Feed on
Posts
Comments

Todays’ WSJ in a review of NurtureShock:

The benefits of teaching tolerance and promoting ­diversity look equally unimpressive in the current ­research. According to “NurtureShock,” a lot of well-meaning adult nostrums-“we’re all friends,” “we’re all equal”-pass right over the heads of young children. Attempts to increase racial sensitivity in older students can even lead to unintended consequences. One ­researcher found that “more diversity translates into more divisions between students.” Another warns that too much discussion of past discrimination can make minority children over-reactive to perceived future slights. As for trying to increase emotional intelligence, the education fad of the 1990s, it doesn’t seem to ­promote “pro-social values” either. It turns out that bullies use their considerable EQ, as it is called, to ­control their peers.

Education policy makers will find more cause for embarrassment in “NurtureShock.” Drop-out programs don’t work. Neither do anti-drug programs. The most popular of them, D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance ­Education), developed in 1983 by the Los Angeles ­Police Department, has become a more familiar sight in ­American schools than algebra class. By 2000, 80% of American school districts were using D.A.R.E. materials in some form. Now, after extensive study, comes the news: The program has no long-term, and only mild short-term, effects. Oh, and those tests that school ­districts use to determine giftedness in young ­children? They’re just about useless. According to Mr. Bronson and Ms. Merryman, early IQ tests predict later ­achievement less than half the time. Between ages 3 and 10, about two-thirds of children will experience a rise or drop of 15 points or more.

In a famous 1994 study described by the authors, ­researchers discovered that babies of professional ­parents were exposed to almost three times the ­number of words as the babies of welfare parents. ­Parents took to buying $699 “verbal pedometers,” a gadget that counts the number of words their baby is hearing per hour. Now experts are modifying the ­earlier findings. Turns out that it’s not so much the number of words kids hear that matters but the responsiveness of adults to a child’s words and explorations.

10 Responses to “Rolling Rocks Up Hills”

  1. site link says:

    467988 370277I always was concerned in this subject and stock still am, regards for posting . 53978

  2. 603060 8913of course like your web-site nevertheless you need to check the spelling on quite a couple of of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I to uncover it quite bothersome to inform the reality however Ill surely come back once more. 624621

  3. Keri says:

    Amazing issues here. I’m very glad to see your post.
    Thank you a lot and I’m looking forward to contact you.

    Will you kindly drop me a mail?!

  4. Lashaun says:

    Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my website
    to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good
    gains. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!
    I saw similar art here: Bij nl

  5. This article was both educational and enjoyable to read. It’s one of the best resources I’ve come across on sustainable travel. We talked about a similar topic on TravelForums. I’m excited to see more of your work—thank you!

  6. cinema rule says:

    273140 206166Only a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great design and style . 150707

  7. Lamentos says:

    Dinle: Meryem Ana Tanrıyı Doğurmadı Türkçe Rap Beat

  8. Your article was so explanatory and helpful that I got completely immersed in it as I was reading. I think it’s one of the best pieces written about travel planning. We also discussed something similar about family vacations on TravelForums. Thanks so much for your effort!

  9. online cams says:

    876399 485545Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything in this way before. So nice to locate somebody by original thoughts on this topic. realy thanks for beginning this up. this fabulous internet site is one thing that is required on the internet, a person with a bit of originality. beneficial project for bringing a new challenge towards internet! 524995

  10. Lsm99queen says:

    556787 426650Echt tolle Seite. Rubbish bin eigentlich nur per Zufall hier gelandet, aber ich bin jetzt schon complete von der tremendous Seite beeindruckt. Gratuliere dazu!! Viel Erfolg noch durch der sehr guten Home-page mein Freund. 618878

Leave a Reply