Educational Research and Classroom Strategies

When students return to classrooms this fall, parents will be happy to know that schools and child care centers across the U.S. will return to serving healthy meals free of charge.

As part of the Biden administration’s school reopening plan, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Tuesday that it will allow school meal programs flexibility that enables social distancing. The waiver will extend through June 30, 2022. 

“USDA will remain relentless in ensuring our nation’s children get the critical nutrition they need,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “States and districts wanted waivers extended to plan for safe reopening in the fall. USDA answered the call to help America’s schools and child care institutions serve high quality meals while being responsive to their needs as children safely return to their regular routines. This action also increases the reimbursement rate to school meal operators so they can serve healthy foods to our kids.”

Everyone wins

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, free school lunches for more than a million children were at risk because of cuts to the SNAP program. Then, when the pandemic hit and schools were closed, the USDA quickly put together the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to issue waivers and make it as easy as possible for children to receive meals. 

Vilsack called the waiver extension a win-win-win for kids, parents, and schools. It will give up to three healthy meals per day to nearly 12 million children who depend on assistance. 

Schools will be allowed to serve meals through the USDA’s National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option (SSO), a program typically only available during summer vacation. SSO has the same nutrition standards as the standard school meal programs – fruits and vegetables, milk, whole grains, and sensible calorie levels. Schools that choose this option will receive higher-than-normal meal reimbursements for every meal they serve without having to worry about increased costs related to pandemic-related operational and supply chain challenges. 

One of the advantages for parents is how the program will adapt to meals and snacks at flexible meal times. Caregivers will also have the option to pick up “grab-and-go” meals for their children when programs are not operating normally, even if they do not have a child present.

The USDA has put together a list of child nutrition program information, including COVID-19 waivers by state, available meal pickup points when schools are closed, and how to participate in the Seamless Summer Option and Summer Food Service Program.

Several studies have highlighted the importance of kids regularly engaging in physical activity. Now, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Geneva explored how kids’ fitness may impact their cognitive and academic abilities. 

According to their findings, kids who had the highest cardiorespiratory fitness levels academically outperformed those with lower fitness levels. The results suggest that there may be a relationship between improved fitness and stronger cognitive abilities. 

Benefits of consistent physical activity

The researchers conducted a series of tests involving nearly 200 children between the ages of eight and 12. They focused on the three primary executive functions: memory, self-control, and multitasking. The team also evaluated the participants’ physical fitness abilities with a timed running test and compared all of these results with their academic outcomes in several different subjects. 

The researchers learned that students who had the highest cardiorespiratory fitness levels performed better academically than those who were weaker in this area. Two subject areas with noted improvements due to higher physical fitness were foreign language and math. 

After fully analyzing the results, the researchers determined that the relationship between physical fitness and academics was indirect. They said fitness was most closely related to executive functions like cognitive flexibility, which may be able to help students understand new subjects. 

To ensure that kids are at their best both mentally and physically, the researchers recommend that parents and caregivers encourage physical activity among their young ones whenever possible. 

“By demonstrating the link between physical capabilities, such as cardiorespiratory capacity, cognitive abilities, and grades, it underlines the importance of not reducing physical activity (and in particular physical education hours) in favor of other subjects, as this could ultimately have an impact on the development of the child as a whole,” said researcher Marc Yangüez. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge has found that teaching kids about empathy can benefit them creatively. 

According to their findings, kids’ creative and intellectual abilities improved when empathy was a focus point in school. This shows that addressing students’ needs beyond the scope of the curriculum can be beneficial to them both in the classroom and in everyday life. 

“We clearly awakened something in these pupils by encouraging them to think about the thoughts and feelings of others,” said researcher Dr. Helen Demetriou. “The research shows not only that it is possible to teach empathy, but that by doing so, we support the development of children’s creativity and their wider learning.” 

The benefits of prioritizing empathy

To better understand the importance of teaching kids how to be empathetic, the researchers conducted a year-long study that included 13- and 14-year-olds in a Design and Technology (D&T) program at two London schools. One school integrated lessons about empathy into the curriculum, and all of the students were assessed for creativity at the start and conclusion of the school year. 

Ultimately, learning about empathy was an important component of bolstering kids’ creativity and their overall engagement with academics. The researchers found that the students who had learned about empathy in school had stronger creative pursuits, and they were also more likely to be open-minded when compare to the students who had received more standard, curriculum-based lessons. 

Interestingly, the researchers learned that male and female students responded a little differently to the empathy lessons. Young girls had improved by more than 60 percent when it came to understanding others’ perspectives, while the boys who had empathy training were nearly 65 percent better at expressing their emotions. 

