Abstract
Six years have gone by since the passing of No Child Left Behind (2002) and due to the ‘high-stake’ riders attached to this legislation, educators at all levels have found themselves in a state of both emotional and cognitive dissonance. Recent research in the field of neuroscience combined with principles gained from constructivism support the importance of developing and implementing both a child-centered curriculum and a positive learning environment that is appropriate for young children. This paper addresses some of the difficulties that arise from the No Child Left Behind act and teaching from a constructivist model. Additionally, positive suggestions are provided for the early childhood educator in order to support current teaching philosophies despite the pressures of high-stakes testing.
References
Abrams, L., Pedulla, J., & Madaus, G. (2003). Views from the classroom: Teachers’ opinions of statewide testing programs. Theory Into Practice, 42(1), 18–29.
Barksdale-Ladd, M. A., & Thomas, K. (2000). What’s at stake in high-stakes testing? Journal of Teacher Education, 51(5), 384–401.
Bredekamp S. (Ed.). (1987). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8, Exp. Ed. Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1997). Education on the edge of possibility. Alexandria, VA: Association Supervision Curriculum Development.
Carter, R. (1998). Mapping the mind. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, Ltd.
Cimbricz, S. (2002). State-mandated testing and teachers’ beliefs and practice. Retrieved 16 May 2005, from http://www.epaa.asu.edu
Darling-Hammond, L., & Wise, A. (1985). Beyond standardization: State standards and school improvement. The Elementary School Journal, 85(5), 315–336.
Dewey, J. (1964). The relation of theory to practice in education. In R. Archamault (Ed.), John Dewey on education: Selected writings, (pp. 313–338). New York: Random House.
Diamond, M., & Hopson, J. (1998). Magic trees of the mind: How to nurture your child’s intelligence, creativity, and healthy emotions from birth through adolescence. New York: Penguin Putman.
Eliot, L. (1999). What’s going on in there? How the brain and mind develop in the first five years of life. New York: Bantam.
Friederici, A. D. (2006). The neural basis of language development and its impairment. Neuron, 52I, 108–120.
Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.
Hausfather, S. J. (1996). Vygotsky and schooling: Creating a social context for learning. Action in Teacher Education, 18(2), 1–10.
Jensen, E. (1998). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD Press.
Jensen, E. (2000). Brain-based learning: The new science of teaching and training, revised edition. Alexandria, VA: ASCD Press.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc.
McEwen, B., & Sapolsky, R. (1995). Stress and cognitive functioning. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 5, 205–216.
Nelson, C. A., de Haan, M., & Thomas, K. M. (2006). Neural basis of cognitive development. In W. Damon, R. Lerner, D. Kuhn, & R. Siegler (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Volume 2 (pp. 23–31). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Rushton, S. (2001). Applying brain research to create developmentally appropriate learning environments. Young Children, 56(5), 76–82.
Rushton, S., Eitelgeorge, J., & Zickafoose, R. (2003). Connecting Cambourne’s conditions of learning to brain-mind principles: Application for the classroom teacher. Early Childhood Education Journal, 31, 11–21.
Rushton, S., & Juola-Rushton, A. (2006). Brain research and assessment in the Elementary Grades. In P. Jones, R. Ataya, & J. Carr (Eds.), A pig don’t get fatter the more you weigh it: Balancing assessment for the classroom (pp. 34–46). New York: Teachers College Press.
Rushton S., & Juola-Rushton, A. (2007). The learning environment, brain research, the paradox of no child left behind. In F. Santoianni, & C. Sabatano (Eds.), Brain development in learning environments: embodied and perceptual advancements (pp. 56–74). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Rushton, S., & Larkin, E (2001). Connecting developmentally appropriate practices to brain research. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(1), 25–33.
Stone, D. (2006). Funding the future: States’ approaches to Pre-K finances. Washington, DC: Pre-K Now.
Sylwester, R. (1997). The neurobiology of self-esteem and aggression. Educational Leadership, 54(5), 75–79.
Sylwester, R. (2007). The adolescent brain: Reaching for autonomy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Von Glasersfeld, E. (1995). A constructivist approach to teaching. In L. P. Steffe, & J. Gale (Eds.), Constructivism in education, (pp. 3–15). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Wolfe, P. (2001). Brain matters: Translating research into classroom practices. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Wolfe, J., & Brandt, R. (1998). What we know from brain research. Educational Leadership, 56(3), 8–14.
Wolfe, P., & Nevills, P. (2004). Building the reading brain. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rushton, S., Juola-Rushton, A. Classroom Learning Environment, Brain Research and The No Child Left Behind Initiative: 6 years Later. Early Childhood Educ J 36, 87–92 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-008-0244-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-008-0244-5