Ed Links

In 2020, 1 in 7 People in U.S. May Be Foreign-Born

If present trends continue, within two decades the proportion of immigrants in the United States will surpass the peak reached more than a century ago, a new analysis concludes.

Uncommon Knowledge: Surprising insights from the social sciences

CURRENT EVENTS, IT now appears, shape sex appeal. According to a recent theory in psychology, individuals react defensively when the world around them (the "system") is threatened. This defensiveness generally prompts them to embrace the status quo, along with any of its associated stereotypes. In a new test of the theory, researchers found that men who read one article conveying pessimism about their country became significantly more interested in traditionally feminine women - women who were portrayed in profiles as "vulnerable, pure, and ideal for making men feel complete."

Center for the Study of Social Justice Working Papers

[Some stuff related to education, here, including this from Crooked Timber:] Adam Swift and I have just posted a short critical working paper at the Center for the Study of Social Justice website. It�s a response to papers in Ethics (July 2007) by Elizabeth Anderson and Debra Satz (both, I�m afraid, behind a paywall, though I notice that the free sample issue is the one with Adam�s and my paper on parents rights, so I can�t resist encouraging people to read that), both arguing for a principle of educational adequacy as the correct principle of educational justice. Before reading their papers I had thought of adequacy as a straightforward strategic retreat by educational progressives, a retreat that makes strategic sense in the US because many States have constitutional provisions that are plausibly interpreted as demanding adequacy for all (and litigation, not politics, is the most promising way forward). But both Satz and Anderson argue for adequacy on principled grounds; they think that educational equality is a misguided goal, and also that adequacy is a good goal. . . . Satz is especially good on what adequacy, understood the right way, demands for low-achieving children, whereas Anderson is especially good on what it demands for children bound for elites.

You Remind Me of Me

Imitation is one of the most common and recognizable behaviors in the animal kingdom. Just as baby chimps learn to climb by aping their elders, so infants pick up words and gestures by copying parents. They sense and mimic peers� behavior from early on, too, looking up at the ceiling if others around them do so or mirroring others� cringes of fear and anxiety. Such behavioral contagion probably evolved early for survival, some scientists argue. It is what scatters a flock well before most members see a lunging predator. Yet by drawing on apparently similar skills, even in seemingly trivial ways, people can prompt almost instantaneous cooperation from complete strangers.

A review of Democratic Hope: Pragmatism and the Politics of Truth by Robert Westbrook

Robert Westbrook claims that pragmatist political theorists share a common hope for democracy. I argue that there are at least two distinct and opposed pragmatist conceptions of democracy � one Deweyan, the other Peircean � and thus two distinct and opposed hopes for democracy. The author criticizes the Deweyan view and defends the Peircean view.

Learning to Lie

Kids lie early, often, and for all sorts of reasons�to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, to gain a sense of control. But now there�s a singular theory for one way this habit develops: They are just copying their parents.

New book by one of our greatest sociologists: The Craftsman by Richard Sennett

Richard Sennett�s The Craftsman continues an argument begun in the 19th century, when writers such as John Ruskin and William Morris extolled the crafts remembered in our surnames (Smith, Cartwright, Thatcher, Mason, Fletcher) while lamenting the mind-numbing and soul-destroying labour of the industrial process which was replacing them. A long line of thinkers, from Hegel and Marx to Sennett�s teacher Hannah Arendt, have sympathised with the argument. But Sennett does not think that craftsmanship has vanished from our world. On the contrary: it has merely migrated to other regions of human enterprise, so that the delicate form of skilled cooperation that once produced a cathedral now produces the Linux software system.

Weekly Irrelevant but Fascinating: The economics of assassination might surprise you as much as they did Harvard's Ben Olken.

