October - 2022

Finally, schools are following the 'science of reading'

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 18, 2022
2 min

Finally, schools are following the 'science of reading'

Phonics is back in classrooms and it's helping young children learn to read, writes Bella DiMarco, a FutureEd policy analyst, in the New York Times. After lost decades "where dubious theories led educators to abandon the phonics method, . . . a growing number of states and districts are right back where they started." She visited a school in Richmond. The student in Cassie Gilboy’s first-grade class stumbled over the word ‘pig.’ Instead of looking at a picture for clues, she

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When Harry became Sally: Parents have a right to know

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 17, 2022
2 min

When Harry became Sally: Parents have a right to know

Virginia's new transgender guidelines protect parents' rights to know whether their child is being counseled to change names and genders, writes Andrew J. Rotherham of Eduwonk, who serves on the state board of education. "As of today there are about 59,000 public comments (many of those from bots) but the Department of Education page that has the actual proposed guidelines has been visited about 7,000 times since they were released," he writes. The key issue is "whether schoo

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Teaching controversial issues is OK for teens, but not younger students

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 17, 2022
2 min

Teaching controversial issues is OK for teens, but not younger students

Most Americans want schools to teach older students about controversial issues, according to USC's Understanding America Survey, reports Sarah Schwartz in Education Week. "They're not as sure that younger children" are ready. Both Republicans and Democrats said older students should learn about "hot-button topics — such as abortion, gun control, or racial inequality — in school," Schwartz writes. But there were "large partisan divides" on teaching about gender and sexuality

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Joanne Jacobs

Oct 16, 2022
2 min

Diversity is skin deep at Harvard

Stanford discriminated against Jewish applicants in the early 1950's, admitted President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who issued an apology last week. Worried that more than a quarter of male applicants were Jewish, Rixford K. Snyder, who was admissions director, ended recruitment at heavily Jewish high schools and took other steps that sharply reduced Jewish admissions. Then, when people noticed, Stanford lied about it. Now it's Asian Americans who are seeking admissions to elite u

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Joanne Jacobs

Oct 15, 2022
1 min

To do better, do less

Subtraction is powerful, writes Justin Reich on the ACSD blog. Administrators and teachers are "exhausted and overwhelmed" -- and being asked to take on more responsibilities. It's time to "clear out the marginal and focus on the most important things." Reich has been "talking to teachers, school leaders, students, and design experts about subtraction in action." An administrator writes emails to staff to clarify her thoughts, but then doesn't send them. If she needs to conne

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Woke charters stress 'anti-racism,' but parents want excellence

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 14, 2022
2 min

Woke charters stress 'anti-racism,' but parents want excellence

Urban parents' vision of a good school hasn't changed, writes Robert Pondiscio on Education Next. They want "safety, solid academics, character education, and a fair shot at college and upward mobility," and hope charter schools will provide that. But many charters in New York City and elsewhere have shifted their focus from academic excellence to "equity," he writes. Woke young teachers often see "strict classroom management, academic rigor, and high expectations" as "abusiv

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'Student-centered learning' means less learning

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 13, 2022
2 min

'Student-centered learning' means less learning

Student-centered learning is supposed to be inclusive, democratic, personalized and accessible, write Rebekah Wanic and Nina Powell in Heterodox Academy. But, given "mass higher education," it means students don't learn very much. Universities have "given up trying to tell students what is good for them, write Wanic and Powell, Americans who ended up teaching psychology at the National University of Singapore. If students are satisfied, that's the measure of success. Students

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ACT: 22% of this year's grads are ready for college

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 13, 2022
2 min

ACT: 22% of this year's grads are ready for college

The average ACT score hit a new low this year, while the percentage of test-takers who failed all four College Readiness Benchmarks hit a new high of 42 percent. Only 22 percent were ready in all four subjects: reading, English, math and science. Based on ACT's research, students meeting a benchmark have a 50 percent chance of earning a B or better in an entry-level course in that subject and a 75 percent chance of earning a C or better. It's not just the pandemic, said ACT C

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What skills does a web developer need? What about a truck mechanic?

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 12, 2022
1 min

What skills does a web developer need? What about a truck mechanic?

What does it take to be a web developer or a truck mechanic or a personal-care assistant? Texas State Technical College has built a free, artificially intelligent job-skills machine that can read a jargon-filled job description and turn it into a list of skills, reports Rebecca Koenig on EdSurge. To gather information for skills profiles, SkillsEngine asks users to rate activities for various occupations. For a personal-care assistant job, for example, is "manage clinical cas

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Students don't know how well they're doing or what their choices will be

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 12, 2022
1 min

Students don't know how well they're doing or what their choices will be

Most students are "in the dark about their own learning," according to Data Quality Campaign’s new national poll of high school students, writes Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger on The 74. Only a third said their school had told them what postsecondary or career paths are available to them or whether their courses are preparing them for higher education. Fewer than half said they know "whether they were meeting grade-level expectations, whether they were on track to graduate or how m

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How to help students succeed: It's not about exam schools

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 11, 2022
2 min

How to help students succeed: It's not about exam schools

In A Tale of Two High Schools, Renu Mukherjee, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, looks at San Francisco's Lowell High School, which dropped merit-based admissions to increase racial and ethnic diversity, and the city's Mission High School, which created a program to support disadvantaged students with college ambitions. Last year's ninth graders, the first class eliminated after the end of merit admissions, earned many more D and F grades than previous classes, acc

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Why does Kalamazoo Promise work for women but not men?

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 10, 2022
2 min

Why does Kalamazoo Promise work for women but not men?

The Kalamazoo Promise, which guarantees college scholarships to all graduates of the Michigan city's schools, has increased college completion rates by 45 percent for female students since it launched in 2005, researchers found. For males, there's been "zero benefit." Most programs that help female students succeed in school, navigate college and launch careers don't work for men, writes Richard V. Reeves on National Affairs. His new book on the struggles of males is titled

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Are schools too quick to report suspected abuse, neglect?

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 9, 2022
1 min

Are schools too quick to report suspected abuse, neglect?

Teachers, counselors and other school staff are required to report suspected child abuse and neglect. In New York City, from August 2019 through January 2022, the vast majority of school-based reports were false alarms, reports Asher Lehrer-Small on The 74. "Only 24 percent of investigations prompted by calls from school staff found evidence of abuse or neglect." "Even when closed and dropped, investigations can stay on parents’ records for years afterward and erase job pros

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Joanne Jacobs

Oct 8, 2022
2 min

Raising not-so-American kids

College-educated parents want their children taught in Japanese, Mandarin, French and Spanish, writes Abigail Shrier on Substack. They say bilingualism is good for kids' brains, but she suspects it's more than that. They want their children to be less immersed in American culture. Over the last two decades, matriculation at dual-language curricula in both public and private schools has skyrocketed. In 2000, there were roughly 260 dual-language programs in the U.S. By 2011, H

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Joanne Jacobs

Oct 7, 2022
2 min

'Ungrading' college

Many colleges have dropped admissions tests to promote diversity and equity: Applicants who grew up with educated (or Asian) parents and went to rigorous schools do a lot better than less-advantaged students. Plus tests are stressful. Now colleges are "ungrading" the first year of classes -- or more, reports Hechinger's Jon Marcus. The goal is to promote equity and relieve stress, especially for first-generation and not-so-prepared students. Instead of A-F grades, students ma

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Joanne Jacobs

Oct 6, 2022
2 min

A Filipina teacher in Arizona

Desperately short of teachers, Bullhead City, Arizona schools is importing teachers from the Philippines. They've received "outstanding" ratings and have master's degrees. But they're used to students who want to learn. In An American education, Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow profiles the struggles of Rose Jean Obreque, who's hired to teach seventh-grade English in Arizona. (Yes, English is her second language.) Bullhead City schools received an F rating before the pande

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Joanne Jacobs

Oct 6, 2022
1 min

How to get more new teachers

Fewer people are training to be teachers, writes Chad Aldeman, policy director of Georgetown's Edunomics Lab, in Education Next. "There are 20 to 30 percent fewer people going into teaching each year than there were a decade ago," he writes. All of the decline comes from traditional teacher ed programs, which produced 29 percent fewer graduates from 2013 to 2019, Aldeman writes. The number of new teachers "rose by 18 percent for alternative-route programs, which tend to be

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Ed prof says there are 2 sexes, keeps her job

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 5, 2022
1 min

Ed prof says there are 2 sexes, keeps her job

University of Southern Maine will not fire an education professor for saying there are two biological sexes, reports Troy R. Bennett in the Bangor Daily News. Instead, the graduate students, who are seeking certification as teachers, will be offered an alternative class taught by a non-heretic. All but one of Christy Hammer's students walked out of her Sept. 14 class, “Creating a Positive Learning Environment." In a discussion the previous week, the professor and one student

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NYU fires tough chem prof, raises complainers' grades

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 5, 2022
3 min

NYU fires tough chem prof, raises complainers' grades

Would-be doctors have to get through organic chemistry, a tough class that can be a dream killer. When NYU pre-meds earned poor grades last spring in Maitland Jones Jr.'s class, some of them signed a petition complaining the professor was too demanding. The university fired him and agreed to review their grades, reports Stephanie Saul in the New York Times. Jones, who's 84, the author of a major organic chemistry textbook, has won awards for teaching, Saul writes. He "pioneer

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Public schools are losing white, middle-class students

Joanne Jacobs

Oct 4, 2022
2 min

Public schools are losing white, middle-class students

Urban school districts are losing students, writes Matt Welch, a public school parent in New York City, in Reason. White, middle-class parents are giving up on city schools. It's not just school closures that's driving parents away, he argues. The pandemic, an asteroid-level event that permanently altered the landscape for public education in the U.S., is the Big Bang when it comes to plummeting enrollment numbers and catastrophic learning loss in government-run K-12. And the

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