The first time Alise Hegle saw her daughter again after her birth was 11 months later at a court-ordered, supervised visit. Newly out of jail and treatment for drug addiction, Hegle was riddled with anxiety. She had no idea how to parent her only child and worried about the visitation supervisor who sat silently observing, taking notes. “I was terrified,” she recalled. “I felt worthless. When the setting and the environment is intimidating and you don’t feel supported, it’s hard…
When deciding where to live, single people should choose cities with affordable housing, interesting job opportunities, vibrant neighborhoods and abundant sports activities. That was the advice of Pepper Schwartz, a UW sociology professor who was among experts consulted for personal finance website WalletHub’s recent ranking of 2014’s Best & Worst Cities for Singles. The site ranked the 150 most populated U.S. cities on 25 metrics including the percentage of singles, costs for restaurant meals and movies, rental housing costs and…
High-tech companies are seeking to capitalize on the power of handwriting, but there are other reasons to value the practice, says UW educational psychology professor Virginia Berninger. “Writing is the way we learn what we’re thinking,” said Berninger, who studies the effect of handwriting on the human brain. “The handwriting, the sequencing of the strokes, engages the thinking part of the mind.” Berninger was recently interviewed for a CBS This Morning story about how tech companies are reviving the art…
Mention homeless people and words like optimistic, hopeful and happy are typically not what spring to mind. More likely, said Jordan Lewis, an assistant professor in the University of Washington’s School of Social Work, the stereotypes are negative — “that they’re chronic alcoholics, depressed, they steal, they’re thieves. They don’t have hope. They’ve just given up.” But Lewis sought to find something different when he embarked on a recent research project exploring optimism among homeless Alaska Native elders in Seattle. Statistics…
The co-director of the UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences is among officials from around the country participating in today’s White House Summit on Early Education. Patricia Kuhl, a world-renowned scientist in early language and brain development, joins state and local policymakers, school district superintendents, community leaders and others for the summit. Participants are expected to share their ideas about best practices and effective strategies, with the goal of expanding access to high-quality early education for children nationwide. Kuhl…
Influential educator and former University of Washington professor John Goodlad died Nov. 29 at his Seattle home. He was 94. Goodlad came to the UW in 1984 after serving as dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California at Los Angeles. He created the Center for Educational Renewal at the UW to conduct research on teacher education and school renewal. Additionally, he established the independent Seattle-based Institute for Educational Inquiry to apply research findings to school…
“Militarized Policing and Public Protest: From the WTO Protests to Ferguson” is the topic of a documentary video screening and panel discussion at the University of Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The event, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, starts with a screening of “This Is What Democracy Looks Like.” The 72-minute documentary was made from footage shot by more than 100 “media activists” during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle….
The U.S. economy has long been powered in part by the nation’s ability to attract the world’s most educated and skilled people to its shores. But a new study of the worldwide migration of professionals to the U.S. shows a sharp drop-off in its proportional share of those workers – raising the question of whether the nation will remain competitive in attracting top talent in an increasingly globalized economy. The study, which used a novel method of tracking people through…
A Washington family of four must spend 46 percent more on average to make ends meet today than 13 years ago, according to a new report from the University of Washington. The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2014, released Thursday (Nov. 20), provides a sobering look at how much it costs individuals and families statewide to meet basic needs — and how far short they’re falling. The study found that Washington families with two adults, a preschooler and a school-aged…
Classroom décor may seem relatively unimportant, but it can play a surprisingly big role in influencing student learning and achievement. That’s among the key findings in a new paper co-authored by University of Washington researchers. Published this week in the inaugural issue of Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, the paper finds that classroom features such as light, temperature and décor can profoundly influence learning. Students exposed to more natural light perform better, the analysis found, but research…