Newswise — A new school year is almost upon us - do you know where your education experts are? The University of Maryland's experts have the answers for many of the education issues you are doing stories about - including the No Child Left Behind Act and its impact, getting kids interested in math and science, how to improve reading, time management and interpersonal skills, bullying, special education, adjusting to school and much more.
For a complete, searchable list of our education experts, point your browser to: http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/experts/
If you would prefer to search by subject area, the URL is:http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/culture/release.cfm?ArticleID=939
Our education experts have been in the news recently " here's what they're saying about a wide range of issues:
Prof. Peter AfflerbachDirector, University of Maryland Reading CenterCollege of Education
Meeting the Challenges of Illiteracy:
"For the vast majority of readers, it's important to provide carefully tailored reading instruction and experiences that build on readers' strengths and addresses their needs. This should lead to increased reading achievement among students and increased enthusiasm for reading. However, this demands an extraordinary commitment of time, effort and resources, and the concerted and coordinated efforts of teachers, parents, administrators, schools, families and communities."
Prof. Francine FavrettoDirector, Center for Young ChildrenCollege of Education
On Choosing a Preschool Program:
"Parents choose preschool programs for various reasons, but coops may be too difficult to juggle. Parents look for affordability at a center that is reasonably close to home or work, (but) they should look for quality in a program most of all."
Prof. Charles FlatterChairman of the Department of Human DevelopmentCollege of Education
Strategies to Get your Child to Talk about Their School Day:
"To an adult, 'How was your day?' is a conversation starter, a social nicety. To a child who hears it every day, it sounds automatic. So you get an automatic, routine answer."
Prof. Kathryn WentzelDepartment of Human DevelopmentCollege of Education
Adjusting to Middle School
"Friends and friendships are especially important at this age. During early adolescence, students begin to form a sense of self based in part on their interactions with their peers. They also tend to look to each other for help and support as they make other important physical, cognitive and school-related transitions. Some students may take longer to adjust to a new setting and may make friends less quickly. Some might also be more adult-oriented and form close relationships with teachers."
Prof. Ken RubinDirector of the Center for Children, Relationships and CultureCollege of Education
Bullying and Aggression in Children
'The fact is that boys engage in more aggression overall than girls do, so we notice the physical aggression more. But most frequently, boys' aggression is either verbal, like taunting, or it's indirect, like excluding someone. But you don't hear anyone asking them to apologize for it."
Associate Prof. Jennifer King RiceDepartment of Education Policy and LeadershipCollege of Education
Teacher Quality
'Teaching is a very complex activity, and no single dimension of what a teacher knows, and can do, fully encompasses or accounts for a teacher's effectiveness. One of the major gaps in what we know is in the elementary level. We don't know a whole lot about teacher qualification at the elementary level, in part because we haven't had good, large data sets to study."
Prof. Rebecca OxfordDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction and Director of the Second Language Education ProgramCollege of Education
The Best Way to Learn a Foreign Language
"Ask yourself, `how do I do my best job.' Do you find you often get up and down from your chair when you're concentrating on a problem? Then, sitting down to a book probably isn't the best method for you. "If you think better on the move, make flash cards with vocabulary that you can carry around with you."
Assistant Research Scientist Susan WalkerFamily StudiesCollege of Agriculture
Halloween Tips
Among her suggestions: "Be an advocate for children's safety at school and other events. Oftentimes schools will host parties and may have parades. Parents can work with teachers and school administrators to make sure that kid's costumes are safe (e.g., not too long, eyesight not obscured by masks) and that parade routes are free from traffic. If possible, offer to volunteer at the school on the day that Halloween is celebrated to help children with their costumes and walk with children in a parade."
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