From the algorithms that make our social media accounts function to the sleep-tracking technology in our smartwatches, the world has never seemed so technologically advanced and developed. Which is why it would be easy to assume that with each generation, humans are getting smarter. But is this the case? It’s a question many scientists have pondered, […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
IQ tests: are humans getting smarter?
Breakfast After the Bell programs reduce school absenteeism
Making a healthy breakfast available to students not only can help alleviate hunger and improve concentration at school; it also appears to encourage regular attendance, according to new research I co-authored. In a study published in February 2021, my co-author and I explored how the rollout of Breakfast After the Bell programs at high-poverty schools in Colorado and Nevada […] … learn more→
How can we rethink food education?
Since ultra-processed products are associated with significantly increased risks of chronic disease , ensuring a healthy diet is an essential vehicle for health protection. The prevalence of chronic diseases is also associated with an increase in social inequalities in health, the most disadvantaged populations being the most affected, and consuming the most ultra-processed foods . It should be noted that the prevalence of […] … learn more→
Why we remember more by reading – especially print – than from audio or video
During the pandemic, many college professors abandoned assignments from printed textbooks and turned instead to digital texts or multimedia coursework. As a professor of linguistics, I have been studying how electronic communication compares to traditional print when it comes to learning. Is comprehension the same whether a person reads a text onscreen or on paper? And are listening […] … learn more→
How teachers remember their own childhoods affects how they challenge school inequities
Teachers, like many of us, remember moments of achievement, schoolyard games and making mistakes as children. Often teachers draw on childhood memories to explain why they wanted to enter their profession. Teachers may hold memories of being inspired by a former teacher or resolve to do better than a teacher they experienced as unfair or belittling. Childhood memories chronicle more […] … learn more→
How Biden’s request for more education funding would shift more power to the federal government
The president has called on Congress to make a “historic investment” in the Title I grant program. The program provides financial assistance to school districts that have high numbers or percentages of students from low-income families. The Biden administration wants US$36.5 billion for the program, an increase of $20 billion from the 2021 enacted level. As a political scientist who examines […] … learn more→
How teachers remember their own childhoods affects how they challenge school inequities
Teachers, like many of us, remember moments of achievement, schoolyard games and making mistakes as children. Often teachers draw on childhood memories to explain why they wanted to enter their profession. Teachers may hold memories of being inspired by a former teacher or resolve to do better than a teacher they experienced as unfair or belittling. Childhood memories chronicle more […] … learn more→
Inclusion and equality, keys to virtual education in a pandemic
If something has made us clear in the last year, it is that our entire lives have changed from one moment to the next, and it is becoming more and more evident that many of these transformations have come to stay. We see it in the way we interact with friends and family, at work, […] … learn more→
Baccalaureate ‘pandemial’: How to avoid inequalities in the evaluation of access to university
In just over a month and a half our high school graduates will face the Evaluation Tests for University Access ( EvAU ), the old selectivity. But this is a very special selectivity because it corresponds to those who we can call high school graduates “pandemials”. These are students who have completed high school between September 2019 and May 2021 […] … learn more→
Best schools often out of reach for disadvantaged students in choice programs
Although school choice policies are often presented as a way to let families select the best schools for their children, my research found that few students using school choice can access high-achieving schools far from home. In my peer-reviewed study – recently published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis – I examine who uses school choice and whether most families enroll […] … learn more→
