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Teaching movement teaches movement: the skills improve, but transfer to cognition, achievement, or lifelong activity is near zero in the best trials.
no effectconf: highgc: medium7/710/48connected:Does arts education raise academicPhysical activity as an inputDoes teaching grammar improve chilDoes handwriting and transcription+5
Does teaching movement transfer to cognition, achievement, or lifelong activity? · physical-development · ages 4–18
Brain training improves the trained task and nothing else: far transfer to intelligence or achievement is 0.001 against active controls.
no effectconf: highgc: low18/1827/48connected:FadeoutTalent and trainabilityDoes learning to code improve geneCan executive function be trained,+1
Does working-memory or brain training transfer to intelligence and achievement? · transfer · ages 4–18 · debunked
Not at school: the largest randomised trials find nothing on reading, maths or cognition. A small effect on laboratory executive-function tasks is contested, may be real at ~0.2 SD, and is end-of-treatment only.
mixedconf: mediumgc: mediumDoes learning music make children smarter or better at school? · music · ages 4–16
No. The two randomised programmes that tested it — 42 Houston schools and five EEF trials across 400 English schools — return nulls on reading and maths; only writing, the outcome nearest the treatment, moves.
no effectconf: mediumgc: low4/49/48connected:Does teaching movement transfer toDoes teaching visual art produce aAre museum and theatre trips worthDoes classroom drama build verbal
Does arts education raise academic achievement? · arts · ages 5–14
Brain Gym, Fast ForWord, coloured overlays, the Mozart effect: tested and failed, or never evidence-based at all. Mozart works exactly as well as any other music.
debunkedconf: mediumgc: low11/1120/48connected:Does teaching visual art produce aDoes matching instruction to a chiDoes working-memory or brain trainDoes learning music make children
Brain Gym, Whole Brain Teaching, and the smaller classroom brain fads · debunked · ages 4–18 · debunked
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