In the most recent issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, the editors—Dan Liston, Jennie Whitcomb, and Hilda Borko—offer a provocative editorial on “reclaiming the role of social foundations in teacher education.” They suggest that teacher education has become overly instrumental, calcifying into...
Early Child Trauma Can Affect DNA?
Interesting study:Scientists have discovered that childhood trauma can actually alter your DNA and shape the way your genes work. This confirms in humans earlier findings in rats, that maternal care plays a significant role in influencing the genes that control our stress response.....Epigenetics is...
The Depression Has Been Going On a Long Time for People of Color
Nice overview of the "Silent Depression" for people of color.While the general population has been in recession for one year, people of color have been in recession for five years. By definition, a long-term recession is a depression.. . . Extreme economic inequality (which the U.S. experienced in...
Three Progressivisms: Trying to Find Logic in Silver's "Rationalist/Radical" Dichotomy
Crossposted and slightly edited from Open Left.This is a belated follow-up to Paul Rosenberg and David Sirota’s critiques of Nate Silver’s “Rationalist vs. Radical” progressivism. The dichotomies Silver laid out include:Rationalist vs. RadicalEmpirical vs. NormativeSees politics as a battle of ideas...
United States of Poverty
via Real World Economics Blog-The U.S. poverty rate is now the third worst (above only Turkey and Mexico) among the developed nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.-According to one recent survey, 28 percent of all U.S. households have at least one member that...
Urban Institute Audio Webcast: Children, the Recession, and the Economic Recovery Plan
Feb. 19, 9am-10:30 E.T. Register for live audio webcast here:As the economy ails, policymakers, program managers, and service providers will be under extraordinary pressure to get the biggest bang for each buck. Be part of the discussion as experts tackle such questions as- What happens to children...
God and Agency in the Mind
Interesting article on why religion may be a byproduct of the way our brain attributes agency to objects and persons, starting very early in childhood:So how does the brain conjure up gods? One of the key factors, says Bloom, is the fact that our brains have separate cognitive systems for dealing with...
Poor Kids Need Vitamins: Only Priveliged Kids (Who Don't Need Them) Take them
Interesting study finds that it's privileged kids who don't need vitamins who take them. Poor kids, who have poor diets and might actually benefit are the ones who don't. The investigator had hypothesized that poor families might use vitamins to buffer poor nutrition but found, not surprisingly,...