Parents

As American children prepare to head back to school tomorrow, many of them will return to racially homogenous classrooms. A 2014 report found that 60 years after the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954), segregation in American primary education — though certainly not at pre-Brown levels — has significantly increased since the 1980s, which generally marked the peak of integration.Read the rest of the story at The Week.

by Sara GilgoreThe World Privacy Forum, a public-interest research group focused on privacy protection, has launched a campaign urging parents to “opt out” of allowing schools to release “directory” information—student data the organization says schools could otherwise disclose to third-parties who request access.Read the rest of the story at Education Week.

by Corey MitchellA group of Chicago parents and residents fighting to have a say in what happens to their neighborhood high school have entered the second week of a hunger strike.The Chicago Sun-Times reports that members of the Coalition to Revitalize Dyett High School havelobbied for years on behalf of the school, first to prevent a planned closure, then to put a new neighborhood school in the building.Read the rest of the story at Education Week.

Photo Credit: Walter Limby Mark ThomaAn issue that’s likely to arise in the debates leading up to the next presidential election is preschool education. Among the questions involved: Should preschool programs be available to all children no matter their socioeconomic status? Should America invest in programs such as Head Start or Perry Preschool so that all children can attend? Does any evidence show these programs work?Read the rest of the story at CBS MoneyWatch.

Photo credit: David Hawgoodby Dr. Francis CollinsWhen children enter the first grade, their brains are primed for learning experiences, significantly more so, in fact, than adult brains. For instance, scientists have documented that musical training during grade school produces a signature set of benefits for the brain and for behavior—benefits that can last a lifetime, whether or not people continue to play music.Now, researchers at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, have some good news for teenagers who missed out on learning to play musical instruments as young kids. Even when musical training isn’t started until high school, it produces meaningful changes in how the brain processes sound. And those changes have positive benefits not only for a teen’s musical abilities, but also for skills related to reading and writing.Read the rest of the story on the National Institutes of Health Director’s Blog.

by Jon GrinspanEACH summer, when school ends, education mostly stops short, too. But it hasn’t always been that way. For the striving youths of 19th-century America, learning was often a self-driven, year-round process. Devouring books by candlelight and debating issues by bonfire, the young men and women of the so-called “go-ahead generation” worked to educate themselves into a better life.Read the rest of the story at the New York Times.

Join us for a conversation with child protection advocate Francey Hakes, who will talks about rules to establish safety regarding kids and smartphones, including what constitutes a “friend,” and the topic of cyberbullying. Hakes was the first-ever National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation.

Wednesday May 20th from 11:00am – 11:30pm EDT Join us for a conversation with child protection advocate Francey Hakes, who will be discussing rules to establish safety regarding kids and smartphones, including what constitutes a “friend,” and the topic of cyberbullying. Hakes was the first-ever National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. Note: You must RSVP to the event in order to see it.  Click on the link below and enter your name and email. You’ll receive a response with the link to the event. RSVP

by Lee Lawrence, CorrespondentNASHVILLE, TENN.; AND NEW YORK — To Samson Boyd, a father in Nashville, Tenn., simple addition used to be a straightforward proposition: Four plus four equals eight. But in today’s era of newfangled math, kids are taught various ways to arrive at the right answer.Read the rest of the story at The Christian Science Monitor.