Accelerated Learning newsletter, June 2007

Recent research shows the effect of alcohol on teenagers' brains

In 2006, thirteen teenagers in the UK were admitted to hospital every day as a result of binge drinking. And in 2005, nearly five thousand people aged under-18 were admitted to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses. Worrying statistics, indeed, and to make matters worse, research is now showing that alcohol abuse has a far wider-reaching effect than simply being the cause of accidents and physical illness such as liver disease. Indeed, it is now being shown that binge drinking and alcohol abuse may well have a long-term effect on young people's memory and thinking skills.

In 2000, a study (Brown et al, from the University of California.) showed how teenagers (aged 15-16) who drink frequently perform worse in tests of learning and memory than those who do not. More recent research from the University of California at San Diego has been published in an issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. This shows how young people who abuse alcohol actually have a smaller prefrontal cortex than their non-drinking peers.
"Studies on adults with alcoholism have generally shown smaller brain sizes, but this is after many years of very heavy drinking," said Susan Tapert, part of the team and associate professor of psychiatry. "Before this study it really wasn't clear that adolescents, with briefer drinking histories, would show any differences in brain size."
The researchers measured the brains of 14 young people with alcohol abuse problems and of 28 who did not abuse alcohol. To do this they used an mri (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner. The young people tested were aged between 13 and 21.
"Our findings show that adolescents and young adults with AUDs (alcohol use disorders) had a smaller prefrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex white-matter volumes compared with controls," said De Bellis. They also found that the size of the prefrontal cortex decreased in correlation to the amount of alcohol consumed.

The prefrontal cortex is used for planning, inhibition and to regulate our emotions. "It could be that, with less white matter in the prefrontal cortex, information does not transfer in this area as rapidly and efficiently as is needed for the sorts of complex decision making young people need to do. It may be harder to inhibit urges, delay gratification, and think clearly about the consequences of actions," said Susan Tapert.

Interestingly, the study showed that the effects of alcohol abuse were greater in the brains of the females studied than in those of the males. 
However, what they have not yet found is whether the smaller brain size is a result of binge drinking or whether the binge drinking leads to the smaller brain size. The scientists also wish to study whether normal cognitive development returns once the adolescents have been sober for a time.

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Alite's Office Manager Melanie Hill gives her impression of how Britains 'friendliest' school* is preparing for the arrival of next term's Year 7s

The Misbourne School in leafy Buckinghamshire isn't just a nice place to be, as my daughter discovered when she was called in on a Saturday the term before she started.  On the day, she was met by the Deputy Head who told anxious parents, "Nothing  to worry about, we just want to know the best way to teach your children when they come to us in September and these tests will really help."  As the children apprehensively found their way into the school hall, I caught sight of the Headteacher and a number of other teachers who were also giving up their Saturday to run these 'tests'. I was advised that more future Year 7 students were invited in the following week - the Associate Head was delighted to tell me that out of all of the 210 expected new students next September, all but 6 will have been 'tested'. 

I decided to find out more.  Mr Lyons, Associate Head at the Misbourne School, kindly agreed to spend some time to explain more about the background to the Saturday testing.  "We will use anything to give us the information we need to enhance the students' learning," he told me. He was keen to point out that although the CATS are only one piece of information, they are a good starting point.  "The whole thing grows out of one test" he continued.  There are three different tests in the CATs system (measuring verbal, non verbal and numerical forms of reasoning) and by interpreting the results the school can identify the best way to teach each child.  Steve gave the example of how you may ascertain strong strengths in, for example, imaginative writing, but you may also be able to see that a number of children in the class may struggle with dictation - so if you taught dictation for a whole term, you could massively miss the potential of that class.  Teachers can of course work this out themselves during the first term of teaching the students, but they do provide a good base point and by using the diagrams that can be created from the results, you can work out how to move the students forward more quickly.  The school is not just using the CATs results to give them a prediction of what the students might get in their GCSEs, they are looking at what type of learners they have and what the best learning style will be to achieve their potential.  Mike also pointed out that as they are an Arts and Technology Specialist College they are very aware that students are different and that many learn better by 'doing'. 

