Teachers Weekly - September 2011 Archives

Foreign children take at least 6 years to learn the language used in school (9/27/2011)

There are now more and more foreign children in the classroom, and many of them speak a different language to that of their sociolinguistic environment. A study has assessed the knowledge of Catalan and Spanish amongst these children and confirms that they take at least six years to acquire the same language levels as native pupils. Researchers propose a new system that has proven successful in other countries as a way of stopping language from becoming a barrier to academic development. ...> Full Article

Allowing native language in school benefits Mexican-American students (9/26/2011)

A new University of Missouri study shows that Mexican-American students who identify and practice speaking their native language have higher grades than those who are put in English-only environments in their schools. ...> Full Article

Sex segregation in schools detrimental to equality (9/25/2011)

Students who attend sex-segregated schools are not necessarily better educated than students who attend coeducational schools, but they are more likely to accept gender stereotypes, according to a team of psychologists. ...> Full Article

Rethinking gifted education policy -- a call to action (9/24/2011)

Michael Jordan, Lady Gaga and Angelina Jolie. Most people can probably name some award-winning athletes, musicians, and actors. But, if you were asked to name the winners of last year's Nobel Prizes in Economics, Physics, or Literature, could you do it? ...> Full Article

UM music professor analyzes the demographic profile of US high school music ensemble students (9/11/2011)

University of Miami Frost School of Music Professor Carlos R. Abril has recently published findings of a research study designed to construct a national demographic profile of high school band, choir, and orchestra students in the US using evidence from the 2004 follow-up wave of the Education Longitudinal Study. ...> Full Article

Achoo! Cost of colds in school, homes, workplace in Canada is enormous says new study (9/7/2011)

School's in and so are colds. Canadian researchers conclude, in the first study of its kind in Canada, the cost of colds in school, homes and the workplace is enormous and more preventative measures would significantly cut costs. They reviewed research work from 100 universities and institutions ...> Full Article

New study findings reveal US high school science standards in genetics are 'inadequate' (9/6/2011)

A new study by the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), the country's leading genetics scientific society, found that more than 85 percent of states have genetics standards that are inadequate for preparing America's high school students for participation in a society and health care system that will be increasingly impacted by genetics-based personalized medicine. ASHG's study findings are being published in the Sept. 1 issue of CBE?Life Sciences Education journal (Vol. 10, Fall 2011). ...> Full Article

Teaching grammar to the iPhone generation (9/4/2011)

An innovative iPhone App (the interactive Grammar of English, "iGE"), which provides a complete interactive course in English grammar, has been brought to market by UCL Business PLC (UCLB). The app was developed by academics at UCL's 'Survey of English Usage' (SEU) and enables English language students to develop knowledge and skills at their own pace, using mobile technology to study more effectively and with greater flexibility. ...> Full Article

Study: Simple teaching tool boosts student reading performance (9/3/2011)

Research from North Carolina State University shows that utilizing a freely available literacy tool results in significant advances in fundamental reading skills for elementary school students, without requiring schools to drastically overhaul existing programs. The research focused on children who were characterized as "struggling readers" at risk for a learning disability in reading. ...> Full Article