Education

Potter Mania

By Anthony Rebora — November 15, 2007 1 min read
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The introduction of a Harry Potter-based curriculum has reportedly helped a primary school in Nottinghamshire, England, dramatically improve student achievement. Over the past three years, the Robert Mellors Primary and Nursery has risen from the bottom 25 percent to the top five percent of schools in England—a jump that’s being attributed at least in part to the use of themed curricula. This year the students are carrying around wands, the grade levels have been renamed after the houses at Hogwarts, and the teachers are apparently wearing customs suggestive of all manner of witchcraft and wizardry. Among the school’s Harry Potter-inspired lessons are a subtraction method that uses an imaginary “spell” and a play-writing exercise based on sections of J.K. Rowling’s novels. A government report labeling the school as “outstanding” noted that the students seem to benefit from the interconnection between lessons in different subjects.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Web Watch blog.