Mike gave some background on the school's position in a county where Grammar Schools still exist.  He told me that the average SATs point score for children entering the school is 28.2 which is high for an Upper School in a Grammar school catchment area. "However", he pointed out, "it is not a level playing field, as there is a very large range that makes up that average" from those who have narrowly missed being selected for Grammar School to those nowhere near the level required to pass the 11 plus.  The school is keen to cater for all of the children that they receive from their 41 feeder schools.  They have recently introduced an 'Accelerated' Group and a 'Nurture' Group so that they can fully address the needs at each end of the spectrum.  Out of the 210 entry level students, between 20-30 will be placed in each one of these groups and will be taught in a slightly different way - the Nurture Group, for example, won't be taught MFL in Year 7 which gives them additional time to be taught by a specialist team for Maths, English and Science.  The Accelerated Group will be taught these subjects separately, although they will join the rest of their peers for other subjects.  The two groups are identified before the children start at the school - so the school needs to ascertain which children should be placed in them before the beginning of term.  This is why they can't wait until the students start there to perform the CATs tests. Mike Lyons is keen to point out that the CATs tests results only provide some of the information they use.  They will also incorporate 11 plus results and the SATs Key Stage 2 results into their data as well as requesting further information from County Hall, like the fine grade SATs results to enable deeper analysis.  At the start of term each member of staff will be given what they call a 'VV diagram' to see where their students' learning styles sit as a whole and in each subject area.  Heads of Learning (formerly Heads of Year) can then use this information to see what techniques they need to introduce for progression.  The Heads of Learning form the groups and then the Heads of Subjects have the flexibility to put students in sets - as another example, Mike explains, "If you are a brilliant mathematician, you may not be in the 'Accelerated' Group of the Year, but you would be in Set 1 for that subject. It is all about recognising the potential in every subject so that potential is not missed." Steve says that all the information that can be gathered is used together so that the groups the children are put in are suitable for them.  He also explained that there is flexibility within the groups - they can move across groups and further CATs tests are run at the end of Year 8 and at the beginning of Year 12 to ascertain where the students are at that point in time.   

I understand that the UK has Europe's most tested school children and educationalists are calling for fewer tests not more.  However, as the CATs tests are not mandatory (although two thirds of secondary schools are using them) I don't think they are over-burdening, particularly as most parents do not place any significance on them (as they do for the 11plus, SATs or GCSEs) or even know much about them - therefore the students are taking them in an unpressurised environment and the results are mainly significant to the teachers - and as a parent, I rely on the judgement of the school and anything that helps the teachers teach the children better and in a more individual style for each child, would always get my support.

"It is all about adding value to the individuals - we attempt to push them so that they don't coast."  Mike told me. "It's a whole school thing - it is the way the school is geared up" and I know from personal experience of hearing the Headteacher speak, that it is where his ethos comes from.  "The children are on board too," Mike reminded me, "they know their starting point, what they are expected to achieve and will be given the tools to help them get there.  The students are part of the process."  I recall the reports that my older daughter has brought home from the school - in them I am told what the current level that she is working at is, but I am also told what her target level is so she and I know what she is working towards.  Mike told me how the Head of Learning and Teaching at the School is on hand to help give the teachers the techniques they need to use to help move the children forward and to get the best out of them.

As my younger daughter will soon discover, there will be little room for sitting still at the Misbourne - it's all about progression as an individual.  If she gets 10 A* at GCSE that doesn't mean that she will be guaranteed a certificate at the Awards Ceremony held the following October - she is only likely to be considered if she surpasses what she was expected to get and achieves something better! 

*The Misbourne School in Buckinghamshire was been named the Friendliest School in Britain 2005 by Friends Reunited.

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Could it be time to pack away the Mozart CDs?

A study undertaken at Vienna University has found that artists such as Robbie Williams and Anastacia are equally likely to support learning.

It is not exactly breaking news that music can help people learn. Many previous studies have proven that classical music can increase concentration levels. Yet classical music covers a wide range of styles and rhythms so it follows that music by more modern artists may have an equally positive effect.
The aims of the study were to show how music, when properly used, can positively support rather than hinder learning. The team that carried out the study came up with a list of more modern music that might help children with their studies.

The Top 10 recommendations are:

• Bad Day, Daniel Powter

• Because of you, Kelly Clarkson

• Sunrise, Norah Jones

• I belong to you, Anastacia & Eros Ramazzotti

• My Immortal, Evanescence

• First Day of my Life, Melanie C

• Far Away, Nickelback

• Burn Away, Foo Fighters

• She believes in me, Ronan Keating

• Misunderstood, Robbie Williams

It is highly likely that these are not currently the top choice artists of all teenagers, and the study team states that the list is not definitive. So long as the music fits the criteria described below, it can still be used in the background when studying.

The suggestion is that the ideal music for studying has a beat of between 60 and 76 beats per minute (similar to the human heart rate). Furthermore, it should have a simple melody and rhythm, and a refrain that is regularly repeated. It is not recommended that students listen to music that has a great variation in dynamics and/or volume, nor shrill tones and unusual or unnatural sound distortion,all of which will draw students' attention away from their studies and towards the music itself.

The study was carried out by Martin Suder and sponsored by LernQuadrat, an Austrian company that provides after-school study classes and claims to "make you smarter".The company was prompted to sponsor the study by the large numbers of parents asking whether the music that their children chose to listen to could be disturbing their studies. The feeling amongst parents was that the children were using music as a means of distraction, as they did not wish to concentrate on work that they found uninteresting.

We would recommend, however, that music is used for all sorts of purposes - to create a mood, to excite, to calm, to give an idea of timing for a task. No single song, nor indeed style of music, is suddenly going to help a child get a grade A in any subject. Perhaps those at LernQuadrat could have better spent their time studying why the children do not wish to study and how they, as adults, could make learning so exciting that the children do not need to use music as a distraction?

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