“When I taught Design and Technology, I didn’t see children as potential engineers who would one day contribute to the economy; they were people who needed to be ready to go into the world at 18,” said researcher Bill Nicholl. “Teaching children to empathize is about building a society where we appreciate other’s perspectives. Surely that is something we want education to do.” 

Surge in creativity

It’s also important to note that the children who received the empathy interventions had scored 11 percent lower on the creativity assessments at the start of the study; however, after learning more about emotions, thoughts, and feelings, the students’ creativity scores surged to be nearly 80 percent higher than the other group. 

Moving forward, the researchers hope that more educational leaders take these findings into consideration. Instilling students with empathy skills has been found to help them become more well-rounded human beings, which is invaluable to the growth and development process. 

“This is something that we must think about as curricula, in general, becomes increasingly exam-based,” said Dr. Demetriou. “Good grades matter, but for society to thrive, creative, communicative, and empathic individuals matter too.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has given a return to school classrooms the green light. In an article in JAMA published on Tuesday, agency officials said a “preponderance of available evidence” shows that in-person learning can be carried out safely as long as students and teachers mask-up and maintain social distancing. 

The key word in the CDC’s clearance is classrooms -- not gyms, group sports, or cafeterias. The agency said that school administrators must bridle activities that could be risky. 

“It’s not going to be safe to have a pizza party with a group of students,” Margaret Honein, a member of the C.D.C.’s COVID-19 emergency response team and one of the article’s writers, told the New York Times. “But outdoor cross-country, where distance can be maintained, might be fine to continue.”

Benefits outweigh the downsides

As many parents know, tele-education has proven to be stressful for everyone involved. However, CDC officials said there wasn’t really a safe option during the early stages of the pandemic. 

“Planning for the 2020/2021 school year included much uncertainty about the risk of transmission in school settings. While the benefits of in-person school attendance were well understood, the appropriate evaluation of its risks vs benefits was hampered by limited information about transmission risk in classroom settings,” the CDC officials wrote.

“Closing schools could adversely affect students’ academic progress, mental health, and access to essential services; however, if SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread in classrooms, opening schools might accelerate community transmission of the virus. There were no simple decisions for parents, teachers, administrators, or public officials.”

The proof speaks for itself

Now that the world is starting to understand COVID-19 better, vaccines are being distributed, and there’s research to back up the CDC’s guidance, schools are able to reopen with more safety than before. While there have been some actual school-related cases of COVID-19 reported, the officials say there has been little evidence that schools have “contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.”

In fact, being inside of a classroom has proven to be safer than being in a circle of friends and family. Citing a controlled study in Mississippi with children aged 0 through 18 years, the study showed that attending gatherings and social functions outside the home, as well as having visitors in the home, was associated with increased risk of infection; however, in-person school attendance during the 14 days prior to diagnosis was not. 

The success of the Mississippi study was also repeated in rural Wisconsin and 11 school districts in North Carolina.

While experts have found that going to preschool has the potential to give kids an added boost in kindergarten, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Montreal has explored additional benefits linked to kindergarten readiness. 

According to their findings, kids who are prepared academically, socially, cognitively, and physically before starting kindergarten are more likely to excel in several other areas later in life. 

“We’ve known for years that getting off to a good start in kindergarten leads to better achievement over the long-term,” said researcher Caroline Fitzpatrick. “But now with our study we can really lock in the idea that early childhood skills help you achieve success and adopt a healthier lifestyle in emerging adulthood. And that’s promising for society as a whole.” 

Lasting effects of kindergarten readiness

To understand what effect kindergarten readiness can have on long-term success, the researchers followed 2,000 children who were part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development from age five through the end of high school. 

At the start of the study, the researchers assessed the kids’ knowledge of vocabulary and math. By the end of kindergarten, the team evaluated reports from teachers on the kids’ social and emotional outcomes in the classroom. The researchers checked in again when the kids were getting ready to leave high school to see how their mental and emotional well-being, academic performance, and physical activity levels had developed. 

Ultimately, the researchers observed better long-term success in those who were better prepared at the start of kindergarten. Having stronger math skills at age five was linked with a reduced likelihood of substance abuse, a lower chance of dropping out of high school, and higher academic success throughout high school. The researchers also found that better social awareness at this young age led to better physical health outcomes by the end of high school. 

“Kindergarten classroom engagement also predicted involvement in physical activity, and a 65 percent drop in the risk of a child being overweight by age 17,” said researcher Linda Pagani. 

The researchers hope that these findings highlight the importance of kindergarten readiness, as entering school prepared could have a strong impact on future psychological and academic success. 