According to Olken�s research, in Indonesia, where TV coverage isn�t yet universal, one finds that �better signal reception, which is associ�ated with more time spent watching television and listening to radio, is associated with sub�stantially lower levels of participation in social activities and with lower self-reported measures of trust.� This, he notes, has had a deleterious effect on political and social par�ticipation: �The main results suggest that each additional channel of television reception is associated with 7 percent fewer social groups existing in the village, and with each adult in the village attending 12 per�cent fewer group meetings.�

Taking Play Seriously

Brown called play part of the ��developmental sequencing of becoming a human primate. If you look at what produces learning and memory and well-being, play is as fundamental as any other aspect of life, including sleep and dreams.��

Negative Implications Of No Child Left Behind: As Graduation Rates Go Down, School Ratings Go Up

Texas' public school accountability system, the model for the national No Child Left Behind Act, directly contributes to lower graduation rates, according to new research. Each year Texas public high schools lose at least 135,000 youth prior to graduation -- a disproportionate number of whom are African-American, Latino and English-as-a-second-language students.

'Old Dogs' Don't Notice New Tricks: Prior Knowledge Affects How Consumers Accept New Information

Over time, consumers develop a set of cues that we then use to make inferences about products, such as "all French restaurants have great service" or "more expensive candles smell better." However, this set of predictable beliefs can make it difficult for us to learn and recognize other real, positive qualities that are indicated by the same cues, reveals a new study.

Correcting Poor Vision Can Help Preschoolers' Performance

Preschoolers with poor vision have lower scores in developmental testing indicative of success in school performance, but those scores improve significantly within six weeks when the children are given prescription glasses, according to a new study. Since low visual-motor skill scores correlate with lower academic achievements, the research team speculates that improved skills due to corrected vision might lead to improved cognitive and verbal performance.

When People Feel Powerful, They Ignore New Opinions, Study Finds

Don't bother trying to persuade your boss of a new idea while he's feeling the power of his position -- new research suggests he's not listening to you. Powerful people have confidence in what they are thinking. Whether their thoughts are positive or negative toward an idea, that position is going to be hard to change.

Sheep In Human Clothing: Scientists Reveal Our Flock Mentality

Have you ever arrived somewhere and wondered how you got there? Scientists believe they may have found the answer, with research that shows that humans flock like sheep and birds, subconsciously following a minority of individuals. It takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd's direction -- and that the other 95 per cent follow without realising it.

Children Who Have An Active Father Figure Have Fewer Psychological And Behavioral Problems

Kids with active father figures are less likely to suffer psychological and behavioral problems and having a father figure around can reduce crime and enhance cognitive skills like intelligence, reasoning and language, in low-income families. Researchers are calling for father figures to be more involved in health and policy makers to promote more father-friendly policies.

'Love Hormone' Promotes Bonding: Could It Treat Anxiety?

Gazing into your lover's eyes isn't only romantic; it may also mimic early attachments that forever alter your brain and body. Researchers are studying whether the brain hormone released with touches, hugs, or when a mother and her newborn baby bond might help patients with schizophrenia, social anxiety and a variety of other disorders. Oxytocin is a brain chemical associated with pair bonding, including mother-infant and male-female bonds, increased paternal involvement with children, and monogamy in certain rodents, according to a psychiatry professor involved with the study.

Urban Ecology: Taking Measure Of The Coming Megacity's Impact

If you are reading this, chances are that you live in a city -- one, perhaps, on its way to becoming a megacity with a population that exceeds 10 million or more. What shape could these future cities take and how will their populations meet environmental and resource challenges? Urban challenges face communities worldwide, with solutions lagging behind.

Very Young Found To Process Fear Memories In Unique Way

Very young brains process memories of fear differently than more mature ones, new research indicates. The work significantly advances scientific understanding of when and how fear is stored and unlearned, and introduces new thinking on the implications of fear experience early in life.

Poor Recognition Of 'Self' Found In High Functioning People With Autism

Contrary to popular notions, people at the high end of the autism spectrum disorder continuum suffer most from an inability to model "self" rather than impaired ability to respond to others, according to a novel research study. This inability to model "self" can disrupt an individual's ability to understand the world as a whole, according to researchers.

Neural Basis Of 'Number Sense' In Young Infants

Cerebral imaging reveals that human infants are sensitive to numerical quantity at a very early age and that the basic dorsal/ventral functional organization is already in place in the infant brain.

Lower-income Neighborhoods Associated With Higher Obesity Rates

Obesity prevalence has increased significantly among adults and children in the U.S. over the last two decades. A new study reveals that characteristics of neighborhoods, including the area�s income level, the built environment, and access to healthy food, contribute to the continuing obesity epidemic.

