Most parents believe that telling their children they are smart will promote self-confidence. New research from Columbia University, however, suggests that they might be doing more harm than good. Researchers found that children praised for their intelligence, rather than for their efforts, were more likely to avoid difficult subject areas and hide any perceived shortcomings to their intelligence. Conversely, children praised for their efforts were more likely to embrace new challenges and strive to learn more.

Parents hoping to raise baby Einsteins by using infant educational videos are actually creating baby Homer Simpsons, according to new research from the University of Washington. Researchers found that for every hour a day 8-16 month old infants watched these videos, they knew six to eight fewer words than children with less exposure.

In a unique study, researchers provided low-income families with housing vouchers to allow them to move from high-poverty neighborhoods into middle-class neighborhoods. After seven years, researchers found that moving these families into wealthier neighborhoods had no significant impact on student achievement. Critics suggest that the families did not move to substantially better neighborhoods, which may explain the lack of gains despite research that suggests low-income students perform better in middle-class schools.

The National Science Foundation's Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program finds that although girls and boys are equally interested in science at a young age, by the time they reach eigth grade, more than twice as many boys are interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering, or math careers. Fortunately, there are proven interventions that can increase girls' desire to pursue these fields. These interventions, incidentally, also seem to increase boys' interest in the same fields.

Students who take more mathematics courses in high school are more likely to succeed in college-level science courses. While this may come as no surprise to most, the same research also finds that taking advanced science classes in high school does not have the same broad-based predictive abilities for college success in science.

McREL staff members will present pre-conference sessions at the T+L conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17–19. Presented by the National School Boards Association (NSBA), T+L provides a truly unique learning experience for teams of technology directors, superintendents, school board members, district administrators, principals, and lead teachers. This year, McREL will be presenting two pre-conference sessions on Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works.

This Webinar brings to life the popular ASCD book, Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners. Presented by one of its co-authors, Jane Hill, you’ll learn about McREL’s research-based instructional strategies and ways to adapt them for English language learners, the stages of language acquisition and their importance, ways to engage ELLs, how to set language objectives, and new ways to provide feedback. The two 2-hour sessions will take place on October 1 and 15 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern standard time. From the convenience of your own computer, you’ll see the PowerPoint presentation and be able to ask the speaker questions and interact with a nationwide audience.

Learn more about McREL's Power Walkthrough program during this 30-minute Webinar. The Power Walkthrough software and training help school leaders turn their 3-5 minute classroom observations into “power walkthroughs” by using Palm or Windows Mobile hand-held devices loaded with software that uses our popular manual, Classroom Instruction that Works, as the basis for classroom observations.

The August 3 edition of the PEN Weekly Newsblast features an article from the most recent edition of Changing Schools, McREL's free publication for school administrators, policy makers, and teachers.

Students in Aurora Public Schools returned to school five days earlier this year. The district hopes the additional instructional time will give students more time to prepare for state tests next spring. McREL’s Bryan Goodwin notes that research supports adding time to the school calendar, as long as the additional days are used wisely. "It all depends on what you do with that extra time," he said.

Seattle's new superintendent of public schools, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, is ready to rebuild the community's confidence in Seattle's school system. Goodloe-Johnson has big plans for school administrators, teachers, and students, based in part on McREL's research on effective school leadership summarized in School District Leadership that Works.

Teachers in Rockingham County School District, N.C., are looking forward to the new school year. Teachers are benefiting from participation in McREL's Success in Sight program, which provides them with research-based, proven school improvement strategies. Administrators and teachers are confident that the district will see significant improvements over the course of the school year.

In a report released by the Central Region educational laboratory, McREL researchers found state standards for high schools in a majority of Central Region states cover 82 percent of the language arts topics but just 57 percent of the mathematics topics that were identified by two national studies as important for success in college and the workplace.

Just 11 percent of eligible students are participating in supplemental educational services in the seven REL Central states (ND, SD, CO, WY, NE, KS, MO), according to a study conducted by McREL. Use of services, which are available to schools that fail to make Annual Yearly Progress for three years in a row, may not improve until provision problems are resolved and the programs demonstrate effectiveness.

Traditionally, the achievement gap between students from low-income families and students from high-income families has led policy makers to assume that increased access to financial aid will encourage low-income students to enroll in and complete a college education. New research, however, shows that the low college enrollment/completion rates seen in low-income students are generally due to factors other than finances.

This report compares the education system in the United States with other G-8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom.

This report compares the number and level of mathematics courses high school students took in 1982, 1992, and 2004. In general, students were taking 0.9 additional mathematics credits, and taking more advanced courses in 2004 than in 1982. Similarly, students in 2004 were taking 1.1 additional science credits and higher-level science courses than their 1982 counterparts.

U.S. economics was included for the first time ever in the 2006 NAEP tests. The NCES report found that 79 percent of high school seniors had at least a basic knowledge of the subject, while 42 percent scored at the proficient level, representing the highest scores for any subject on the NAEP tests.

This report examines the experiences of K-12 teachers who received their bachelor's degrees in 1992-93. It provides information on teachers' job satisfaction, reasons for leaving the teaching profession (where applicable), and the teachers' overall preparation for a teaching profession.

Phi Delta Kappa and the Gallup Organization have released the results of their Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools poll. The results of the poll are broken out by topic: improving student achievement, changing the public schools, grading the public schools, school effectiveness, curriculum, closing the achievement gap, international education, teachers and school personnel, and the "biggest problem." 

Researchers suggest that relatively older children who enter kindergarten tend to score higher on achievement tests and are less likely to repeat grades or suffer from learning disabilities than those who enter kindergarten at a younger age. Although the effects tend to diminish over time, the researchers note that the impacts of kindergarten entry age are still prominent as late as the eighth grade.

For years now, educators have debated whether phonics, holistic word recognition, or whole language approaches had the most significant impact on student achievement in reading. New research from New York University finds that the three approaches work together to determine reading success.