“Promoting kindergarten readiness seems, over the long-term, to help reduce the lifestyle risks generated by dropping out of high school,” said Pagani. “Therefore, policies to promote and preserve children’s early skills, such as providing stimulating childcare and diminishing family adversity, may thus represent a valuable policy strategy for governments to invest in.” 

While every student has a different learning style, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is exploring the negative effects of students who engage in “distracted learning.” 

The researchers say many students tend to be doing several different things while engaging with schoolwork, and this may have a negative impact on academic outcomes. Instead of multitasking, the team says students should work to maintain better focus if they want to increase their chances of academic success. 

“Listening to a lecture, texting, online shopping, and socializing on Facebook are all complex, very demanding tasks that draw on the same region of the brain, the prefrontal cortex,” said researcher Shelly J. Schmidt. “Under most conditions, the brain can’t carry out two complex tasks simultaneously. But if students do not believe their learning is being hampered by this behavior, they have no incentive or motivation to change it, and the problem just continues.” 

Distractions and electronics

The researchers analyzed several recent studies that looked at the ways that distracted learning can be detrimental to academic success. They learned that multitasking while trying to do schoolwork can make it harder for students to comprehend what they’re learning while also negatively affecting their performance on exams and assignments. To help avoid this, Schmidt and her team are encouraging parents, students, and teachers to prioritize maintaining a stronger focus to help kids reach their highest potential. 

“Armed with an internal locus of control, students are able to recognize and control factors that impede their success, such as distractions while they’re trying to learn,” said Schmidt. 

Because electronics are one of the biggest sources of distraction, the researchers recommend several strategies for students who may be distracted by their phones while doing schoolwork. While some people may work better with a phone or gaming system totally out of sight while working, others may prefer to schedule in times throughout the day to periodically check social media or take a quick break with a show or video. 

Schmidt explained that it’s “virtually impossible to make students limit all distractions;” however, building in time throughout the school day to take breaks, stand up, and move can be beneficial for both students and teachers to get more out of their designated work time. 

“Exercise has been shown to be of enormous benefit to both cognitive functioning and well-being, including mental health,” said Schmidt. “Teachers could incorporate movement into classroom activities by asking students to pair up and go on a brief walk indoors or outdoors to discuss a concept from the day’s lesson.” 

Maintaining better focus

Despite all of the distractions vying for students’ attention, the researchers hope that these findings highlight the importance of maintaining a strong focus, as doing so can be beneficial both inside and outside the classroom. 

“In a world where distractions abound, we have a golden opportunity to help our students and ourselves learn how to control our actions and focus on what really matters,” Schmidt said. “Learning how to become less distractible is an essential and timeless skill for success in education, as well as many other facets of life.” 

With more young kids spending time in front of screens than ever before, many parents are trying to limit the amount of time their little ones are playing video games or watching TV. 

Now, a new study has found that too much screen time during childhood can have a negative impact on kids’ academic performance. Given that the nature of school is set to change because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers worry about the effect that so much time in front of screens will have on kids’ educational outcomes. 

“The debate about the effects of modern media on children’s learning has never been more important given the effects of today’s pandemic on children’s use of time,” the researchers wrote. “This is the first large, longitudinal study of electronic media use and learning in primary school children, and results showed heavier users of television and computers had significant declines in reading and numeracy two years later compared with light users.” 

Limiting screen time

The researchers included over 1,200 kids in the study, all of whom were between the ages of eight and nine. While their parents reported on the kids’ screen time, the kids received academic assessments at the start of the study, and then again two years later. 

Overall, too much screen time was linked with poorer academic outcomes. However, the researchers found that various types of media could affect classroom performance differently. The researchers learned that more than one hour on the computer could negatively impact kids’ math abilities, whereas two or more hours of watching TV had a poor impact on reading abilities. 

Because the researchers tracked the kids’ academic performance and screen time habits over the course of two years, it was clear that this extended use of screens was the biggest concern. They found that screen time in such a large capacity at this age could translate to kids falling as far as four months behind in school. 

Improving academic performance

While another recent study has highlighted how too much screen time can affect kids getting ready for kindergarten, this study shows that continued screen time later in childhood could make school work harder for kids as they grow up. 

Many parents want to limit screen time because they worry about how it will affect their kids’ behavior or sleeping patterns, but this study emphasizes the importance of limiting screen time in order for kids to reach their full academic potential. 

College students can experience a great deal of stress when trying to keep up with their schoolwork and other commitments. But a recent study suggests that taking some time away to reconnect with nature can go a long way towards relieving anxiety.

Researchers from Cornell University conducted a study which found that spending as little as 10 minutes out in nature can make students happier and alleviate physical and mental stress.