Sex, Drugs And Alcohol: Parents Still Influence College Kids' Risky Behavior, Study Shows

New research shows that parents influence their child's likelihood of involvement with drugs, alcohol and risky sexual activity even after their child leaves for college. Specifically, students who said their fathers were in the loop had a lower likelihood of doing drugs or engaging in risky sexual behaviors. When mothers were in the know, students were less likely to drink alcohol. The protective effect of mothers' awareness was more pronounced when the students also felt close to their mom. Under those circumstances, the researchers found that students were less likely to be involved in any of the three risk behavior categories studied: drugs, alcohol and risky sexual activity.

Guns and universities

Some amazingly fast reporting today on an awful situation: Wis.-based Web site sold to NIU shooter, also sold Va. Tech gun. Internet gun dealer Eric Thompson publicized the fact that the NIU shooter purchased two Glock magazines and a holster. Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho purchased a handgun from Thompson. I'm not going to draw any large conclusions from this other than noting Thompson's openness.

Since I work at a large university, the Virginia Tech murders made me much more cognizant of security issues. In December, a former doctoral student at USF whose committee I sat on killed his former wife, his ex-wife's new partner, and his two children before killing himself. I hadn't spoken with him in months, and I don't think there's anything any of us who knew him at USF could have done to predict the murders, but let's just say it's invaded my thoughts at times.

And since I know the human predilection for finding patterns where there's none, I'll stop here. There's enough time for investigation and reflection later.

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Ed Links

Eureka! It Really Takes Years of Hard Work

The fact that all three of these epiphany stories are pure fiction stops us short. As humans, we want to believe that creativity and innovation come in flashes of pure brilliance, with great thunderclaps and echoing ahas. Innovators and other creative types, we believe, stand apart from the crowd, wielding secrets and magical talents beyond the rest of us.

This week�s irrelevant but fascinating: The Worst Building in the History of Mankind

It's the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea, where the world's 22nd largest skyscraper has been vacant for two decades and is likely to stay that way ... forever.

Generation Gap? 'Online Gap' Widens Divide Between Parents and Children

A new Tel Aviv University research study has found that, despite what parents might believe, there is an enormous gap between what they think their children are doing online and what is really happening.

The Natural History of the Only Child

Modern life means small families. Starting about two centuries ago, families in Western Europe began to shrink, and then -- country by country, continent by continent -- the rest of the world followed suit. The trend is so big that it may rein in the world population's exponential growth, perhaps even causing it to stop growing altogether over the next century.

Adventures in Richistan
Robert Frank explores the life and times of America's newly wealthy

Genes And Environment Interact In First Graders To Predict Physical But Not Social Aggression

Research with 400 pairs of 7-year-old twins assessed the genetic and environmental effects on children's physical and social aggression (behaviors such as spreading rumors). Specifically, the researchers found that physical aggression in a friend is likely to interact with genetic tendency towards physical aggression; however, a child's social aggression was not affected by one's genetic disposition. Further, effects of friends' aggression on other children's aggression were only observed within the same type of aggression.

Reduced Sleep Can Increase Childhood Obesity Risk

Less sleep can increase a child's risk of being overweight or obese.. A new analysis of epidemiological studies found that with each additional hour of sleep, the risk of a child being overweight or obese dropped by 9 percent.

Discrimination Against Blacks Linked To Dehumanization, Study Finds

Crude historical depictions of African Americans as ape-like may have disappeared from mainstream US culture, but research presented in a new paper by psychologists at Stanford, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California-Berkeley reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes. In addition, the findings show that society is more likely to condone violence against black criminal suspects as a result of its broader inability to accept African Americans as fully human, according to the researchers.

Environmental Toxins Linked To Early Onset Puberty In Girls, Study Suggests

Certain environmental toxins, such as the mycoestrogen zearalenone produced by the Fusarium fungus species, can be found naturally in the environment, have properties similar to the female reproductive hormone estrogen, and are also structurally similar to anabolic growth agents used in animal breeding. A new study suggests that certain mycoestrogens may be directly linked to the early onset of sexual development in young girls.

