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Is there any way to improve race relations? Re-watching the 1993 film The Joy Luck Club might help a bit. In one study , white people who watched the movie while empathizing with its characters—all strong, complex Asian-American women—were less likely to be biased against a group labeled “them” in a computer game, as opposed to “us.” Or, we could have white people play dodgeball on a teams full of sportsmanlike African Americans—that too, has shown to reduce bias. These are just a few...

Strengthen city support for schools. Empower parents and community members. Increase access to and opportunities for neighborhood resources. Those are the three most important things that Philadelphia residents want from Mayor Jim Kenney's community schools initiative, findings based on months of discussions with stakeholders and the Mayor's Office of Education. On Wednesday the office released a report on its findings after 14 roundtable discussions with principals, teachers, students,...

It’s not an exaggeration: It really is getting harder to move up in America. Those who make very little money in their first jobs will probably still be making very little decades later, and those who start off making middle-class wages have similarly limited paths. Only those who start out at the top are likely to continue making good money throughout their working lives. That’s the conclusion of a new paper by Michael D. Carr and Emily E. Wiemers, two economists at the University of...

Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has an unwavering vision of the future she wants to live into. Her most recent challenge "…To forge new and unconventional partnerships with the goal of building a Culture of Health that benefits all" provides a strategy for living into a safer, healthier community. Her challenge hit home for me given a recent experience I had. Part of the funds we received from the MARC grant were allocated to holding a 2-day workshop in managing...

Healthy relationships, parenting and family financial management classes are coming to Grimes County thanks to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Family and Community Health Unit. Introducing the program, “Strengthening Families in the Brazos Valley” (SFBV), Thursday, July 7, at the Grimes County Annex in Navasota was Parent Education Program Coordinator Laurie Naumann who said, “What goes on in the family unit affects everything else.” The informal gathering offered city and county...

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find out what it means to me.” In schools working to reduce suspension rates, teachers could take a cue from Aretha Franklin: Considering how young people view respect can greatly improve classroom management, new studies show. A one-time intervention to help teachers and students empathize with each other halved the number of suspensions at five diverse California middle schools, and helped students who had previously been suspended feel more connected at school, according...

Three years after Gov. Jerry Brown freed schools from spending controls and gave them extra cash to narrow a yawning achievement gap, the governor's reform remains popular among schools -- but there's only scattered evidence that the state's largesse is improving education for the most disadvantaged students. When he signed what he dubbed a revolutionary law in 2013, Brown promised that money would flow to high-needs students hampered by language barriers, poverty and family instability.

"It can hurt to go through life with your heart open, but not as much as it does to go through life with your heart closed." -- Jim Doty Growing up, Jim Doty had many strikes against him: an alcoholic father, a mother with depression, a family living in poverty. But somehow—in a journey he recounts in his new book, Into the Magic Shop —he managed to overcome them. Dr. Doty is now a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University. He founded and directs the Center for Compassion and...

How much do you know about Childhood Trauma? Got 30 seconds?

How much do you know about Childhood Trauma? Got 30 seconds?

When Rolling Terrace Elementary School in Takoma Park, Maryland, told parents in the fall of 2014 that it would allow students to use Chromebooks as a way to bridge the digital divide between low-income families and affluent families, there were mixed reactions. The plan was aimed at helping students become more adept at using technology, but the affluent parents, most of whom were white, were apprehensive about their children getting more screen time. Alison Risso, then the president of the...

Psychiatrists and psychologists have traditionally taken distinct approaches toward mental health and, according to a new study, these differences may be here to stay. Researchers in the UK surveyed psychiatrists and psychologists in training about their perspectives on the causes of mental health issues and found that, despite attempts to integrate the field, the two disciplines “continue to sit at opposite ends of a biological/psychological spectrum.” “We found that trainee clinical...