"It doesn't take much time for the positive benefits to kick in -- we're talking 10 minutes outside in a space with nature," said lead author Gen Meredith. "We firmly believe that every student, no matter what subject or how high their workload, has that much discretionary time each day, or at least a few times per week."

Short stretches in nature do the trick

The researchers came to their conclusions after reviewing previous research on the effects of nature on college students. Through their analysis, they determined that spending 10-50 minutes out in natural spaces improved students’ moods, helped them regain focus, and benefitted certain physical markers like blood pressure and heart rate.

The team notes that shorter stints in nature provided the best benefits and are more achievable for students running on a busy schedule.

"We wanted to keep this access to nature as simple and achievable as possible. While there is a lot of literature on longer outdoor programs, we wanted to quantify doses in minutes, not days," said study co-author Donald Rakow. "It's not that there's a decline after 50 minutes, but rather that the physiological and self-reported psychological benefits tend to plateau after that.”

Prescription for nature?

The study findings give credence to the researchers’ belief that time in nature could eventually be prescribed by doctors as a treatment for stress. 

"Prescribing a dose can legitimize the physician's recommendation and give a tangible goal. It's different than just saying: 'Go outside.' There is something specific that a student can aim for," said Meredith. "This is an opportunity to challenge our thinking around what nature can be. It is really all around us: trees, a planter with flowers, a grassy quad or a wooded area."

The full study has been published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Sleep is crucial for consumers of all ages, but recent studies have explored how getting more sleep can be particularly beneficial for teens, especially when it comes to starting school later. 

Now, researchers have found that when given the opportunity to come into school an hour later, students were not only performing better in the classroom, but they were also sleeping better at night. 

Reaping the benefits of more sleep

A study based in Germany explored how students’ learning outcomes and sleep patterns changed when they were able to decide for themselves what time the school day started. 

The school involved in the study gave senior students more freedom in how they scheduled their day and completed their assignments. Students could either come in for their first period class as usual, with the goal of completing required assignments, or they could choose to come in an hour later, with the understanding that they’d have to use their free time throughout the day or after school hours to complete required work. 

To best understand how choosing the start time of their school day impacted students inside and outside of the classroom, the researchers had the students report on their sleeping habits for three weeks before the flexible schedule was implemented, and then again for six weeks afterwards. 

The researchers found that most students didn’t jump on the chance to come in later. In fact, most students came in an hour later twice a week on average. However, taking those days to sleep a bit longer proved to be beneficial in countless ways. 

Students reported sleeping for about an hour more when they decided to skip their first classes. They also felt better equipped to tackle new course material and had a deeper understanding of what they were learning in school. 

Benefits of flexibility

The researchers found that students felt these benefits regardless of how often they decided to utilize the flexible schedule, showing how valuable it can be for students to take breaks on a regular basis and how beneficial it can be for students to have the choice in the first place. 

“Perhaps the very fact that one can decide for oneself when to get up in the morning is sufficient to break the cycle and reduce the pressure,” said researcher Eva Winnebeck. “Flexible systems are a viable alternative for implementing later school starts to improve teenage sleep.” 

Researchers from Harvard University conducted a study that tested different learning styles on college students to determine what produced the best learning outcomes. 

While the students believed that a traditional lecture style was the best for them to perform optimally on future exams, the study revealed that adopting a more active learning approach in the classroom was better for their test scores. 

“Often, students seemed genuinely to prefer smooth-as-silk traditional lectures,” said researcher Louis Deslauriers. “We wanted to take them at their word. Perhaps they actually felt like they learned more from lectures than they did from active learning.” 

“The effort involved in active learning can be misinterpreted as a poor sign of learning,” he added. “On the other hand, a superstar lecturer can explain things in such a way as to make students feel like they are learning more than they actually are.” 

Discovering successful learning methods

To determine which style of learning led to better learning outcomes among college students, the researchers experimented with introductory physics students. Participants experienced the first 11 weeks of the semester in a traditional lecture style format before seeing a change in the final four weeks.

At the 11-week mark, the researchers split the class up, having half of the students remain in the lecture room while the other half of the students were exposed to active learning. After two weeks of this set-up, the students switched so that all students were engaging with active learning for two of the last four weeks of the semester. 

Students were tested on what they learned in the class so the researchers could measure which teaching style was better for students’ retention. They were also surveyed on their attitudes around the different learning styles. 

Though students felt they were taking more away from the lecture-style classes, the tests revealed that when they switched to active learning, test scores were higher. The researchers explained that the students weren’t opposed to active learning, and more educators should feel encouraged to switch things up in the classroom, as doing so could help boost students’ learning outcomes. 

