Neuroscience,Early Childhood Education and Play: We are Doing it Right!

This editorial examines neuroscience and its impact on the field of education. Starting with a narrative between two young children, the author intertwines research with basic principles of learning, using the interaction between two 4-year-olds to illustrate the precepts. The four principles are: (1) the brain is uniquely organized; (2) the brain is continually growing; (3) a “brain-compatible” classroom enables connection of learning to positive emotions; and (4) children’s brains need to be immersed in real-life, hands-on, and meaningful learning experiences. The editorial concludes with an illustration of how the brain works while two children are playing at the small animal center in their classroom.     

Classroom Learning Environment, Brain Research and The No Child Left Behind Initiative: 6?years Later

Six years have gone by since the passing of No Child Left Behind (2002) and due to the ‘high-stake’ riders attached to this legislation, educators at all levels have found themselves in a state of both emotional and cognitive dissonance. Recent research in the field of neuroscience combined with principles gained from constructivism support the importance of developing and implementing both a child-centered curriculum and a positive learning environment that is appropriate for young children. This paper addresses some of the difficulties that arise from the No Child Left Behind act and teaching from a constructivist model. Additionally, positive suggestions are provided for the early childhood educator in order to support current teaching philosophies despite the pressures of high-stakes testing.     

Elements of Elaboration in Working Class Writing

In an attempt to define the concepts ‘elaborate’ and ‘restricted code’ by which the language of middle‐class and working‐class people has been said to be distinguishable, the authors conducted an experiment in which a small group of public school sixth‐formers and a small group of young car‐workers of similar age and poor educational record wrote essays on a variety of themes. These were closely analyzed for characteristics of verbal usage. It was found that when essays on technical topics were considered alone, the general linguistic disadvantage of the working‐class groups was wiped out. This suggests that areas of working‐class language may, after all, be ‘elaborate’ and complex rather than ‘restricted’.     

Who pays? Who benefits? Who decides?

This paper was presented at the symposium dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the publication of Patrons Despite Themselves: Taxpayers and Arts Policy (Feld et al. 1983), held by the Association for Cultural Economics International, Boston, June 2008. It considers alternative means of providing indirect tax-based state support of the arts, such as the use of tax credits as opposed to tax deductions for charitable contributions, matching grants, and support applied to specific projects. It also considers the problem of broad-based changes to tax policy that have unintended consequences for arts organizations.      

Distance reached in the Anteromedial Reach Test as a function of learning and leg length

The anteromedial reach test (ART) is a new outcome measure for assessing dynamic knee stability in anterior cruciate ligament-injured patients. The effect of learning and leg length on distance reached in the ART was examined. Thirty-two healthy volunteers performed 15 trials of the ART on each leg. There was a moderate correlation (r = .44-.50) between reach distance and leg length, therefore reach distances were normalized for leg length. Normalized reach distance increased significantly over the 15 trials (p < .01), reaching a plateau after 8 trials, identified by a moving average graph. It is recommended that participants be afforded eight practice trials and that reach distances be normalized by expressing them as a percentage of leg length.