Education

Jean Piaget, a pioneer of 20th-century cognitive development theory, claimed that preschoolers were “irrational, illogical … and limited to the here and now.” But nearly 100 years later, new technologies and approaches have provided cognitive scientists new ways to investigate how infants and young children learn; their findings challenge Piaget’s longstanding theories of early childhood cognitive development.

College is a time when many young adults develop civic values while engaging with their peers. So how much do the civic values of the typical student develop between freshman and senior years? The answer to this question and the explanations behind it have deep implications for college policies intended to promote civic engagement.

Since the first charter school opened in the late 1980s, more than 4,000 have been established. The charter school movement is not without its critics, of course, and some argue that an approach that works in one area may bring about different results in another.

Over the past decade, funding for and participation in after-school programs has grown substantially. To ensure that their promise is effectively delivered, evaluating their relative benefits and required factors for success is critical.