“When I first switched to teaching using active learning, some students resisted that change,” said Christopher Stubbs, Dean of Science at Harvard. “This research confirms that faculty should persist and encourage active learning. Active engagement in every classroom, led by our incredible science faculty, should be the hallmark of residential undergraduate education at Harvard.” 

While musical talent may not come easily for all consumers, taking music classes in high school can actually benefit students in other subject areas. 

Researchers from the University of British Columbia explained that a music budget is typically the first to get cut, but after seeing improvements in scores in English, math, and science, school officials might want to think twice before getting rid of music classes. 

“Often, resources for music education -- including the hiring of trained, specialized music educators, and band and stringed instruments -- are cut or not available in elementary and secondary schools so that they could focus on math, science, and English,” said researcher Peter Gouzouasis. 

 “The irony is that music education -- multiple years of high-quality instrumental learning and playing in a band or orchestra or singing in a choir at an advanced level -- can be the very thing that improves all-around academic achievement and an ideal way to have students learn more holistically in schools.” 

Music matters

The researchers analyzed test scores from over 112,000 students graduating high school in British Columbia between 2012 and 2015. 

To qualify for the study, students were required to take a music class that either had them playing instruments, like orchestra or jazz band, or singing, like choir or vocal. 

The researchers found that when students took classes that enhanced their instrument-playing, their academic performance improved; however, the academic outcomes weren’t as strong when students focused on singing. The researchers explained that playing an instrument requires a very unique skill set that is oftentimes just as demanding -- if not more so -- than a typical academic class. 

“A student has to learn to read music notation, develop eye-hand-mind coordination, develop keen listening skills, develop team skills for playing in an ensemble and develop discipline to practice,” said researcher Martin Guhn. “All those learning experiences, and more, play a role in enhancing the learner’s cognitive capacities, executive functions, motivation to learn in school, and self-efficacy.” 

Nearly 6.5 million American children have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and as that number continues to rise, more and more children have trouble concentrating, remembering details, and sitting still -- particularly in school.

While medication is an option for some families, no single approach is effective for every child. This led a team of researchers from the University of Exeter and the University of London to explore other ways that schools can support children with ADHD.

“Our research gives the strongest evidence to date that non-drug interventions in schools can support children to meet their potential in terms of academic and other outcomes,” said researcher Tamsin Ford.

Figuring out what works

In order to find out what methods were most effective for children with ADHD, the researchers analyzed 28 control trials that involved measures that worked to support children with ADHD at school.

The researchers then took that one step further by performing a meta-analysis, to really narrow down which actions were the most beneficial to the students. The methods were analyzed against the student’s ADHD symptoms, difficulties in school, and school outcomes.

The biggest takeaway for the researchers was that one-on-one sessions proved to be the most effective regardless of the method the teachers chose to employ. Additionally, daily report cards and self-regulation were two methods that the researchers noticed were effective in helping the children stick to guidelines and stay motivated.

Daily report cards allow the children to set personal goals each day, and upon reaching certain milestones, the child is rewarded. The report card allows flexibility of use for both parents and teachers, as the studies the researchers evaluated showed ways the child can set goals both at home and at school, in addition to specific lessons at school.

The researchers noted in their report that there weren’t too many studies that showed this method, and the ones that did had mixed results. However, they say it can be an easy, affordable way to personalize attention for the student and give them something to look forward to when they accomplish their goals.

Self-regulation was another positive method, and it is an area that can often be difficult for children with ADHD. Self-regulating first and foremost requires children to really focus and think before talking. It also asks them to get in tune with their emotions, and identify -- and avoid -- anything that might cause stress or unpleasantness.

According to Ford, both of these strategies are good starting points for teachers, as they foster individualized support and attention -- both of which are key for helping students with ADHD.

“More and better quality research is needed, but in the meantime, schools should try daily report cards and to increase children’s ability to regulate their emotions,” Ford said. “These approaches may work best for children with ADHD by one-to-one delivery.”

Effects of digital media  

As this study shows, each child with ADHD has a different set of needs, and because of this, treatment options are just as varied and wide-reaching. As such, it can often be difficult for parents and teachers to find the best ways to support children with ADHD.

A recent study explored the ways digital media use affects children’s ADHD symptoms, and the researchers found that the more time the participants spent online -- playing games, shopping, watching videos, etc. -- the greater the likelihood they would develop ADHD symptoms.

A new study from the University of Tübingen in Germany concludes that homework can positively impact students by making them more conscientious, potentially conflicting with previous studies that indicate too much homework can be harmful.

