Various types of learning occur most easily during certain 'critical' or 'sensitive' periods. Researchers caution that much more applied research is required before this new-found knowledge is ready for general application in education. As New York University Professor Joseph Laddies cautioned at a recent conference organized by the Education Commission of the States, 'There are no quick fixes. Nevertheless, following are some tentative indications of how K-12 schools might eventually apply this research. Underestimating a child's ability, or holding low expectations for performance, are incorrect assumptions that damage a child's development if the quality and intensity of teaching is thereby reduced.
Children learn in different ways, and they are intelligent in different ways.
Evidence indicates that every child can learn to high standards if the teaching is consistent with the child's own learning style. Teachers should therefore alternate among instructional strategies. For example, math instruction should combine multiplication drills and abstract problem solving and using hands-on materials and using the Internet. In addition, children learn best when information is meaningful and presented in context, that is, lessons are linked with the children's past knowledge, experiences, and lives away from school. The research also appears to support the use of cooperative, interdisciplinary, and theme-based learning strategies.