Teacher training comes under fire in several states. Huh - a new study shows that red meat makes men calmer. The White House pressures the lame duck Congress on the nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. Babies help in the treatment of kids who bully their peers.
National panel of education experts calls for overhaul of teacher training programs
Teacher training programs got a scathing report card Tuesday from The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The panel criticized most teacher prep programs in the U.S. as insufficiently rigorous because they consist mostly of lecture time and only include 12 weeks or so of teaching practice. The sweeping recommendations call for more hands-on experience and data-driven evaluation to determine whether potential teachers are actually helping students learn. They also said there should be higher standards for applicants being accepted into training programs and tougher requirements for teacher certification. The question of how to evaluate teachers already in the classroom has been hotly debated lately. It makes sense that reform earlier in the process might create real change. But how realistic are these recommendations? And how could they be implemented here in California?
Guest:
James Cibulka, President, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
Karen Gallagher, Dean of USC Rossier School of Education
Calming qualities of carpaccio
Too much red meat, say nutritionists, increases waistlines and hardens arteries. But maybe it also softens hearts, well, male hearts that is. While studying aggression, researchers at Montreal’s McGill University found something surprising: when men were shown images of steaks and rack of lamb, they were less likely to inflict harm on another human. The sight of a sirloin might make the mouth water, but why would it have a calming effect? Is this for real and does it apply to women as well?
Guest:
Julie Caouette, PhD candidate at McGill University in Montreal
New nuclear arms reduction treaty in jeopardy
The votes were lined up, the backdoor maneuverings completed, and the Obama administration hoped they had the necessary 67 Senate votes to ratify a new version of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) before the end of the year. The treaty would accomplish two administration goals: ease relations with Russia and pare back both U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals. The State Department sees this treaty as imperative to national security, while skeptics think the process has been rushed. Sen. Jon Kyle of Arizona, a key swing vote, has raised concerns about “modernization” in the treaty and released a statement intended to squelch Dems hopes for a treaty. What are the chances the Senate will ratify the treaty before the makeup of Congress changes in January? And how will the outcome affect U.S. relationships with the world?
Guests:
Jim Walsh, International Security Expert, Security Studies Program, Center for International Studies, at M.I.T.
Stephen Rademaker, Senior Counsel to the BGR Group, Former Assistant Secretary of State (2002-2006)
Could babies cure bullies?
Bullying has been around for a long time, but with the advent of social media, it’s harder than ever (or impossible) for kids to escape. Suicides linked to cyber-bullying get a lot of media attention, but not much is said about treatment options for the bullies themselves. The usual response is to get tough and punish the offenders. But are there kinder, gentler approaches that might be more effective? A growing body of research posits that there is a biological basis for compassion and that perhaps humans can augment that instinct. In Canada, they’ve made good on this theory with positive results, discovering that even mean-spirited kids turn nice when face-to-face with a baby. While it may not be a cure for bullying, it’s got psychologists thinking in new ways. Are there clinical, compassionate solutions for bullying? What’s the best way to treat bullies, so they stop treating others so badly?
Guests:
David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World, a collection of stories on social entrepreneurship around the world
Kim Schonert-Reichl, Professor of Applied Development Psychology at the University of British Columbia