Education Week – Christina Samuels
“An analysis of matched birth and school records of 1.6 million children in Florida born between 1992 and 2002 shows that the higher the children’s weight at birth, the better that child’s later performance on reading and math tests…The researchers conducted further analyses of the schools that the children attended, noting that the effect of birthweight does not appear to be overcome by attending a higher-quality school…In a press release announcing the findings, Jeffrey Roth, a research professor of pediatrics in the University of Florida College of Medicine and a co-author of the study, said…”We tend to think that good schools are places where struggling kids get special attention and motivated teachers can correct any problems with learning,” he said. “This research indicates that is not always the case. Good schools are good for everyone, but even the best schools don’t seem to differentially help kids with early health disadvantage.””(more)