The Educator's Notebook

An "Adversity Score”? The SAT Seeks To Recognize Student Challenges
New York Times - 5/17/19

“The decision to give students who take the SAT test a numerical rating that reflects the challenges they have overcome in life is the most telling sign yet that universities across the country are searching for ways to diversify their classes without considering race or ethnicity… In the initial data the College Board has collected on some schools that have tried out the new tool, it found that disadvantaged students who did not attend high schools known to be regular feeders to college were more likely to be admitted.”
How The Arts Benefit Society: An Interactive Research Synthesis
Mellon Foundation - 5/1/19

“The Arts + Social Impact Explorer is designed as a gateway to research, projects, and support organizations. The goal is to enable people to extract key information at a quick glance, helping users visualize how the arts permeate community life while providing leaders what they need to make visible impact.”

Is The “Adversity Score” A Bunch of Pseudo-Science?
New York Times - 5/17/19

“The dehumanizing message of the new adversity index is that America’s young people are nothing but interchangeable sociological points of data — and the jagged complexity of an individual life somehow can be sanded down, quantified and fairly contrasted.”

Some Methods For Engagement, From An Analysis Of 25 TED Talks
Inc. - 5/16/19
On How Teaching (Math) Could Be Like Coaching Football
New York Times - 5/11/19

“Students are affected by more than just the quality of a lesson plan. They also respond to the passion of their teachers and the engagement of their peers, and they seek a sense of purpose. They benefit from specific instructions, constant feedback and a culture of learning that encourages resilience in the face of failure — not unlike a football practice. There are many ways to be an effective teacher, just as there are many ways to be an effective coach. But all good teachers, like good coaches, communicate that they care about your goals.”

On Sociological Vs Psychological Storytelling In Game Of Thrones
Scientific American - 5/17/19

“This is an important shift to dissect because whether we tell our stories primarily from a sociological or psychological point of view has great consequences for how we deal with our world and the problems we encounter.”
More On The Effect Of Having Books At Home During Childhood
Scientific American - 5/16/19

“In fact, teens who only made it through high school but were raised in a bookish environment fared as well in adulthood as college grads who grew up in a house bereft of books.”
In Praise Of Reading Aloud (via Middle School)
Edutopia - 5/14/19