NPR’s All Things Considered (7/31) broadcast a segment in its series on the Common Core Standards focusing on how “the standards work in a second-grade math class.” The reporter discusses her own daughter’s use of “partial sums” for addition, explaining that though she herself found the concept to be alien, the Common Core requires that her daughter not only master it, but also be able to explain it. A transcript of this segment can be seen here (7/30, Alvarez).
Some Teachers, States Won’t Give Up On Cursive Writing
USA Today (7/27, Creno) carries an Arizona Republic report on the determination of some teachers – and states – to teach cursive writing, “one of the most controversial topics in American education.” At Lowell Elementary School in Mesa, teacher Brittney Chapman’s class of third graders are among “the poorest in Mesa Public Schools, and many do not have access to computers outside of school.” Arizona doesn’t require that cursive writing be taught, but Chapman “often makes her students write in cursive, and she writes assignments in cursive on the board to help the third graders learn how to read the script.” The report says some states are also rethinking the Common Core position that cursive writing isn’t mandatory, and “seven states – California, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee – are either debating or have recently mandated that cursive be brought back to the classroom.”
Researchers Point To Links Between Handwriting, Cognitive Development
The New York Times (6/3, Konnikova, Subscription Publication) reports that as schools across the country abandon handwriting instruction beyond the early grades, in favor of keyboarding skills emphasized by the Common Core Standards, some researchers argue that “it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past,” citing new research touting “links between handwriting and broader educational development.” The Times reports that studies indicate that students “learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand” and “remain better able to generate ideas and retain information.”
California Elementary Students Embrace Common Core Math
NPR’s Morning Edition (5/27) broadcast a segment on how students at a California elementary school are adapting to the Common Core Standards. The piece describes the students as not being intimidated by new methods for solving two-digit multiplication problems, and attempts to portray the new methods. The piece concludes that though many adults “struggle” with the new methods, “these kids seem surprisingly eager and willing to embrace something new.” A transcript of this segment can be seen here. (5/28, Bess)
Fewer Schools Teaching Cursive
PBS (4/25) reports that “many elementary schools...have dropped cursive instruction altogether as increased testing, the implementation of Common Core State Standards and computers in the classroom take more time and resources.” A total of 45 states and the District of Columbia adopted the English Language Arts standards outlined in the Common Core, but several states including California Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee have mandated cursive instruction. Marilyn Zecher, a former teacher and certified academic language therapist , related a conversation she had with a bank manager, who said that “there is an appalling number of high school students transitioning to college ...[who] don’t have a signature...That’s a problem.” Steve Graham, a Professor of Education at Arizona State University, said “We now have electronic signatures. We don’t use the signature in the same way that we did 20, 30, 50, 100 years ago.” The article concludes by noting that there are still “devotees who slowly and methodically create beautiful characters.”
Social And Emotional Learning Helps Academic Achievement
The District Administration (4/18, DeNisco) reports that a study published in the American Educational Research Journal in March says that Responsive Classroom, “a widely used K6 teaching technique that integrates social and emotional learning into the school day,” improves academic achievement. The technique has been used for about 25 years, but “this is the first comprehensive study of its impact on student achievement.” Between 2008 and 2011, Sara Rimm-Kaufman, a professor at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, randomly selected elementary school teachers in 12 Virginia schools for training in the technique. After three years, math and reading scores improved by 12% against a control group. The results were consistent, even with students who received reduced price or free school lunches.
Study: Parents’ Help With Homework Counterproductive
The San Francisco Chronicle (3/28, Graff) reports that researchers studying NCES data have found that “parent help is mostly inconsequential, and sometimes can even hurt.” Researchers “looked at 63 measures of parental involvement in children’s lives, including helping with homework, volunteering at school, punishing kids with bad grades” and other factors, and found that “most had little affect on a child’s academic success.” Moreover, in middle school, “parental homework help had a negative effect, bringing down test scores.” The study found that “reading out loud to young kids and talking with teenagers about college” were the only factors that seemed to help academic achievement.
States Consider Adding Cursive To Common Core
The Washington Post (1/25, Chokshi) reports in its “Govbeat” blog that Indiana’s Senate approved a cursive requirement in a vote on Thursday and that it is one of seven Common Core states considering a cursive requirement. Arguments for the cursive requirement include studies showing that it is helpful in cognitive development because “the movement tasks are more demanding,” and “the visual recognition requirements create a broader repertoire of letter representation.” In addition, it is “faster” than printing and offers “a better sense of personal style and ownership.” One study found that children in grades 2, 4, and 6 “wrote more words, faster, and expressed more ideas when writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard.” States considering a cursive requirement include: California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah.
Study: Kindergarten Redshirting Rare
The Washington Post (9/17, Chandler) reports that according to a new study from the University of Virginia and Stanford University, kindergarten “redshirting” “is not as widespread as previously reported,” noting that some 4% of students are delayed by a year, whereas some past studies have placed that figure at from 5% to 19%. The Post adds that the study found that “most children who did delay kindergarten were not likely to struggle in school,” and that the current rate “is not large enough to exacerbate achievement gaps.”
