Wednesday, January 23, 2019



What you are born with matters a lot more than your education

It's true and has long been known but is a bit surprising coming from UCSD.  They avoided mentioning that what they were studying was IQ, however

Summary:

Youthful cognitive ability strongly predicts mental capacity later in life.

Early adult general cognitive ability [IQ] is a stronger predictor of cognitive function and reserve later in life than other factors, such as higher education, occupational complexity or engaging in late-life intellectual activities.
    
FULL STORY

Early adult general cognitive ability (GCA) -- the diverse set of skills involved in thinking, such as reasoning, memory and perception -- is a stronger predictor of cognitive function and reserve later in life than other factors, such as higher education, occupational complexity or engaging in late-life intellectual activities, report researchers in a new study publishing January 21 in PNAS.

Higher education and late-life intellectual activities, such as doing puzzles, reading or socializing, have all been associated with reduced risk of dementia and sustained or improved cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve is the brain's ability to improvise and find alternate ways of getting a job done and may help people compensate for other changes associated with aging.

An international team of scientists, led by scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, sought to address a "chicken or egg" conundrum posed by these associations. Does being in a more complex job help maintain cognitive abilities, for example, or do people with greater cognitive abilities tend to be in more complex occupations?

The researchers evaluated more than 1,000 men participating in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging. Although all were veterans, nearly 80 percent of the participants reported no combat experience. All of the men, now in their mid-50s to mid-60s, took the Armed Forces Qualification Test at an average age of 20. The test is a measure GCA. As part of the study, researchers assessed participants' performance in late midlife, using the same GCA measure, plus assessments in seven cognitive domains, such as memory, abstract reasoning and verbal fluency.

They found that GCA at age 20 accounted for 40 percent of the variance in the same measure at age 62, and approximately 10 percent of the variance in each of the seven cognitive domains. After accounting for GCA at age 20, the authors concluded, other factors had little effect. For example, lifetime education, complexity of job and engagement in intellectual activities each accounted for less than 1 percent of variance at average age 62.

"The findings suggest that the impact of education, occupational complexity and engagement in cognitive activities on later life cognitive function likely reflects reverse causation," said first author William S. Kremen, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "In other words, they are largely downstream effects of young adult intellectual capacity."

In support of that idea, researchers found that age 20 GCA, but not education, correlated with the surface area of the cerebral cortex at age 62. The cerebral cortex is the thin, outer region of the brain (gray matter) responsible for thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding language.

The authors emphasized that education is clearly of great value and can enhance a person's overall cognitive ability and life outcomes. Comparing their findings with other research, they speculated that the role of education in increasing GCA takes place primarily during childhood and adolescence when there is still substantial brain development.

However, they said that by early adulthood, education's effect on GCA appears to level off, though it continues to produce other beneficial effects, such as broadening knowledge and expertise.

Kremen said remaining cognitively active in later life is beneficial, but "our findings suggest we should look at this from a lifespan perspective. Enhancing cognitive reserve and reducing later life cognitive decline may really need to begin with more access to quality childhood and adolescent education."

The researchers said additional investigations would be needed to fully confirm their inferences, such as a single study with cognitive testing at different times throughout childhood and adolescence.

SOURCE 







Democrats seek more oversight of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos

Wielding control of the House and a new set of investigative powers, Democrats are preparing to bring Education Secretary Betsy DeVos under the sharpest scrutiny she has seen since taking office.

DeVos has emerged as a common target for Democrats as they take charge of the House and its committees, which carry the authority to issue subpoenas and call hearings. At least four panels are expected to challenge DeVos on her most polarizing policies, among them her overhaul of campus sexual assault rules and her rollback of for-profit college regulations.

“We are going to hold Secretary DeVos accountable for, in so many ways, failing to uphold federal protections for our students,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat leading an appropriations subcommittee that oversees the education budget. “It has to do with hurting student borrowers, protecting predatory for-profit schools and, above all, moving toward privatizing public education.”

House Democrats are increasing scrutiny of several top federal officials, but few have drawn as much attention as DeVos. Along with the appropriations committee, DeVos is likely to see pushback from panels that oversee education, veterans’ affairs and government oversight.

Without control of the Senate, Democrats will have a tough time forcing DeVos’ hand through legislation, but they can press her through subpoenas, hearings and the budgeting process. In contrast, DeVos was called before the House’s education committee just once over the last two years of Republican control.