The researchers analyzed 2,760 German students in Grades 5-8 over the course of three years and found that students who put a lot of work into their homework benefitted by becoming more conscientious, according to self-reports and parental feedback. The results indicate that these same students were able to overcome a “dip” in conscientiousness that usually occurs in late childhood and early adolescence.

Lead author Richard Göllner says that previous studies have largely neglected how homework can positively shape a young person's personality.

“Our results show that homework is not only relevant for school performance, but also for personality development – provided that students put a lot of effort into their assignments,” he said. “We need to define more precisely what expectations we have of the potential of homework and how these expectations can be fulfilled.”

Too much homework bad for health

While this study reinforces the positive academic and social aspects behind assigning homework, previous research has shown that homework can also be detrimental to student development if too much of it is assigned at a young age.

In a 2015 study published by the National Education Association (NEA), researchers from Brown University found that Kindergarteners averaged nearly 25 minutes of homework, with the load increasing in subsequent years. Lead researcher Robert Pressman said that all that extra work can weigh heavily on the whole family.

“The levels of family stress and tension found in this study fall into ranges that could lead to detrimental physical and mental health,” he said.

“The Kindergarten homework load was identical to that of first and second graders. In that period when children are focused on early stages of socialization and finessing motor skills, an overload of homework will likely interfere with a Kindergartener’s ability to play and participate in extra-curricular activities.”

Using homework the right way

So, how can educators walk the line between encouraging positive traits and overloading students? Lara McAneny, a New York state educator and recent winner of the Helmy El-Sherif Teacher to Harvard Award, says that homework should always reinforce key skills that are learned in the classroom, never be assigned punitively, and consider different family dynamics.

“For younger students, I don’t think there should be more than 20-30 minutes of homework that they can do by themselves, and if teachers aren’t providing them with a task that can be done independently then I don’t think that’s helpful to the family dynamic because it does add stress,” she tells ConsumerAffairs.

“Some kids don’t even see their parents because they’re working full-time or working late, so to then have them come to class with homework that’s wrong or incomplete, it might just be that they have no one there to support them, and then they’re being penalized at age 8 or 10 for something that’s completely out of their control.”

McAneny concludes by saying that homework is a tool that can help students become lifelong learners, but it should never be used so extensively that it takes away from other meaningful developmental time.

“Not only do young children need time to play, develop their social skills, and get outside and be active, but they’re also exhausted," she said. "To expect them to sit down at the table as soon as they get home after a long school day just really defies common logic for that age level and what’s developmentally appropriate,” she said.

Teachers and school faculty work day in and day out to ensure that their students are successful, but one measure that some educators often fall short on in evaluations is their ability to develop young people’s emotional intelligence – their ability to identify and manage their own emotions and the emotions of others.

While some experts agree that fostering emotional intelligence should be a primary focus for educators, a report asserts that their ability to do so should not be factored into their performance records. The findings come from a systemic review of the issue by researchers from RTI International and the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY).

“Recent research has found benefits of social and emotional skills,” said lead author and senior research education analyst Elizabeth Glennie. “However, we need to learn more about the role of educators in building these skills.”

Can’t control for all factors

For the report, a series of focus groups comprised of three panels of NNSTOY teachers investigated how emotional intelligence could be nurtured and what role teachers could play in developing them. They concluded that while educators have the ability to help students grow socially and emotionally, they should not be evaluated on their ability to do so.

The groups argue that there are many factors that go into developing students’ social and emotional intelligence that are beyond any school’s control, and that teachers cannot possibly be expected to account for all these influences.

Further, the groups say that it isn’t yet clear which interventions have the greatest impact on forming students’ social and emotional intelligence, and that many supports need to be specifically tailored to meet student needs.

Supporting students

While the groups say that teachers shouldn’t be graded on developing social and emotional skills in their students, they do admit that it should be a primary focus for all educators since it is a crucial life skill. They recommend that schools provide teachers with the support and resources they need to learn how to allocate time for helping students and what steps they can take to be successful.

“Data about social emotional learning can help teachers support their students,” said Glennie. “However, such data should [be] used in a way that ensures that schools and teachers get the resources they need to do that.

The full report can be found here.

Marijuana legalization is becoming a growing issue in the U.S. Medical use of the drug has been around for some time and has proven to be effective; in fact, a recent update on the National Institute on Drug Abuse website describes how its use has led to a decrease in opioid abuse amongst Americans.

However, detractors are quick to point out that there are problems with marijuana use as well. In a recent study from the University of Waterloo, researchers found that young people who used marijuana performed worse academically and reported lower ambitions when it came to furthering their education after high school.

