Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Teachers or 'widgets'?
  Effective teachers are the key to student success. Yet our school systems treat all teachers as interchangeable parts, not professionals, according to The New Teacher Project, an organization trying to change the way teachers' performance is evaluated.9:06 a.m.
  Guests
  Daniel Weisberg: Vice president for policy at the New Teacher Project. He's one of the authors of the report, "The Widget Effect."
  Lynn Nordgren: President, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers.
  Thomas Toch: Co-director of Education Sector, an education think tank. He has studied and written about how teachers are evaluated.
  Resources
  Widget Effect
  The New Teacher Project
  Minneapolis Federation of Teachers
  About Thomas Toch
• The 90+ study, Alzheimer's and aging
  Neurologists at the University of California are studying a group of men and women over the age of 90 for clues on how the brain is affected by aging, and important data on Alzheimer' disease and dementia.10:06 a.m.
  Guests
  Dr. Claudia Kawas: Neurologist at the University of California, Irvine.
  Dr. Ron Petersen: Director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
  More from MPR
  U of M resumes nuns' Alzheimer's study (03/25/2009)
  Video: The nun study (03/25/2009)
  Company says comedy is vital for Alzheimer's play (06/19/2009)
  Resources
  About Claudia Kawas
  About Ronald Petersen
  NY Times: "At the Bridge Table, Clues to a Lucid Old Age"

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