Ellen Galinsky

There have been an increasing number of highly influential calls for America to wake up to the importance of what are called "executive function skills."

Take the high school graduation rate. Economics professor at Princeton University and former member of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, Cecilia Rouse, was...

Learning equals intellect.

Is this true? Increasingly, this seems to be the prevailing wisdom.

In 1990, the president and 50 state governors established National Education Goals. The first goal was notable in that it included children before school entry, stating "all children in America will start school ready to learn"...

Many of us have grown up in a world where bells marked the beginning and the end of classes at school, where a series of homework assignments had to be completed each day, and where we were supposed to finish dinner before we could have dessert ("the clean plate club")....

In my travels around the country with Mind in the Making, it seems as if people increasingly understand that heaping indiscriminate praise on children ("good job" or "you are so smart") is not a good way to promote self-confidence and self-esteem. Perhaps this shift in awareness has occurred...

Have you ever noticed that your toddler spends more time playing with the gift-wrapping than the present that was wrapped inside? Or that your older children lose interest in a new toy if that toy has just one way to play with it, and instead gravitate back to materials, like...

This blog is continues my series to share the research of child development researchers and neuroscientists who have genuinely inspired me in my 11-year journey to create Mind in the Making. Their work is truly "research to live by."

I am sharing the story of Edward Tronick of...

The "comeback kid" is a recurring theme in American life, defining who we are as a people and how we see ourselves. We admire stories of people getting battered, knocked down by life, then standing up to defeat and winning -- the ultimate triumph.

The story of my niece, Sasha...

By Ellen Galinsky and Ken Matos

Veterans Day is a day when we honor Americans from all wars. As many of our veterans return from deployments, we suggest that we honor them not just with parades and accolades but also with active efforts to use and support their talents in...

By Ellen Galinsky and Ken Matos

Americans feel starved for time. According to a new report from the Families and Work Institute (FWI) and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), Workplace Flexibility in the United States: A Status Report, women's responsibilities...

This blog continues my series to share the research of child development researchers and neuroscientists who have genuinely inspired me in my 11-year journey to create Mind in the Making. Their work is truly "research to live by."

I am sharing the story of Anne Fernald of Stanford...

Yes, what about the men? The statistics are becoming sadly familiar -- men are lagging behind women college graduation rates, the overall health of men is declining while women's health is not, men's work-family conflict is rising while women's is staying the same, and...

In the debates about how to improve education, adults argue about what works and what doesn't, rarely asking students for their views. Of course, adults are responsible, but knowing the views of youth might -- just might -- enrich adults' decisions.

So it is admirable that NBC's Education Nation...

It has become the talk of the blogs and proverbial water cooler -- "the XX factor" -- the study findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that men's testosterone level drops when they have children.

The scientific commentators on the study have been...

This blog continues my series on the child development researchers and neuroscientists who have genuinely inspired me in my 11-year journey to create Mind in the Making. Their work is truly "research to live by."

I am sharing the story of J. Lawrence (Larry) Aber of New York...

This blog is the second in a series to share the research of child development researchers and neuroscientists who have genuinely inspired me in my 11-year journey to create "Mind in the Making". Their work is truly "research to live by."

I am sharing the story of...

I am beginning a series to share the findings of child development researchers and neuroscientists who have genuinely inspired me in my 11-year journey to create "Mind in the Making." Their research is truly "research to live by."

The first person I'm writing about is Heidelise Als of...

In past few weeks, there were two articles in the New York Times that may not have received the public attention they deserve in the midst of the all-the-time, everywhere coverage of the Congressional impasse over the U.S. debt crisis. Both articles focus on how top universities are now screening...

Men are experiencing increasing work-family conflict, more even than women.

In 1977, 34% of employed men living with at least one family member reported that their work and family responsibilities conflicted with each other "some" or "a lot." By 2008, that number had climbed to 49%. And for fathers...

When I first looked at Priscilla Gilman's just-published book, The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy, there was little about its packaging that says it's a book for all parents. Most of its "advance praise" quotes refer to the fact that this anti-romantic child is "challenging" and...

An article in the New York Times, "Too Young for Kindergarten? Tide Turning Against 4-Year-Olds" is a status report on a debate that has gone on for decades: What is the right age cutoff for children beginning kindergarten? Connecticut is considering changing its regulations so that...