"We've seen reductions in the number of youth perceiving marijuana as harmful, yet they have greater vulnerability to adverse consequences. . . We found that the more frequently students started using the drug, the greater their risk of poor school performance and engagement," said lead author Karen Patte.

Poorer grades and lowered ambitions

The researchers questioned and analyzed over 26,000 high school students over the course of two years between 2012 and 2013. Patte and her colleagues measured how participants’ academic goals, engagement, preparedness, and performance shifted from not using marijuana or alcohol at the start of the study to using either during follow-up reviews.

The findings showed that students who started using marijuana at least once a month were roughly four times more likely to skip class, two-to-four times less likely to complete their homework and value getting good grades, and half as likely to achieve high grades.

Additionally, the researchers found that students who began smoking marijuana daily had a 50% drop in their ambitions for attending a college or university when compared to their reports at the beginning of the study.

"All substances present risks to health and well-being. With marijuana legalization on the horizon, it's critical we understand these risks in order to promote successful transitions into adulthood for our youth,” said professor Scott Leatherdale, head of the COMPASS longitudinal study.

Delaying marijuana use

The researchers say their findings point to the need for delaying marijuana and alcohol use in adolescents, a feat that may be difficult given recent trends in policy between different substances.

"More youth today use marijuana than cigarettes, yet public health prevention efforts lag behind those of alcohol and tobacco,” Leatherdale points out.

The full study has been published in the Journal of School Health.

Reading before bed is a favorite pastime of many parents with younger children. The activity has several advantages for putting young ones in the right state of mind for sleep: it’s quiet, relaxing, and takes away bright screens that can mess with circadian rhythms.

In a recent study, researchers at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine also found another benefit of the activity. They say that parents who read to young children before bed help build a positive association with books and develops early literacy skills, which can help out down the road when they’re beginning elementary school.

“These findings are exciting because they suggest that reading to young children, beginning even in early infancy, has a lasting effect on language, literacy, and early reading skills. . . What they’re learning when you read with them as infants still has an effect four years later when they’re about to begin elementary school,” said lead author Dr. Carolyn Cates.

A head start towards literacy

For the purposes of the study, researchers recruited over 250 mother-baby pairs from a newborn nursery at an urban public hospital. Participants were asked to monitor how well their growing baby understood new words over a 54-month period and then cross-referenced that data with the number of books in the home and how many days per week parents read with their children.

Quality of shared book-reading was also measured by whether parents had conversations with their children while reading and if the books and stories were age-appropriate.

After adjusting for socioeconomic differences, the researchers found that reading quality and the amount of shared book-reading in a child’s early years predicted how expansive their vocabulary was four years later. Cates said that reading quality was found to be closely linked to early reading skills and literacy at age four.

“Findings suggest shared reading, beginning early in infancy and in toddlerhood are critical for key language and literacy outcomes as much as four years later. Findings strongly support preventive programs in pediatric primary care aiming to enhance early shared reading,” the abstract concludes.

The researchers plan to present their findings in full at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting, which takes place on May 8 in San Francisco.

Making the transition from high school to college can be tough for young students. The increased academic rigor, combined with what is often a completely new social setting, can negatively affect performance on assignments and tests.

However, while anxiety over going to a new school may subside with time, researchers say there are some factors that can damage students’ work over the long term. In a recent study, a team of researchers found that consuming high levels of drugs and alcohol correlated with worse student GPAs and high dropout rates.

"Doing a lot of both drugs had a significant impact, in terms of lower grades in our study, and in other studies, with number of leaves of absences and those who dropped out of school," said senior author Godfrey Pearlson.

Varying GPA 

The study used data that tracked 1,142 students over the course of two years – from the beginning of their freshman year to the end of their sophomore year. Analyzing participants’ self-reported levels of alcohol and drug use, the researchers found that medium-to-high users of both substances immediately had lower predicted GPA scores by the end of their first semester.

Interestingly, the researchers found that varying substance use tended to correlate to different GPA scores throughout the two-year period. For example, students who began consuming medium-to-high levels of both substances had significantly lower predicted GPA, but if they cut back on their use then scores tended to turn around.

“Our follow-up analysis [indicates] that when students curtailed their substance use over time they had significantly higher academic GPA compared to those who remained stable in their substance use patterns over the two year period,” the researchers said.

The researchers stop short of saying that drug and alcohol use hinder academic scores, but they state that their work does build upon past research on the subject. “Overall, our study validates and extends the current literature by providing important implications of concurrent alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement in college,” they conclude.

And, just maybe, it’s something that students and educators should keep in mind too. The full study has been published in PLOS ONE.

The back-to-school season is already well underway, with some children already back in the classroom and others counting down the final days until they have to return.

