links 6-6-12

Too Much Homework Can Lower Test Scores, Researchers Say: "According to Richard Walker, an educational psychologist at Sydney University, data shows that in countries where more time is spent on homework, students score lower on a standardized test called the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA. The same correlation is also seen when comparing homework time and test performance at schools within countries. Past studies have also demonstrated this basic trend."

Studies Suggest Economic Inequity Is Built Into, and Worsened by, School Systems: ""A Rotting Apple" also offers recommendations that likely must be applied to the national education reform movement: restoring full funding of education; instituting equitable access to schools and programs for all children; providing school resources linked to need rather than competitive models, insuring students with identified literacy needs full social and educational support (including health and eye care as well as food security); evaluating schools based on student opportunities to learn ("access to high-quality early childhood education, highly prepared and effective teachers, college preparatory curricula and policies and practices that promote student progress and success"); and addressing teacher experience as well as pay 
equity within and among schools."

Five myths about marriage - The Washington Post: "Economically as well as emotionally, modern marriage has become like an affluent gated community. It has become harder for low-income Americans to enter and sustain. But for the educated, two-income families whose divorce rates have been falling and who spend more time with their children than they used to, marriage brings more relative advantages than in the past."

Bright children should start school at six, says academic - Telegraph:

Dr House said the new EYFS should be used up to six, with parents given the option to keep children out of school until this age. Ministers should consider the move as part of a wholesale review of the school starting age, he said.

Speaking before the Westminster Education Forum on Wednesday, he claimed the case for change was supported by a longitudinal study of gifted children who started in school in the US in the 1920s. ....

“There are of course some children from very deprived backgrounds who on balance would, and certainly do, gain a net benefit from such early interventions,” he said.

“But the evidence is now quite overwhelming that such an early introduction to institutional learning is not only quite unnecessary for the vast majority of children, but can actually cause major developmental harm, and at worst a shortened life-span.”"

Never Seconds

U.K.: 9-Year-Old Food Blogger Takes On School Lunch | Healthland | TIME.com:
Today's lunch was special because it's my favourite. There was no soup on today but it didn't matter because I wouldn't have chosen it over ice-cream and shortbread. I googled the Hindi for fantastic so I can say my chicken curry was शानदार (śānadāra)! I mix the rice and curry together but I put the broccoli in the cup holder so I can eat it afterwards. I always eat my shortbread before the ice-cream. The shortbread is really nice because it's covered in sugar. ...

We Have Everything We Need Already: Community Control of Education | | AlterNet:
We also support people who want to look at possibilities for learning outside the monopoly of schools and colleges. All around our communities are an abundance of resources. They come in the form of artisans and artists, farmers and business people, home-makers and spiritual guides. Each brings wisdom, creativity, curiosity, imagination, skills, vision, and experience, which can be shared across generations.