IBM announced today that Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) has integrated IBM Watson Analytics to help create new services and programs based on data-driven insights to improve students’ academic achievement and development.

In my team's morning standup[1] today, my boss asked us for our "most ridiculous / useless achievement" of the weekend. He offered as his, that he and his wife had looked at their growing stack of papers for shredding, and had a bonfire of them instead.

Another colleague offered up fitting one of those little metal keyhole covers on his front door, and I said that I'd finished the paté in the fridge no-one else was eating before it went off.

What are your tiny achievements of the week?


[1] which is of course actually conducted these days sitting down in our respective homes ...

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It would be grossly unfair to allow disadvantaged students to languish during a long gap in schooling while students whose families have more resources forge ahead.

“Death Stranding” is one of the oddest, and one of the best, games of 2019.

Interesting question. Before I answer, let me ask one: What keeps Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, up at night? You know Amazon, the trillion-dollar corporation that delivers something like a 5 billion packages a year. I’m at a professional meeting. The chair asks what “levers” we have for improving reading achievement in the U.S. It’s an easy question. There are so many possibilities. The first one most folks think of is, the teacher. If teachers did better, kids would do better.

Interesting question. Before I answer, let me ask one: What keeps Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, up at night? You know Amazon, the trillion-dollar corporation that delivers something like a 5 billion packages a year. I’m at a professional meeting. The chair asks what “levers” we have for improving reading achievement in the U.S. It’s an easy question. There are so many possibilities. The first one most folks think of is, the teacher. If teachers did better, kids would do better.

Invitation Only Research Event

Invitation Only Research Event

Invitation Only Research Event

A new study published in the Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis journal found that there is potential for 1-to-1 technology programs to increase achievement in the short term, but more so in the medium term.

A sizable body of research shows that intensive, one-on-one coaching can improve instructional practice and student achievement more than other professional development offerings for teachers.

A sizable body of research shows that intensive, one-on-one coaching can improve instructional practice and student achievement more than other professional development offerings for teachers.

The state's closely watched bid falls shy of full approval from federal reviewers.

New report on Oregon's tribal students show they start out behind, miss more school, and are more likely to drop out.

Self-actualization (Psychology) in old age.

A school leader outlines how research findings on reducing achievement gaps are reflected in practice at her New Mexico school.

The Long Beach, Calif., school district is deploying a multifaceted strategy to put more students of color in high-level math courses and help them succeed.

As black-white achievement gaps widen in schools, so, too, do disparities in discipline rates between black and white students, according to a study published Wednesday of 2,000 schools.

Late preterm infants are at risk for a variety of developmental impairments; however, little is known about developmental differences among children born within the term range of 37 to 41 weeks’ gestation.

This study links comprehensive birth record data from 128 050 term births to children’s school records 8 years later. Analyses establish that, even among the "normal term" range, gestational age is an important independent predictor of academic achievement. (Read the full article)

At least half of the achievement gap for low-income, minority children is present at kindergarten entry; however, there are no population-level early childhood interventions that effectively engage and support families and teachers to ameliorate the impact of adversity on achievement.

This study evaluated ParentCorps, a family-centered, school-based intervention to promote self-regulation and learning for all children entering school in disadvantaged, urban neighborhoods. ParentCorps results in higher kindergarten achievement among low-income, minority children. (Read the full article)

Children exposed to alcohol prenatally have increased risk of a range of developmental problems such as language delay, behavior problems, learning, and memory and cognitive deficits, all of which can have a negative impact on educational achievement.

The expression of learning problems varied with the dose, pattern, and timing of prenatal alcohol exposure. Test scores below national benchmarks for reading were associated with first trimester heavy alcohol exposure and for writing after late pregnancy occasional binge drinking. (Read the full article)

Previous studies that reported learning deficits among children with oral clefts mostly used small, clinic-based samples prone to ascertainment bias. No previous studies in the United States have used a population-based sample and direct testing of academic achievement.

Using a large population-based sample from the United States and standardized school tests for achievement, we found that children with oral clefts scored significantly lower than their classmates on all evaluated domains of achievement and had higher rates of learning disability. (Read the full article)

There is extensive literature documenting that children experiencing foster care placement have myriad adverse developmental outcomes, including poor academic achievement. However, such children face a host of other risk factors that may jeopardize healthy development independent of foster care placement.

Using statewide administrative data from Wisconsin, we observed children before, during, and after foster care placement and compared their educational outcomes with those of the general population, as well as with children more similar in terms of unobserved characteristics. (Read the full article)

The report suggests programs delivering instruction through multiple media platforms can lead to significant improvement in students' mathematics, numeracy, and phonics skills.

The Education Week Research Center looks at student scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress from 2003 to 2015, a period overlapping with the No Child Left Behind Act.

If we continue to focus on student growth and improvement as learners, keep track of that progress, and watch its impact on standard test results, will we be able to know if what we are doing is helping students develop as learners and thinkers.

Penn State World Campus student Julie Brubaker balanced her family, job, and earning her bachelor’s degree, all while her military husband was deployed.

Penn State Harrisburg recently honored students for accomplishments in academics, service, and leadership.

Penn State Brandywine has recognized students who have earned academic honors. Their accomplishments were celebrated through a virtual academic recognition website, which included a video message of congratulations from Chancellor Marilyn J. Wells. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the annual ceremony that is usually held on campus was held in a virtual format.

The spring season at Penn State College of Medicine is packed full of research presentations, awards and ceremonies. Since experts cannot predict when social distancing guidelines will be relaxed, College of Medicine leaders plan on celebrating many of these springtime celebrations virtually — including commencement.

Google's quantum computer performed a computation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world's fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to calculate. But IBM is dismissing Google's claim that it achieved quantum supremacy.

Teach for America has tapped a longtime teacher and administrator and a member of the new National Advisory Council on Indian Education to lead its fledgling Native Achievement Initiative.

The Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) honored students in the DSHA housing community for achieving academic excellence by making the honor roll and having perfect attendance, with a luncheon and awards ceremony at Polytech High School in Woodside, Delaware.

A report from the George W. Bush Institute, in Dallas, argues that even America's top school districts are "mediocre" in student achievement compared with the performance of other industrialized countries.

Achievement gaps in math between Latino students and their white counterparts set in before kindergarten, says a new report by Child Trends' Hispanic Institute.

White teachers are generally less optimistic about their black students' chances of obtaining a four-year degree than black teachers—and those lowered expectations could become "self-fulfilling prophecies" when students internalize them or when teachers change their approach to students as a result,