Group items tagged

The resurgence of a language once rejected as outdated and irrelevant is reflected across the country as Latin is embraced by a new generation of students

An article that explains a debate that has raged for years in academic circles. When you read online, are you reading or skimming? Is the Internet killing reading or just helping students develop different skills?

Explains aliteracy and amoralism in literature and reading. Definition of aliterate and amoral; Discussion of several cartoons on aliteracy; View of the International Reading Association on aliteracy. (Description taken from EBSCO.)

This NYT article is about how the way we refer to and treat the elderly (calling them "dear" or speaking loudly to them, for example) can affect their health. Such studies have broader ranging implications. When we call others derogatory names, can it affect their health? Does using "baby talk" affect the language development of children? Do our assumptions about teenagers affect their intellectual development?

Business leaders, governors, and others are urging a redoubled commitment to strengthening U.S. students' preparation to succeed in the subjects known by the increasingly familiar shorthand of STEM.

Health literacy is basic reading and numerical skills that allow a person to function in the health care environment. Even though most adults read at an eighth-grade level, and 20 percent of the population reads at or below a fifth-grade level, most health care materials are written at a 10th-grade level. Older patients are particularly affected because their reading and comprehension abilities are influenced by their cognition and their vision and hearing status. Inadequate health literacy can result in difficulty accessing health care, following instructions from a physician, and taking medication properly. Patients with inadequate health literacy are more likely to be hospitalized than patients with adequate skills. Patients understand medical information better when spoken to slowly, simple words are used, and a restricted amount of information is presented. For optimal comprehension and compliance, patient education material should be written at a sixth-grade or lower reading level, preferably including pictures and illustrations. All patients prefer reading medical information written in clear and concise language. Physicians should be alert to this problem because most patients are unwilling to admit that they have literacy problems. (Am Fam Physician 2005;72:463-8. Copyright© 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians.)

Descriptions of dialects for different areas of the United States, their origins, and some pronunciation and slang guides, usually referring to doughnuts, oddly enough.

Many patients misunderstand the written questions American doctors have them answer before physical exams, a finding that calls into question the usefulness of these screening tools, new reports say.

A study to be released today by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum [cites] improvements in a range of literacy skills among students who took part in a program in which the Guggenheim sends artists into schools. The study, now in its second year, interviewed hundreds of New York City third graders, some of whom had participated in the Guggenheim program, called Learning Through Art, and others who did not.\n\n

An article, based mostly on anecdotal data, that discusses college students' lack of "religious literacy."

The Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, Graduate Record Examination and other college tests, has developed a new test that it says can assess students' ability to make good critical evaluations of the vast amount of material available to them.

A partnership between the software giant and the Philadelphia School District is an innovative solution to an urban crisis. But can public education survive private management?

It turns out that reading aloud to your child is a violent act.

First Amendment attorney and author Marjorie Heins argues that obscenity laws do children more harm than good.

While girls surge ahead in all subjects at school, boys are lagging behind. Is "girl power" to blame? Do boys need their own dose of "empowerment"?

The British tackled their own education gender gap by letting boys be boys -- with mixed results.

Why top-tier universities are racing to give the public free online access to their best lecturers. A great resource for free research material on the web, including a new YouTube education site.

Our students are falling behind their counterparts in the rest of the world, threatening the U.S.'s economic future. Why national education standards are the only way to fix the system