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Stressed out: the psychological effects of tests on primary school children

Laura Nicholson, Edge Hill University Some parents are so angry with the testing regime facing their children that they have come together in an attempt to boycott primary school exams. Preparation by teachers for these standardised achievement tests (SATs) in England have involved a narrowing of the curriculum, including a specific focus on spelling, punctuation and grammar. Parents believe that their children should be stimulated instead by more enriching activities and projects. There is also a worry that the tests may cause undue stress and pressure on their young children to perform well. These beliefs are widespread: more than 49,000 …

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How do children learn to detect snakes, spiders and other dangerous things?

Vanessa LoBue, Rutgers University Newark As summer approaches, children will be spending less time in the classroom and more time navigating the outside world. Outdoor activities are a fun and exciting part of summertime, but they can also filled with natural (and unnatural) dangers, like fast-moving cars, steep cliffs, crashing waves and even the occasional bear. Despite these daily hazards, most kids make it to the end of the day unscathed, other than the occasional scraped knee. Research shows children have an ability to detect threat quickly. How are perceptions of what’s safe and what’s threatening in the outside world …

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Why schools should provide one laptop per child

Binbin Zheng, Michigan State University and Mark Warschauer, University of California, Irvine A recent international study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found no positive evidence of impact of educational technology on student performance. It did not find any significant improvement in reading, math or science in countries that heavily invested in technology to improve student achievement. In fact, the report found that technology perhaps even widened the achievement gaps. Does this mean we should abandon attempts to integrate technology in schools? We are researchers of technology and learning in K-12 environments, and our research suggests this would …

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Reading to your child: the difference it makes

Peggy Albers, Georgia State University If you are a parent or a teacher, you most probably read stories to young children. Together, you laugh and point at the pictures. You engage them with a few simple questions. And they respond. So what happens to children when they participate in shared reading? Does it make a difference to their learning? If so, what aspects of their learning are affected? Shared reading for language development British researcher Don Holdaway was the first to point out the benefits of shared reading. He noted that children found these moments to be some of their …

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Should parents ask their children to apologize?

Craig Smith, University of Michigan Have you ever felt deserving of an apology and been upset when you didn’t get one? Have you ever found it hard to deliver the words, I’m sorry? Such experiences show how much apologies matter. The importance placed on apologies is shared by many cultures. Diverse cultures even share a great deal in common when it comes to how apologies are communicated. When adults feel wronged, apologies have been shown to help in a variety of ways: Apologies can reduce retaliation; they can bring about forgiveness and empathy for wrongdoers; and they can aid in …

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