Another cure founded on sloppy science.

I don't understand it.

US News reports

Neurofeedback: An ADHD Treatment That Retrains the Brain?

Neurofeedback hasn't yet proved out and isn't cheap, but it dangles the prospect of a permanent cure

They are not cheap and not proven; the lure of a cure is enticing. But the science seems wanting as well.

What ever happened to the scientific method as learned in grade school? What ever happened to rigor in investigation?

"ADHD experts until recently. They have noted that most studies showing benefits have been run by investigators with a financial stake; even a rigorously designed study "tends to find what it wants to find" under such conditions, says Peter Jensen, cochair of the division of child psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Nor have the studies met standards for rigorous design. Historically, most have been too small to be credible, with fewer than 50 patients, and have been sloppily done. Results have not been compared with results from medication or other forms of therapy, for example, nor has a control group received "sham treatment" that patients believed was neurofeedback but in fact did nothing, like a placebo sugar pill in a drug trial. A 2005 review coauthored by Russell Barkley, a leading expert on ADHD at the Medical University of South Carolina, raised some of these concerns. The first long-term results of neurofeedback, published in 2008, were similarly flawed. While positive, they reflected only 23 children who were followed for just two years."

Retarded no more

Words can hurt.

Words can also shortcut thinking.

Words can change the way people think about others.

This NPR article suggests that "retarded" and "gay" are going out of style.

We can only hope this trend finally reaches the school yard.

No Dog Left Behind

Can we teach a terrier to be an Alpine Rescue dog... and why we should.....not. 

Marion Brady, former teacher, wrote this commentary for Education Week. 

As a specific point, she asks if all students need to be required to meet the same standards in math and makes an interesting case for answering no. 

• Here's a question: Why are one-size-fits-all performance standards inappropriate to the point of silliness when applied to dogs, but accepted without question when applied to kids? If someone tried to set up a national program to teach every dog to do everything that various breeds are able to do, the Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would have them in court in a New York minute. But when authorities mandate one-size-fits-all performance standards for kids, and the standards aren't met, it's the kids and teachers, not the standards, that get blamed.

and

• How much sense does it make to put a math whiz in an Algebra 2 classroom with 25 or 30 aspiring lawyers, dancers, automatic-transmission specialists, social workers, surgeons, artists, hairdressers, language teachers? How much sense does it make to put hundreds of thousands of kids on the street because they can't jump through a particular math hoop?
  

     The statement about talented Math students forced to sit in Algebra 2 with future dancers, surgeons, hairdressers, etc...., seems to be asking two questions: one about the math whiz and one about the non math whiz who still needs a level of math literacy. 

There are certainly interesting points made.

To Ponder:

What would these last paragraphs sound like if instead of math, another course were targetted -- does everyone really need to know how to write a sonnet? What if science were the target --I suspect 50 years ago, a strong background in basic science was not seen as needed for the general population; today however, this basic level of scientific literacy may well be critical for all citizens in an era of global warming, wanning fuel and agricultural production and general environmental / medical concerns. 

To Ponder:

What if instead of math or science or indeed, technology, "someone" decided that art, or music or crocheting was the one subject that everyone HAD to master to standards....

What if indeed?

New Tactics To Tackle Bystander’s Role In Bullying

An interesting aspect of this study was its focus on the bystanders and their role in tacitly empowering the bully and creating the victim.  

It is also interesting that they focus on reflection as a means of mediating the experiences. 

To Ponder:

We have many children who seem to lead frenetic, disorganized and or unfocused lives. We attribute some of that to youth and some to ADD. 

But I wonder if there is validity in explicitly teaching even younger kids to reflect and self monitor.

Could doing so in settings where adults monitor that process help develop this as a habit? 

In the face of all other demands on time, should we....

Resolutions for the New Year -

I resolve to keep this in mind: