Investor Watch: October 27, 2022

The National Institutes of Health this week reported that a study of nearly 2,000 children “found that those who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more performed better on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children who had never played video games.” The finding comes in the same week that the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported record lows in math and reading scores. Among 26 urban school districts, only one — Los Angeles — showed an increase in average scores for eighth-grade reading. “At eighth grade, reading scores declined in 33 states and jurisdictions, did not change in 18, and rose in one (the Department of Defense Education Activity),” said the NAEP.

What is the DoD Education Activity? The home page for the organization (DoDEA) informs us the DoDEA operates 160 schools in eight Districts located in 11 foreign countries, seven states, and two territories across 10 time zones. “There are nearly 900,000 military-connected children of all ages worldwide, of which more than 66,000 are enrolled in DoDEA schools and served by more than 8,000 educators.” In a release complete with full breakdowns of student test data, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros said, “DoDEA leaders focused on equity of access and continuity of instruction during the early stages of the pandemic with a rapid transition to remote learning, then worked to create conditions that enabled students to start returning to classrooms by the beginning of School Year 20-21. Their work, coupled with strong partnership from military commands and parents, directly supported military readiness by allowing service members with students in DoDEA schools to remain focused on their military missions.” DoDEA Director Thomas M. Brady added, “The dedication and hard work of our teachers and administrators, along with the implementation of a rigorous College and Career Ready Standards, sustained the impressive performance by DoDEA students on the 2019 NAEP despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

As it happens, the DoDEA’s Pacific region this week launched its first-ever varsity esports league across its 12 high schools, sparked in part by pilot programs at four schools that were launched during the pandemic. “Esports is an inclusive activity that appeals to many of our students,” said DoDEA Pacific Chief of Staff Todd Schlitz, “It might not look like a traditional sport, but it requires many of the same skills. It takes practice, strategy, communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork. Plus, there are opportunities for college scholarships and careers in eSports.”

For more on the topic, revisit Site Selection’s recent series on esports competition and video game development as industry sectors in their own right, not to mention drivers of real estate activity. — Adam Bruns

Chart courtesy of ATRI

Nearly five full days after the final out of the league championship series, the World Series finally gets underway tomorrow in Houston. You can have a lot of fun scouring the Library of Congress archives for World Series photos. I found this image made at the final game of the 1905 World Series as the American League’s Philadelphia Athletics squared off against the National League’s New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York City, where horse carriages and newfangled automobiles lined the field’s outskirts. The Giants won the Series 3-1 behind three full nine-inning shutout wins pitched in a span of six days by Christy Mathewson, who used his unhittable screwball to record 18 strikeouts in those three games. (The Giants’ lone loss in the Series was also a shutout.) Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, Mathewson, who bore a striking resemblance to Marlon Brando in his prime, was saluted as the standard by which greatness is measured. “He could pitch into a tin cup,” said Hall of Fame second baseman Johnny Evers. He won 37 games in 1908, and once won at least 30 games three years in a row, including the 1905 season. — Adam Bruns