Time spent at chess might improve test scores
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By ROBERT KOPACZ
SUMMIT — Many parents may feel old teaching methods work better than more recent innovations. But the chances are good that by old, they don’t mean 1,500 years old.
Yet Lincoln-Hubbard Elementary School teacher Ken Frattini is showing that just such a centuries-old method may be improving Summit elementary school students’ standardized test scores.
The method? Chess.
Mr. Frattini, a chess enthusiast since the age of 17 when a friend introduced him to the game, organized the Lincoln-Hubbard Elementary School chess club after coming across some unused chess pieces at the school not long after he started teaching there nine years ago.
He has since helped set up chess clubs in all five of the other district elementary schools, and now runs regular intra- and inter-district tournaments. He also teaches chess to all students in his second grade class.
…Dr. Alexey Root, senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Dallas Chess Program and author of the book “Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators,” noted in a telephone interview that “the last material rule change [in chess] was in the 1400s. [Chess has] been aroundfor about 1,500 years now in a form where we could go back and still be able to play games from that era and know what was going on, so that’s pretty remarkable.”
Dr. Root also pointed to the easy accessibility of the game. ” You can get a chessboard for under $5, so that is a big benefit for teachers and schools,” she said. “I think that swimming is great. However, for swimming, you need to have a swimming pool, and that can be a prohibitive cost for some districts, unfortunately.”
Yet despite the low cost and straightforward rules, it wields a lot of leverage for teachers. “[You do] not require use of the English language to solve problems in chess, which can be an advantage if you’re working with a class that’s a mix of ESL and non-ESL students for example,” said Dr. Root.
Here is the full fantastic article.
Nice reading this article from my old friend Alexey :o)
most studies seem to suggest that chess may result in some increase in academic ability, but none seem to measure it against comtemporary forms of study.
What if the children had spent the same amount of that they studied chess with a math or english tutor?