Find School Work to be Relevant

Across all grade levels, the majority of students feel engaged, according to data released today by the San Francisco-based nonprofit YouthTruth Student Survey

The findings come from a recent analysis of student perception survey data from over 230,000 students across 36 states gathered between November 2012 and June 2017. The analysis found slight differences in students’ experiences of engagement across grade levels, with elementary students slightly more likely to be engaged than secondary students. Read more ›

How Reading Aloud to Therapy Dogs Can Help Struggling Kids

While many people are familiar with therapeutic pets and how they can help lift up people’s spirits, bringing them into the classroom might sound far-fetched. How can a therapy pet possibly teach children the life lessons of kindness and empathy? Can a pet really alter the way that students feel about learning? Read more ›

The Adolescent Brain Subject of Long-Term Federal Study

Every educator or parent who’s wondered what’s going on in the heads of moody, socially obsessed teenagers may soon get an answer. The National Institutes of Health will dedicate $300 million over the next decade to launch the largest, most comprehensive study to date of how children’s brains develop during adolescence.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, or ABCD, will bring together researchers from nearly two dozen institutions across the country to track the development of 10,000 children, ages 9 and 10, over the next decade. Read more ›