Much of the new scrutiny will come from Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the top Democrat on the education committee, who said he will call DeVos to testify “as often as necessary.”

“We have not been getting answers to most of our questions,” Scott said in an interview, recalling when Democrats were in a minority. “It’s kind of hard to do oversight when they’re not answering our questions.”

Scott is particularly interested in exploring whether the Education Department is allowing states to skirt federal rules requiring them to address achievement gaps between students of different races.

Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill countered that DeVos has been responsive to requests for information from Congress and will continue to be. “She’s ready to work with any member of Congress who wants to rethink education and do better for America’s students,” Hill said.

Part of the problem for Democrats will be picking their battles. They have opposed DeVos on nearly all of her major initiatives, including her proposed rules on the handling of campus sexual assaults, her support for arming school staff members and her revocation of federal guidance on school discipline.

But DeVos’ greatest opposition could stem from her rollback of rules targeting for-profit colleges. As Trump pursues a broader effort to scale back regulation, she has sought to undo policies that the previous administration crafted to rein in for-profit colleges accused of deceiving students. Among them are the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute chains.

A federal judge blocked DeVos from scrapping a policy that makes it easier for defrauded students to get loans erased. But her department has not enforced a separate rule meant to weed out shoddy for-profit colleges. Most recently, DeVos drew criticism in November when she reinstated an industry accrediting group that federal officials shut down in 2016 over lax oversight.

Scott has already vowed to dig into DeVos’ decision on the accreditor, and he’s joined by several other lawmakers concerned about for-profit college regulation.

Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat chairing the veterans’ affairs committee, plans to hold hearings on the impact of DeVos’ policies on military veterans. Takano said looser oversight has allowed predatory schools to recruit veterans and collect their GI Bill funding while ultimately leaving them with poor job prospects.

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, said he, too, will conduct rigorous oversight of the Education Department and for-profit colleges, and explore whether DeVos “exposed student borrowers to predatory practices and jeopardized their educational goals.”

Beyond oversight, some House Democrats are optimistic they can reach a deal on the Higher Education Act, a sweeping federal law that governs student financial aid and could be revised to address topics like campus sexual assault and student debt forgiveness.

The law has remained unchanged for a decade, but there’s new interest in renewing the bill in the Senate before the chairman of the education committee, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, retires after 2020.

Democrats also aim to boost money for public schools that serve low-income students and those with disabilities. They’re bracing for a fight if DeVos renews her push to fund vouchers for private schools.

“Ninety percent of our students are in public schools, and they need more resources to succeed,” said Rep. DeLauro, the Connecticut Democrat on the appropriations committee. “We should not be siphoning off taxpayer dollars, which are in demand, to pay for vouchers.”

SOURCE 






This state may require schools to teach kids about climate change

A legislative proposal in Connecticut would mandate instruction on climate change in public schools statewide, beginning in elementary school.

Connecticut already has adopted science standards that call for teaching of climate change, but if the bill passes it is believed that it would be the country’s first to write such a requirement into law.

“A lot of schools make the study of climate change an elective and I don’t believe it should be an elective,” said state Rep. Christine Palm, a Democrat from Chester who proposed the bill. “I think it should be mandatory and I think it should be early so there’s no excuse for kids to grow up ignorant of what’s at stake.”

Some educators have questioned whether it’s necessary in light of Connecticut’s adoption in 2015 of the Next Generation Science Standards, which include climate change as a core aspect of science education beginning in middle school.

“I do believe if the state has adopted standards, you’re teaching those standards, you’re going to be assessed on those standards,” said Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. “If you’re a district in Connecticut, your curriculum is addressing it already.”

A similar proposal was introduced in the last legislative session but ultimately failed to win approval.

A total of 19 states and the District of Columbia so far have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, which indicate what a state hopes students will know. Typically, states leave the specific curriculum and instruction up to the districts.

The bill apparently would be country’s first to make climate change instruction a matter of statute, according to the National Center for Science Education. In several other states, legislation has been proposed in recent years to allow or require teachers to present alternatives to widely accepted viewpoints on topics such as climate change.

Palm, who represents towns along the Connecticut River in southeast Connecticut, said climate change deserves a more prominent place in children’s education because of the urgency of the threat posed by global warming.

“I’d love to see poetry be mandated. That’s never going to happen,” she said. “That’s not life or death.”

SOURCE 




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