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Why is 'Gender Queer' in the middle-school library?
Parents don't want drag queens or books that feature sex toys in school libraries.

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 10, 20242 min read
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Magic worlds
The Rabbit Hole, a children's literature museum in Kansas City, sounds like a wonderful place. Children can explore "scenes from beloved...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 7, 20241 min read
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Mamma mia! Is raising kids too hard?
I was born at the peak of the baby boom, the second of four children. (Today is my birthday.) Most of us weren't planned, but we were...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 31, 20242 min read
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A 'Colorblind America' sees race, but tries to treat people the same
"Anti-racism" is a kind of "neo-racism," argues Coleman Hughes in his new book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 29, 20243 min read
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Lowering expectations doesn't lead to 'equity'
It's easier to get A's and harder to get an education, writes Fordham's Michael Petrilli. Expectations started falling and grades...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 20, 20242 min read
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Teach the children: 'Is the Soviet Union a country?'
Teaching is "oppressive." Teachers should "guide" students to discover things on their own, based on their interests, but shouldn't...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 16, 20242 min read
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'I want the library to be there for everyody, not just people who share my voting record'
When a patron donated a book questioning "the transgender craze" to the Blue Hill Public Library, librarian Rich Boulet decided "it...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 25, 20242 min read
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Odysseus so white
English teachers at Oakland's College Preparatory School, one of the most expensive private schools in California, have "let go" of...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 23, 20242 min read
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Poet X replaces Romeo: Why high school students can't read
Adam Kotsko, who teaches humanities at a small liberal arts college, finds that even his best students are unprepared to read and...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 23, 20241 min read
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Why Joe College can't read
College students have trouble reading anything long or complex, complains Adam Kotsko, in Slate. He's taught humanities classes in small...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 19, 20242 min read
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Teach old, 'problematic' books
Teach old books, argues Daniel Buck, author of author of What Is Wrong with Our Schools?, on Fordham's Flypaper blog. Yes the language...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 19, 20241 min read
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Empty shelves: School culls old books, can't afford new books
A Maryland elementary school's library has colorful posters urging kids to read -- but not many books on the shelves, writes Theresa...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 18, 20242 min read
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Muslim parents win right to reject LGBT books for their children
Muslim children won't be required to read LGBT books in elementary schools in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, reports Mairead...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 18, 20242 min read
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Teaching Ta-Nehisi Coates
Mary Wood is teaching Ta-Nehisi Coates' memoir, Between the World and Me, in her AP English Language and Composition class in Chapin,...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 7, 20242 min read
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College is now a 'what to think' place, not 'how to think' for yourself
"Professors here teach how to think, not "what to think," college tour guides claim. Don't believe them, writes Caitlin Flanagan in The...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 4, 20242 min read
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The shelves tilt left: School libraries have no McWhorter, but lots of Kendi
For all the talk about school libraries under pressure to "ban books," the real issue is lack of balance, argues James Fishback in The...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 26, 20242 min read
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It matters how kids read: On-screen reading doesn't build comprehension
It doesn't matter what kids read as long as they're reading, people often say. Maybe so. But for "developing readers," leisure reading...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 15, 20231 min read
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To kill 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Ninth-graders aren't reading To Kill a Mockingbird this year in Mukilteo, Washington, an affluent, mostly white town north of Seattle. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 6, 20232 min read
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Scared of Halloween: Ghoulies, ghosties and DEI beasties
Halloween has been canceled at schools in New Jersey's South Orange-Maplewood School District. No costumes, no parades, no...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 30, 20232 min read
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Shut up, they explained
Cancel culture -- "campaigns to get people fired, disinvited, deplatformed, or otherwise punished" for dissenting from orthodox views --...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 29, 20232 min read
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