Languages Evolve In Rapid Bursts, Rather Than Following A Steady Pattern

Languages change and evolve in rapid bursts rather than in a steady pattern. New research investigates thousands of years of language evolution, and looks at the way in which languages split and evolve. It has long been accepted that the desire for a distinct social identity may cause languages to change quickly, but it has not previously been known whether such rapid bursts of change are a regular feature of the evolution of human language.

Communing With Nature Less And Less

From backyard gardening to mountain climbing, outdoor activities are on the wane as people around the world spend more leisure time online or in front of the tube, according to findings. "The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children," one of the researchers said. "Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance."

Women Take Almost 50 Percent More Short-term Sick Leave Than Men

Women take almost 50 percent more short term sick leave than men, finds research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. But they don't take more long term sick leave, the findings show. Physical health problems, physical work demands, and work fatigue were more commonly reported by women. And they were 46% more likely than men to call in sick for short periods of a few days. Women may be better at recognizing problems and going to the doctor for treatment, suggest the researchers.

Severe Stressful Events Early In Pregnancy May Be Associated With Schizophrenia Among Offspring

Children of women who undergo an extremely stressful event -- such as the death of a close relative -- during the first trimester of pregnancy appear more likely to develop schizophrenia, according to a new report.

Preschoolers' Exposure To Terrorist Attacks, Other Trauma Linked To More Severe Behavioral Problems

Preschool children exposed to both the World Trade Center attacks and another traumatic event were more likely to experience behavioral problems than children exposed only to one event or to none, according to a new report.

New Thoughts On Language Acquisition: Toddlers As Data Miners

Researchers are studying a ground-breaking theory that young children are able to learn large groups of words rapidly by data-mining. Their theory, which they have explored with 12- and 14-month-olds, takes a radically different approach to the accepted view that young children learn words one at a time -- something they do remarkably well by the age of 2 but not so well before that.

Why Serotonin Can Cause Depression And Anxiety

Mood disorders could be caused by a loss of our inherent, reflexive avoidance of aversive events, according to a new study. Researchers have used computational modeling techniques to integrate what appeared to be blatant contradictions between serotonin's roles in different states of health.

Parental Drinking And Parenting Practices Influence Adolescent Drinking

Adolescence is a critical time for the potential initiation and escalation of alcohol use. New findings underscore the impact of parental drinking and parenting practices on adolescent drinking.

Presidential Candidates' Question # 3: Environment

Question for all the candidates:

While there is no doubt that schools at all levels should provide children and adults with the skills to "compete in the global economy," there is even a more compelling and immediate need to prepare children and adults to "cooperate in the global ecology." Troubling, irrefutable scientific evidence tells us that unless the global warming problem is solved, all the economic preparedness that we can muster will be for naught as coastal cities go under water and large numbers of animal species go extinct and large portions of the earth become uninhabitable. Ecological science, lifestyle awareness, and environmental career goal setting must begin in early childhood and remain a prominent priority through high school if civilization is going to solve the problem of climate change before we pass the tipping point of no return.

What will your administration do in terms of specific initiatives to give "cooperation in the global ecology" the same educational priority as "competition in the global economy"?

Posted, too, at Schools Matter

Questions for the Candidates: #1 Poverty, and #2 Charter Schools

Since it appears the debates will continue for a while yet, let's try out some new questions.

Question # 1: Poverty

Thank you for taking my question. And this question is for all candidates:

Our poorest children in the public schools face insurmountable challenges that threaten their future, as well as the future of their schools. It is an indisputable fact, for instance, that family income is positively correlated with student achievement, with state and district level test scores showing the correlation without exception, as do SAT and ACT scores: the lower the family income, the lower the test scores, and the higher the family income, the higher the test scores.

At a time when public school households across the nation are, indeed, getting poorer, NCLB demands test scores go higher and higher. While experts agree, without exception, agree that these demands can't be met, and that most public schools will fail by 2014, and while most urban and poor rural schools are being turned into abusive test prep chain gangs, politicians refuse to confront the truth for fear of being accused of the "bigotry of low expectations."

