Meeting of the Minds: How Neuroscience Can Inform Instruction
In Multiple Pathways to the Student Brain Janet Nay Zadina, neuroscience researcher and teacher, describes what we know about how the brain works and the implications for teachers. In each chapter, Zadina focuses on a neural pathway; e.g., sensory-motor, attention and memory, or frontal lobe executive functioning; and outlines first “What the Research Says”, then “What it Means for Educators” and finally, “Leaping into the Classroom”, which outlines instructional strategies that are based on the research. Here are a few examples taken from the book and from Dr. Zadina’s newsletters.
Social-Emotional Screening: Effectively Targeting Student Support
"Why aren’t schools putting more of a priority on social-emotional learning (SEL)?” We frequently ask ourselves this question during our behavior planning meetings because we hear educators in our region express a deep-seated belief that what and how kids learn socially and behaviorally is important. We have come up with a multitude of reasons why SEL takes a backseat and one reason tends to stand out. In education today, academic standards and benchmarks are readily available, prioritized, and privileged, while there is very little available to help schools anchor, measure, and monitor social wellness and social learning.Finding and Learning from Bright Spots
I have been thinking a lot about something I read two summers ago in the book Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. In a chapter titled Find the Bright Spots, they tell the story of Jerry Sternin, who went to Vietnam for Save the Children, and was given six months to develop a solution to the serious problem of malnutrition in children in rural communities. His conversations with experts on the topic focused on the many obstacles--poverty in the villages, ignorance about nutrition, poor sanitation and limited access to clean water. Sternin labeled these facts TBU, “True but Useless”. He acknowledged these obstacles, but knew that if he concentrated his efforts on solving poverty, ignorance and failing infrastructure he certainly would not solve the problem of malnutrition in six months, and maybe never. Instead of trying to develop solutions to highly complex problems, Sternin decided to spend his time identifying children in the villages who were bigger and healthier than others and studying the nutritional practices of their mothers; the Heath brothers call these mothers “bright spot” mothers. Sternin and his team created structures that supported other mothers in replicating the practices of bright spot mothers and, within 6 months, 65 percent of the children in the villages were better nourished. when researchers came to Vietnam later to gather independent data they found kids in Sternin’s villages were still healthier, including those who had been born after he left. Sternin’s team succeeded in creating lasting changes in practices that resulted in positive and important measurable change. In six months!Youth Court as an Alternative to Suspension
The data are in: Suspension and expulsion do not work. Not only do they fail to improve student behavior and create safer schools as was once believed, they actually lead to negative outcomes. Studies have found that the higher the rates of suspension and expulsion in a school, the lower the scores on standardized achievement tests, regardless of socioeconomic status or student demographics (Skiba & Rausch, 2006). Furthermore, students who are suspended show increases in withdrawal, avoidance of school staff, stigmatization among peers and decreased academic performance (Costenbader & Markson, 1998). So what is an effective alternative?Effective Vocabulary Instruction: The Backbone to Reading Comprehension
How important is vocabulary in enhancing reading comprehension? To answer this complex question read the following paragraph to yourself.The man leaned against the current as he waded, waist-deep, upstream. His hands steadied either end of the furnwunch balanced across his shoulders. He had moved about 90 yards from the denup where he had entered the stream. A few yards ahead, a part of the wooded bank had been replaced by an acnrid frud. He came abreast of it, and with effort, pressed the furnwunch up and over his head, and then set it on top of the frud. He placed his hands on his hips, pulled his elbows back and arched his back in an attempt to stretch out muscles that were knotted from the prolonged exertion.
Jugyokenkyu: Lesson Study Leads to Student Success
Japan’s academic results are worthy of admiration. Its students are ranked third in the world in both reading and science, and eighth in the world in math according to the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores (Weisenthal, 2013). And this is no anomaly - since these types of international assessments have been given, Japan’s students have consistently fallen within the top ten of developed countries. Additionally, 95 percent of their students graduate high school (OECD, 2011). What is the secret behind the success of the Japanese education system? Many researchers and reporters who follow education point to the Japanese practice of jugyokenkyu, which translates literally as “lesson study.” This unique approach to lesson design holds promise for educators here in the United States as well.When the Stakes are High: The Impact of Stereotype Threat and What We Can Do About It
Throughout the school year students form social identities about who they are and what they bring to the world. These identities are shaped in many different ways - from race and gender to religious affiliation, favorite band or team - and with each of these identities come a set of expectations. There are many different perspectives and theories on identity development, but all agree that the journey is individualistic, as no one person's experience is the same as another's. For one in six students, this social identity includes that of being a student with a disability (NYSED, 2016).What Are the New Changes in Testing Accommodations?
In a few months, many of our students with disabilities will be taking the Grades 3-8 New York State English Language Arts Assessments. As a result of a new State Education Department (SED) policy there have been changes in allowable testing accommodations, specifically with the accommodation “Tests-read.” Now students with disabilities can have the entire ELA test read aloud if it is documented on their IEPs or 504 Plans. In the past, only directions were to be read aloud on the Grades 3-8 ELA Assessment. This new New York State Education Department memo, (11/16/17) replaces all previous guidance from the department.Implementation Science: From Dangerous Canyons to Fields of Dreams
I recently traveled to San Francisco to hear Dean Fixsen, founder of the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), deliver a keynote address on Implementation Science. During my flight there I had a birds-eye view to our country’s diversely beautiful landscape -- green fields blooming with this season’s crops and brown canyons that reminded me of those that Evel Knievel attempted to jump on his motorcycle. As I listened to Fixsen I reflected on how that landscape was a perfect metaphor for the importance of paying attention to implementation drivers during school improvement.Improving All Students’ Mental Health Outcomes: Start with Why – Part II
Two years ago I wrote a Reporter article to share my why (as in Sinek, 2011) – improving mental health outcomes for all students. Since then I have participated in the National Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) Targeted Workgroup and conducted doctoral research on this topic. My three biggest takeaways are that we need to: (a) Start with why, (b) Demystify mental health, and (c) Leverage what works.