Parents may be relieved that their kids are going back to school, but they might be surprised by the amount of work that is being brought home when classes actually begin. A new study suggests that school-aged children across the U.S. are being overloaded with homework.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Brown University School of Medicine, the Children’s National Health System, Brandeis University, Rhode Island College, and the New England Center for Pediatric Psychology. They collected data from 1,173 English and Spanish speaking parents with children in grades K-12 and found that students are getting over three times the workload that is recommended by the National Education Association (NEA). Their findings have been published in The American Journal for Family Therapy. 

Younger students affected most

The current standard for homework is that it should take students a total of 10 minutes, multiplied by their grade level. This means that a 9th grader should expect 90 minutes, or an hour and half, of total homework every night. This formula has been proven to produce the best academic results, according to the NEA.

Unfortunately, this is simply not the case in U.S. schools, especially with younger students. First graders across the nation are currently three times above their recommended homework time. Even the average kindergartener, who the NEA says should have no homework, is spending approximately 25 minutes on homework every night. The researchers believe that this is putting a large amount of pressure and stress on families, which can be harmful to the well-being of the children.  

“The levels of family stress and tension found in this study fall into ranges that could lead to detrimental physical and mental health. The Kindergarten homework load was identical to that of first and second graders. In that period when children are focused on early stages of socialization and finessing motor skills, an overload of homework will likely interfere with a Kindergartener’s ability to play and participate in extra-curricular activities,” said lead author Robert Pressman.

Family limitations

If that wasn’t bad enough, researchers have also found that many families are at a disadvantage with this current system because of educational or language limitations. Many parents who are not native speakers of English, or did not have a full education themselves, have trouble helping their children with their homework because they simply do not have the skills to do so. This factor greatly affects the amount of stress that families feel, and puts more pressure on the student.

Another lead author of the study, Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, has written a book on this matter. It explores the daily habits and routines that can help a student achieve academic success. It incorporates comprehensive research from over 50,000 parents from more than 4,600 cities across the nation.

Doing your own research and implementing healthy habits is a good start, but in an ever-changing education system, there is no easy answer to solving this problem. It is recommended that parents talk to their child’s teacher and be very open about any limitations they have with helping their child achieve academic success. Being proactive and developing an individualized plan to help a student succeed has, and always will be, the best course of action. 

Working mothers can stop feeling guilty about the damage they've inflicted on their children by dropping them off at day care.

A recent study that looked at academic achievement and behavioral issues of children whose mothers work versus those with moms who stay home found that the kids of working moms don't turn out to be much different than those with stay at home moms in terms of academic achievement and behavior issues.

An analysis of 50 years of research examined 69 studies conducted between 1960 and March 2010. It determined that overall, children whose mothers return to work early in their lives, before age three, are no more likely to have significant behavior or academic problems than kids whose moms stay at home.

However, the researchers did find some small effects, both positive and negative, when they broke the results down into various sub-groups of children.

For example, children from middle- and upper-class, two-parent families performed slightly worse on formal tests of achievement and showed a slight increase in behavior problems when their mothers worked full-time during the first three years of their lives.

On the other hand, children from low-income, single-parent families actually did better on achievement tests and had fewer behavior problems when their moms were employed.

Therefore, the answer to the question of how a child will be affected by a working mother is, "it depends."

Rachel Lucas-Thompson, assistant professor of psychology at Macalester College, and author of the study said that hopefully, these findings will reassure mothers "that they're not screwing up their kids by going back to work."

A possible explanation for the positive effects seen in some children is that, for low-income or welfare-dependent households, the extra income from a working mother may reduce family stress. And for single-parent households, an employed mother might be a better role-model for her children. These benefits could outweigh any potential negative consequences of maternal absence.

However, in households where there isn't a pressing economic need for the mother to work, the extra income might not outweigh the advantages of always having a parent around. It might be a mistake to discount the negative results seen for some children just because they are small effects.

Jay Belsky, professor of psychology at Birkbeck University of London said the effects we're talking about are not likely to be visible to the naked eye. While these results -- good, bad or indifferent -- do not really offer much guidance to any individual parent struggling with the issue, they might offer guidance to policy makers.

Belsky says he would support a parental leave policy that would let parents stay home for the first year of a child's life.

The analysis found that the timing of a mother's return to work was very important. Going back to work before your child is one year old was associated with small decreases in later academic success, while employment during the second or third year of life was linked with increases in achievement. Working full-time during the first year was connected to more behavior problems, but working only part-time wasn't.

One factor that wasn't examined by the analysis is the type and quality of a child's alternative care. Kids who spend all day with a relative might have different outcomes than children who go to a day-care center. And little is known about how a father's employment affects children.