My question is this (and thank you for your patience): Do you see poverty as the problem that has to be addressed in order to raise student achievement? And if you do see poverty as a problem related to the achievement gaps, what will you do to reduce poverty in urban and rural neighborhoods and to help raise family incomes, which would constitute the grandest kind of education reform--one that does more good than harm?

Question #2: Charter Schools

Thank you for taking my question, and yes, this is directed to all candidates:

When Eli Broad and Bill Gates announced last year that they would inject $60,000,000 to "force education to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign," their Strong American Schools program was launched. Some prefer to call their effort Strong-Arming American Schools, since their money appears directed toward remaking public education by turning schools into charter schools, which operate as non-profit and for-profit corporate entities funded by public dollars but without local school board oversight and without the benefits and salaries of teachers in the regular public schools. Recently, for instance, Eli Broad gave $12,000,000 to spread charter schools in L.A.

There are huge sums of corporate money, venture capital (with tax credits), and foundation grants going to fund charter school startups acoss the country. Even the U. S. Department of Education has earmarked $273,000,000 for charter schools in next year's budget. What they all have in common is less public oversight and control by locally-elected school boards, fewer benefits and less job security for teachers, fewer services for special needs children, even more focus on test scores, and less adequate facilities for drama, sports, and other school activities.

The one big advantage of charter schools? They are cheaper, about 20 cents on the dollar cheaper.

Now here is my question, and thank you for your patience. Given the fact that charter schools give up so much in return for the promise of corporte efficiency, and given the fact that the research consistently shows their academic achievement based on test scores no better, and sometimes worse, than the regular public schools, is 20 cents on the dollar enough to recommend them for the urban children, urban parents, and urban teachers who already have been shortchanged ever since slavery?

What is your position on charter schools, and what will you do to make sure that public schools in urban and poor areas aren't replaced by this new efficiency model of corporate schools and year-round test preparation? And would you send your own children or grandchildren to one of these schools?

Ed Links

The Autumn of the Multitaskers

Neuroscience is confirming what we all suspect: Multitasking is dumbing us down and driving us crazy. One man�s odyssey through the nightmare of infinite connectivity

First, Kill All the School Boards

When you look at what local control of education has wrought, the conclusion is inescapable: we must carry Mann�s insights to their logical end and nationalize our schools, to some degree. But before delving into the details of why and how, let�s back up for a moment and consider what brought us to this pass.

The Truth About Jena

Why America�s black-and-white narratives about race don�t reflect reality

What Are We Thinking When We (Try to) Solve Problems?

New research indicates what happens in the brain when we're faced with a dilemma.

Fish oil: a cure for young offenders?

A major trial is to be launched to see whether giving young offenders nutritional supplements reduces anti-social behaviour in prison. Its authors believe this could prove a seminal piece of research with major implications for the criminal justice system.

Suicide risks shared across borders

No matter where in the world they live, people who are young, single, female, poorly educated or mentally ill are at higher risk of suicide, an international team of researchers says. Their study, which includes data about nearly 85,000 people in 17 developed and developing countries around the world, reveals some consistent patterns. They found 9.2 percent of people had seriously considered suicide, and 2.7 percent said they attempted it. [That�s a lot of unhappy people . . . .�AS]

Daytime Nap Can Benefit A Person's Memory Performance

A brief bout of non-REM sleep obtained during a daytime nap clearly benefits a person's declarative memory performance. It was discovered that, across three very different declarative memory tasks, a nap benefited performance compared to comparable periods of wakefulness, but only for certain subjects.

Parenting Program Does Not Prevent Toddler Behavior Problems, Study Shows

A study of the first universal parenting program, designed to prevent early child behavior problems, shows that it has little impact on toddler behavior. Behavior problems affect up to 20 per cent of children and have major personal, societal and economic ramifications. Left untreated, up to half of behavior problems in preschool children develop into later mental health problems.

Chronic Insomnia Can Predict Future Functioning Of Adolescents

Youths with insomnia, particularly chronic insomnia, are at greater risk of future somatic and especially psychological problems, according to one of the largest epidemiologic studies of insomnia among adolescents ever conducted in the United States.

