Should Non-Standard English Be Taught in Schools?

March 15th, 2017

The 2016 presidential election brought into sharp focus the divisions among Americans about how to handle diversity. While race and country of origin came to the forefront of public and private debates, language is another issue that sparks passionate arguments. Oral language – the words we say and the way we speak them – is a strong marker of cultural background, not just across countries, but within them.

Americans have long debated educational policies for

Getting kids to eat more vegetables, easy-peasy

February 16th, 2017

“Eat your vegetables” is a frequent refrain at many a family dinner table. Children are not known for their love of vegetables, and parents often find themselves prompting, cajoling, or bribing their kids to get their vitamins and minerals. But parents aren’t present at every mealtime. Even many young children eat one or more meals a day at school. How can schools get students to consume more fruits and vegetables so that their brains and bodies will get the

Confronting a Threat to Scientific Progress: Skepticism

January 19th, 2017

Scientific progress is at its highest point in history, yet advances in health, environmental protection, and other fields face a major threat: distrust from some members of the public. Although 97% of scientists agree that global temperatures are rising and changing ecosystems, less than 75% of American citizens do. And a shocking number of parents distrust the safety of childhood vaccines, despite the fact that fabricated claims about the risks have been thoroughly

Educational Technology Is Not Making the Grade

Digital technology has revolutionized our homes, cars, and workplaces, but it hasn’t changed much in one surprising area: schools. The problem isn’t that schools lack access to technology, but that the expensive technology they have isn’t effective. In 2014 alone, U.S. schools spent close to $10 billion on educational technology, yet research on the benefits for students is “disheartening, at best,” according to Kimberly Lawless, who reviewed dozens of studies on the topic in Policy