- We've known about the value of talking to babies since Hart & Risley published their study in 1995: http://www.amazon.com/Meaningful-Differences-Everyday-Experi...

- We've known that there is basically no value in reading to your kids since Scarborough & Dobrich published their report in 1994.

This really isn't news.

And he's wrong again. The reason high-SES kids score better on standardized tests isn't because they learn more in school, it's because they learn more at home. In fact low-SES kids actually learn almost as much at school than high-SES kids[1], it's just that they start out 2-3 years behind in Kindergarten[2], and instead of learning over the summer they actually regress[1]. What the data actually shows is that students DON'T learn if they're white, but in a feat of epic illogic this guy has somehow managed to convince himself that the opposite is true.

[1] http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED037322.pdf (C.f. figure 2 and 3)

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Meaningful-Differences-Everyday-Experi...