Poor Teachers May Hamper Good Students

An interesting new study published in the journal Science looked at the effectiveness of teachers on identical twins. The study showed that bad teachers can do damage to children, even gifted children. It's an interesting look at how teacher quality affects a child's ability to learn. This article on the study comes from Reuters.

To Separate or Not?

I am so far behind with my posts here. There is a lot going on behind the scenes, but nothing to report yet about a new sponsor for our campaign.

There is a new editorial -- To separate or not? -- from the Montgomery News.

It's an interesting read that reinforces our main goal of parents as the best decision makers.

Twins in School

The Examiner.com has an article about "Twins in school in Baltimore: to separate or not?" It offers some pros and cons about separating multiples, as well as information about school policies. While it's not completel applicable to Illinois, it is always interesting to see how other areas frame the debate.

Tennessee Joins the List

With this simple sentence, Tennessee joins the list of states working towards a placement of multiples law.

In determining the classroom assignments of multiple birth siblings, the board of education shall give preference to a request of the parent as to the placement of such children.

The bill passed the Senate, according to an article in the Examiner.

The bill is moving to the House of Representatives next.

Making the Decision About Classroom Placement

About.com has an interesting newsletter about twins and multiples. The last issue I received had a series of articles about placement of multiples in the classroom.

Part one is called Making the Decision about Classroom Placement.

It's an interesting read for anyone facing this decision for the first time.

Twin Study on Autism

This is a topic that many parents are interested in due to the unexplained rise in autism. This is an opportunity for parents of twins to help advance knowledge on the topic.

Stanford/Packard autism researchers seek twins for brain-imaging study

If you are interested in learning more, click on the link above.

The Educational Effective of Forced Separation on Twins

This is a very interesting research paper by Jamison J. Grimes of the University of Toledo. The qualitative study reviews existing research on twins in school and also interviews three sets of twins.

To no one's surprise, the research and the interviews uncover negative effects of forced separation of twins.

This is another study that questions why schools still routinely separate multiples, rather than taking their individual needs in account on a case by case basis.

The first few pages of the study are available for free. The rest of the study can be purchased at the site.