Joanne Jacobs
Je suis en Quebec
I'm taking some time off to see Quebec City, but I'll be back to blogging by the end of the week. I just had pain au chocolat for...
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 29, 20231 min read
Everyone passes -- or else!
Universities will have to push failing students above the 50 percent mark or pay hefty fines under legislation proposed by the Australian...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 29, 20231 min read
The case for quizzes: Students learn more -- and feel less anxious
Timed tests are unpopular with progressive educators, writes Hechinger's Jill Barshay. They think they're stressful and reward the...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 28, 20231 min read
Darning socks, shorthand, algebra
Selective colleges should stop expecting top students to take calculus, argues Scott White in Forbes. I was with him that far. My...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 28, 20232 min read
'It's knowledge all the way down'
"Knowledge is what we think with," writes Greg Ashman, an Australian educator, on Filling the Pail. "Thinking in the absence of knowledge...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 27, 20232 min read
Homeschoolers are more diverse, less conservative
Many families that tried homeschooling during the pandemic are still at it. As a result, post-pandemic homeschoolers are "more racially...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 26, 20232 min read
4-day school weeks are spreading, but students learn less
More schools -- and not just in rural areas -- are adopting four-day weeks, reports AP's Heather Hollingsworth. Districts hope the change...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 25, 20232 min read
Is this equity? White liberals think it's 'racially enlightened' to lower standards
In Dream Town: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity, Washington Post reporter Laura Meckler, a Shaker Heights native, writes...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 25, 20232 min read
Schools spend $20 billion a year for equity training, but does it work?
Public schools spend billions on equity training, but have no idea what works, writes Katherine Reynolds Lewis in USA Today. "None of the...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20232 min read
Pro-trans parents won't get custody edge in California
Mom wants to start "Oliver" on puberty blockers. Dad thinks "Olivia" should go through puberty before deciding whether to be male, female...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20232 min read
AI will change testing: Can it grade essays?
Number 2 pencils and fill-in-the-bubble are out, writes Matteo Wong in The Atlantic. Standardized tests are going digital. In a few...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 22, 20232 min read
Timed tests are misleading: Success is a marathon, not a sprint
The new digital SAT will take two hours, instead of three, and will give students more time to answer each question. That's a much better...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 21, 20231 min read
Geology is 'rock heavy,' light on queer BIPOC mentors
Geology is "rock heavy," complained a geology major in a recent survey, reports Daniel Nuccio on College Fix. Classes are very light on...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 21, 20232 min read
I am a rockgender, I am an autismgender
When Simon and Garfunkel sang "I am a rock, I am an island," they weren't thinking about gender or sexuality. But, nowadays, rock can be...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 20, 20232 min read
Old is new in math teaching: 'You have to explicitly teach content'
Johnny can't calculate -- or order enough pizza for a group of six who each want one-third of a pie. Math proficiency, already low,...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 19, 20232 min read
If we want to pay (some) teachers more ...
The teacher pay debate tends to be simplistic and unserious, writes Andrew Rotherham on Eduwonk. He calls out a tweet by Education...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 19, 20232 min read
When teachers don't get no respect, schools don't get new teachers
Fewer young people want to be teachers, writes Jessica Grose in the New York Times. The new teacher pipeline is running dry. She cites a...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 18, 20232 min read
It's normal for parents to object to graphic sex in kids' books
Aymann Ismail thought book-banners were prudish hysterics, he writes on Slate. Then a librarian gave him a copy of one of the...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 18, 20232 min read
'Hungry Caterpillar' is banned as school purges pre-2008 books
Books published before 2008 have been removed from school library shelves in a school district near Toronto, Canada, reports Nicole...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 17, 20232 min read
Competency counts: No lectures, no mandatory classes, lots of tests
"Competency-based education," which assesses students on skills rather than seat time, is finally becoming a reality for vocational...
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