1. “Flipped classrooms” have been all the rage of late, but researchers at Harvey Mudd College are finding that the benefits of “flipping” are dubious and that’s it’s no more effective than traditional teaching methods.
2. The Khan Academy, a free online library of thousands of videos on school-related subjects and thought to be making teachers obsolete, is coming under fire from mathematicians, physicists, and others as offering inaccurate fare.
3. Stanford University research finds that the children of professional parents hear 30 million more words by age 3 than those from lower-income homes, and that puts them at a big disadvantage upon entering school.
4. A recent study found that reading literary fiction instead of popular fiction or even serious nonfiction increases empathy, social perception, an emotional intelligence, because it “encourages readers to make inferences about characters and be sensitive to emotional nuances and complexity.”
5. Parents are angry about New York state’s plan to turn over the names and sensitive information, including test scores, disciplinary records, and disabilities, to inBloom, a service designed to store huge amounts of date and supported by $100 million from the Gates Foundation.
6. Pennsylvania has now released information regarding the new Keystone Exam results, school growth, closing the achievement gap, and graduation rates, etc. Schools are rated on 100-point scare; 70 or better is considered passing.