In the special “All Things Considered” series “Men in America,” NPR (7/27, Westervelt) reports on its website with embedded audio on the East Bay School for Boys in Berkeley, California, “a private, non-profit middle school” that “is trying to reimagine what it means to build confident young men.” In some cases, that means that “the sparks of inspiration result in, well, actual sparks,” because “the school’s different approach starts with directing, not stifling, boys’ frenetic energy.” School director Jason Baeten describes the school’s goal as one in which boys “can make mistakes, be vulnerable and learn to be self-reliant,” according to NPR, and that approach results in this such as “trying to upend tradition is by re-inventing shop class for the 21st century.” The school calls it simply “work.”
Call For Greater Focus On Computers In STEM Education
Evan Charles, the founder of Launch Academy, writes in an op-ed in US News & World Report, “Focusing on STEM is a smart investment based on pretty solid evidence,” but adds that the thrust of the focus may be misplaced. Charles cites research predicting most future STEM jobs will be in computing and suggests we should invest in computer education, noting that computer skills are becoming “essential” even in non-STEM areas. He argues that computer literacy should be a core component of middle and high school education, but focuses on coding camps as a solution because they “address the problem more quickly and directly than changes to our overall education can or will.”
Editorial: STEM Topics Important For Students
An editorial in the Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram (4/14) notes that students at Englewood Elementary School participated in various activities “to expose them to science, technology, engineering, art and math in a fun way.” The paper argues that students exposed to STEM fields at a young age “will be more likely to develop an appreciation for those” subjects. The editorial also notes that Nash Community College will also host several science and technology themed events over the summer for middle school and high school students. The Telegram concludes that it is important for students to have “knowledge and appreciation of STEM topics” in order to participate in the global economy.
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.