by Laura Maniglia | May 14, 2024 | brain development, cognitive skills, learning, memory, metacognition, note-taking, writing
“Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning” This recent headline from NPR’s health news reinforces previous research about the importance of handwriting. For children, “Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the...
by Laura Maniglia | May 2, 2024 | active learning, brain development, cognitive skills, instruction, language, learning, public schools, reading, student engagement, whole brain learning, writing
Incorporating and emphasizing cognitive skills into the classroom are major elements to support learning. Scientific research utilizes fMRI studies that pinpoint the locus of rational thinking in the prefrontal cortex . However, recent neuro- scientific studies have...
by Laura Maniglia | Apr 19, 2024 | academic standing, Charter schools, instruction, math, NEA, parents, PTA, student engagement, teacher effectiveness, teacher training, teachers
The Teach for America (TFA) program launched in 1990 “to address a national teacher shortage and dire academic issues for low-income kids that had not improved in a century.” TFA is a competitive program that recruits high performing college graduates to teach...
by Laura Maniglia | Mar 28, 2024 | goal setting, instruction, learning, math, mindset
Many people admire those who have achieved fame as prodigies in their fields or as lucky individuals who happened to be at the right place at the right time. However, they seldom realize the struggles these successful people encountered during their journey to the...
by Laura Maniglia | Mar 4, 2024 | active learning, enrollment, instruction, learning, parents, school choice, student engagement, teacher effectiveness, teachers
Student engagement is the essential component for learning. And class attendance is mandatory for engagement. Unfortunately, the pandemic-induced school closures resulted not only in learning loss, but also another dire consequence when schools reopened. Chronic...
by Laura Maniglia | Feb 2, 2024 | academic standing, attention & focus, brain development, Child development, cognitive skills, instruction, math, parents, students, teachers
Many people know about dyslexia, the learning disorder that involves reading difficulty. However, less known is another learning disorder related to math: dyscalculia. This learning difficulty involves brain areas that handle math and number-related skills and...
by Laura Maniglia | Jan 21, 2024 | academic standing, enrollment, SAT, testing
A number of select colleges and universities have recently revised their policies regarding admissions testing. “High school GPAs are often perceived to represent inconsistent levels of readiness for college across high schools, whereas test scores (e.g., ACT...
by Laura Maniglia | Jan 11, 2024 | academic standing, Admissions, enrollment, grading system, parents, public schools, testing
My previous blog regarding the resumption of required admissions testing for MIT ended with a speculation: Now that MIT has recognized that standardized tests are a valid part of the admissions process, it may be only a matter of time before other selective colleges...
by Laura Maniglia | Dec 31, 2023 | active learning, attention & focus, brain development, cognitive skills, learning, metacognition, parents, reading, students, study skills
The choice to read on print or screen has been the subject of interest for several years. The benefits of one delivery system over the other appears negligible for pleasure reading. The selection of one reading mode over the other “is inconsequential when interest is...
by Laura Maniglia | Dec 9, 2023 | Tutorial
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released the PISA scores. Once again, the results indicate that the US education system is failing to provide students with the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. “Some 25% of...
