Joanne Jacobs
Future jobs: Compete with robots or design them?
Throughout my newspaper career, I asked young people about their career goals. There was a time when the high achievers wanted to be...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 13
- 1 min
Reinvent high school, but how?
Fordham's 2022 Wonkathon is looking for ideas on how to reinvent high school: What policy barriers get in the way? If we all agree that...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 9
- 1 min
School choice is a winner
School choice advocates did well in the midterms, writes Mike McShane, national research director of EdChoice, in Forbes. Governors Ron...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 12
- 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,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 12
- 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,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 10
- 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...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 7
- 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...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 30
- 3 min
Drop college mandates for jobs before the next $400 billion bailout
Forgiving student loans -- if it survives a legal challenge -- is estimated to cost $400 billion to $500 billion or more. That means...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 21
- 2 min
Career tech pays off in Massachusetts
Students at career-tech high schools in Massachusetts are more likely to go to college and earn more than similar students who take a...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 8
- 2 min
Low-status, low-cost colleges can be a good deal for low-income students
University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley accepts more than 80 percent of applicants, most of whom come from low-income families. Thanks to...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 29
- 2 min
Students go farther when they have a plan
Connor Opdahl began planning his future in eighth grade, writes David Tobenkin on The 74. Wisconsin requires students to develop an...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 29
- 2 min
The Big Blur: Rethink high school, job training, college
Linking high school, work-based learning and college is an idea whose time may have come, writes Javeria Salman in the Hechinger Report....
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 29
- 2 min
College is an 'expensive gamble' for the artsy and the unprepared
College is seen as an "expensive gamble" by many Americans, concludes a recent Public Agenda survey. Half say college "is a questionable...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 27
- 1 min
Kids just want to be 'influencers'
Generation Z, which means 16- to 25-year-olds, don't want to grow up to be doctors, lawyers, astronauts or cowboys, according to a new...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 25
- 2 min
Blue-collar workers don't want to pay college loans: 'Hell no!'
Linking student loan forgiveness to jobs and skills training would have been politically savvy, writes Andrew J. Rotherham on Eduwonk....
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 24
- 2 min
As 'college for all' fades, schools build career pathways
"College for all" meant degrees for some, disappointment for others and $1.75 trillion in debt for 48 million borrowers. Urban school...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 7
- 2 min
You can do anything (but some things better than others)
You can do anything, children are told. Dream big! But many young people don't know what careers exist in the real world or what they...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 17
- 1 min
‘Every weld is a challenge’
Philadelphia schools are focusing career-tech training on preparing students to move from high school to apprenticeships and skilled...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 16
- 1 min
Hot jobs of the future: welder, plumber
Tennessee’s technical colleges focus on job skills, such as mechatronics. We’ve reached peak college, writes urbanist Joel Kotkin in...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 9
- 1 min
It’s a hot summer job market for youth
Working as a lifeguard was a dangerous job in “Stranger Things.” A red-hot summer job market awaits teenagers, reports Paul Wiseman and...