How to support students with anxiety
Educators can help students with anxiety better understand their condition and help them feel understood, writes Christine Ravesi-Weinstein, a high-school assistant principal. In this commentary, she shares five things to say to students experiencing anxiety, including asking them to describe their feelings.
Full Story:eSchool News
Grit in schools faces academic backlash
Five studies over two years challenge the idea that students’ grit can affect academic performance, but University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Duckworth, who ushered in the concept, says it never was intended to be applied in that way. Marcus Crede, a social psychologist at Iowa State University and a grit critic, says it is “not strongly related to academic success” and is “unlikely to respond well to intervention.”
Full Story: The Hechinger Report
Study: Choice of curricula has limited effect
Curriculum materials were not a major factor in elementary-school math achievement, according to an analysis funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The study focused on the 15 most common curricula in Washington, New Mexico, New Jersey, Maryland, Louisiana and California.
Full Story: Chalkbeat
Schools struggle with slavery lessons
A recent incident at a New York private school where a teacher held a mock slave auction to teach students about slavery highlights how the subject often is taught in inadequate and insensitive ways. A 2018 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center shows that students are not learning enough about the historical and social context of slavery or its effect on the US economy.
Full Story: Vox
Study: Perfect attendance certificates backfire
Middle- and high-school students in 14 districts on the West Coast were less likely to have perfect attendance after receiving an award for their previous attendance record, according to researchers at Harvard University. The researchers say the communication may have given students the impression they could slack off.
Full Story: Education Week (tiered subscription model)
Audrey Altmann is an editorial assistant at SmartBrief.
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