Media Exposure Hurts School Performance
It may come as no surprise, but a new study published in Pediatrics, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, links poor school performance among middle school students with television viewing time and content.
As part of the study, researchers surveyed more than 4,500 middle school students (grades 5-8) about weekday and weekend television and video screen time, cable channel availability, parental R-movie and television content restriction and school performance. According to the study, poor school performance increased with growing weekday television viewing, and cable channel availability and decreased with parental restriction on television content.
Weekend screen time and video game use were not linked with poor school performance. The findings support American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines pertaining to limited media time and content restrictions.
Video Games in Education?
If your child is hooked on video games, there could be an educational benefit.
The Federation of American Scientists declares that video games can reshape education in part because of their power to hold a student’s attention for long periods of time.
According to a year-long study, “Harnessing the Power of Video Games for Learning” the success of complex video games demonstrates games can teach higher-order thinking skills such as strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem-solving, plan formulation and execution and adaptation to rapid change. These are the skills U.S. employers increasingly seek in workers and new workforce entrants.
As the result of the study, the Federation of American Scientists is calling for federal research into how the addictive flash of video games can be captured and applied to serious learning tools for schools.
Before long, could we be seeing Mario Brothers math or Pac Man practical living?
Kentucky Schools Parent/Citizen Guide Available
The Pritchard Committee’s biennial Kentucky School Updates: Parent/Citizen Guide for 2006-08 is available online. It is intended to help parents and other interested citizens stay up-to-date on Kentucky’s standards-based education system. The guide covers topics such as assessment and school accountability, reading programs and special education. Most sections include the basics of the law, what progress has been made, what you can do to get involved and how to get additional information.
Higher Ed Does Pay
We’ve all heard about the benefits of a higher education. A new report by the College Board, Education Pays 2006, documents both the monetary and non-monetary benefits of postsecondary study.
According to the report, in 2005, women ages 25-34 with bachelor's degrees earned 70 percent more than those with high school diplomas, and for men the difference was 63 percent. For all full-time workers in this age group, the average earnings premium for a four-year college degree is almost $14,000.
The report also addresses the issue of degree completion. Among bachelor's degree recipients in 1999-2000, those who began their studies in four-year public colleges and universities took an average of 6.2 years to earn their degrees, and those who began in four-year private institutions took an average of 5.3 years to earn their degrees.
Remedial courses can add to the time it takes students to obtain degrees because they do not generally count toward college credit. More than one-third of first- and second-year college students have taken remedial courses since high school graduation. Among those who took remedial courses in 2003-04, first- and second-year students took more remedial math (77 percent) and remedial writing (35 percent) than other remedial courses.
UK rates “C” in National Report
University of Kentucky rated an overall grade of C in a recent report
by the Education Trust.
“Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation’s Premier Public Universities” examines access for low-income and minority students, progress in this area and success rates for the low- income and minority students who do enroll in flagship universities. These institutions are typically the leading and oldest four-year public universities in each state.
Despite the overall C grade issued to UK in the report, the university didn’t fare as badly as you may think. None of the 50 universities in the report took an overall grade of A, and only four scored a B. UK scored an A in access to low- income students and a C in minority access and success.
Web links included in this edition of ParentInfo:
*Media Exposure Hurts School Performance
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/118/4/e1061
http://www.aap.org/pubed/ZZZGVL4PQ7C.htm?&sub_cat=17
*Video Games in Education?
http://fas.org/gamesummit/
*Kentucky Parent/Citizen Guide Available
http://www.prichardcommittee.org/2006_08_KSU.pdf
*Higher Ed Does Pay
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/press/cost06/education_pays_06.pdf
*UK rates “C” in National Report http://www.kentucky.com/multimedia/kentucky/pdfs/trustreport.pdf