Destined To Cheat? New Research Finds Free Will Can Keep Us Honest

It is well established that changing people's sense of responsibility can change their behavior. Surprisingly, the link between fatalistic beliefs and unethical behavior has never been examined scientifically -- until now. In two recent experiments, psychologists decided to see if otherwise honest people would cheat and lie if their beliefs in free will were manipulated.

'Serious Gaming' Transforms Complex Concepts Into Serious Classroom Experiences

It's not exactly "Halo 3," and it won't be found on the shelves at GameStop, but a new "serious gaming" simulation from IBM has hit the computer labs at the USC Marshall School of Business, training students in the rudiments of business-process management. BPM, as the term is abbreviated, analyzes the way organizations carry out specific processes, such as how a bank might handle the workflow when a customer sets up a checking account. Streamlining and rationalizing complex processes, or reconciling conflicting processes when companies undergo structural changes such as mergers, has become an important field in the business world.

Creative And Noncreative Problem Solvers Exhibit Different Patterns Of Brain Activity, Study Reveals

Why do some people solve problems more creatively than others? Are people who think creatively somehow different from those who tend to think in a more methodical fashion? A new study addresses these questions by comparing the brain activity of creative and noncreative problem solvers.

Mental Health Screenings, Risk Behavior Interventions Needed In Juvenile Justice System

Kids who have been arrested and are depressed are more likely to use drugs and alcohol and engage in unsafe sexual behavior that increases their HIV risk. Findings of the study suggest the need for depression screenings as part of the juvenile intake process in order to determine appropriate mental health, substance use and HIV risk behavior interventions.

Middle-aged Misery Spans The Globe

Using data on 2 million people, from 80 nations, researchers have found an extraordinarily consistent international pattern in depression and happiness levels that leaves us most miserable in middle age.

How Does The Brain Attend To One Voice In A Noisy Room? New Findings On Selectively Interpreting Sounds

Scientists have reported new findings about how the mammalian brain interprets and fashions representations of sound that may help explain how we are able to focus on one particular sound among many in noisy environments such as offices or cocktail parties. Neurons in the brain�s auditory cortex interpret incoming sound signals and send them to the rest of the nervous system, in the brain and spinal cord. Using rats, the team discovered that a very small minority of available auditory neurons react strongly when exposed to any specific sound.

Sense Of Injustice Reverses Effects Of Power

Power is intoxicating, but feelings of injustice soon sober up the one with the power. PhD student Joris Lammers investigated the role that the meaning of a power situation has on the automatic effects of power. He concludes that feelings of injustice reverse the automatic effects of power on behavior and cognition. The one with the power becomes more careful and the subordinate displays more uncontrolled behavior.

Kate Walsh of NCTQ Responds

Kate Walsh wrote me last night in response to my blog. I wanted to thus share the relevant parts of her response (with her permission).

I read your blog piece this morning and had a few points I'd like to make in response.

1. I am not affiliated with the Fordham Foundation--unless your definition of an affiliation is something that is formed any time any one gives you a contract. While I do have a lot of respect for the work of the Fordham Foundation (Checker in on my board), I do not agree with them on everything that they espouse.
2. NCTQ is nonpartisan, meaning we do not identify ourselves with the Political Left or the Political Right. Our board is mostly Democrats. Personally, I am a Democrat, as evident from having just been appointed to the Maryland School Board by a Democratic governor. I will never understand how being a critic of certification makes me a right winger.
3. You were right to call attention to the AERA link--the wrong AERA link was put in to the story. We were in fact referring to that mammoth 1000-page study put out by AERA, Studying Teacher Education. The right link is now up on our site. Sorry for the error. I'd appreciate it if you would convey this error to your readers.
4. I did not selectively pull only the data I wanted from the Washpost story. That finding did not seem relevant since we are talking about course requirements in education. I will concede that students might elect to take a diversity class, so perhaps I should have noted that scenario and included the more positive finding. However, the AERA meta-analysis wasn't looking at courses that were required or not required and still found no evidence of a positive, long term change in students.

1. 
   

I emailed her back with some additional thoughts and points. At this point, though, the only thing I will add (and which I also wrote to her) is that while aspects of these points may be legitimate, it doesn�t change the overarching point of my original blog: that Jay Greene�s article was poor research looking for media attention rather than serious consideration.