When it comes to academic achievement, many parents in upper- and middle-class communities have gone overboard, hiring tutors for their preschool children and going to enormous lengths to secure a spot for their child in a prestigious college. Even though poor children face many hardships, teenagers in affluent families suffer emotional and moral…

What and how students eat can profoundly affect their ability to learn. Children require a high-protein breakfast for alertness, and a balanced diet, including complex carbohydrates throughout the day. Chronic stress causes the brain and body to deplete available nutrients. Nutrition is an important issue; better school food equals better school…

A recent study revealed that stress is not as devastating for most teachers as commonly imagined, but it can be a real problem for the urban, middle-aged, high school teacher. The biggest stressor for these and other teachers is the small number of problem students who chronically misbehave. (Author/JM)

Given the amount of time, energy, and money devoted to provincial achievement exams in Canada, it is disturbing that Alberta students and teachers feel so pressured and that the exams do not accurately reflect what students know. Research shows that intelligence has an (untested) emotional component. (MLH)