Joanne Jacobs
Afraid to teach: 'It's safer to avoid current events'
Polarization is chilling classroom dialogue, according to a series of interviews with teachers by the Constructive Dialogue Institute...
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Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 12
- 2 min
Beyond basics: Schools must teach 'virtues and habits' of free people
"Back to basics" education isn't enough, writes Gillian Richards on The American Conservative. "Some conservatives have responded to...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 23
- 1 min
Test reading and civics at the same time
Only 6 percent of eighth-graders can read Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech and identify two ideas from the Constitution or...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 6
- 2 min
Texas limits 'action civics'
Civic activism can't be required in Texas public schools if it requires communicating with federal, state or local officials, reports...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 5
- 1 min
History, civics and reading comprehension go together
The more students know about the world, the better they can understand what they read, writes Susan Pimentel in Education Week. The...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 4
- 2 min
Educating citizens: We can do better, but will we?
"The new National Assessment of Educational Progress civics and history results are as deplorable as they were predictable," writes...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 4
- 2 min
40% of 8th-graders are 'below basic' in history
Eighth-graders don't know much about U.S. history and civics, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 18
- 1 min
Choice and common culture
We need to find a way to have school choice and to teach our "shared inheritance" as Americans, writes Fordham's Checker Finn. He worries...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 9
- 2 min
You are not enough: Love thy neighbor too
"You are enough" is a popular saying, writes Katherine Boyle on The Free Press. But it's not true. Americans have lost their sense of...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 3
- 2 min
It's only Schoolhouse Rock (but I like it)
I'm so old I don't know the words to Conjunction Junction. Schoolhouse Rock, animated musical shorts on grammar, history, civics,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 3
- 2 min
Teach civics -- not activism
"Fixating on activism misses the point of civics education," write Frederick M. Hess, a former civics teacher now education policy...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 23, 2022
- 2 min
Blamesgiving: Public schools teach that America is 'bad and broken'
Public schools have lost touch with their mission and purpose, writes Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 30, 2022
- 1 min
Serve your country to clear your student loans
Link college loans to civilian or military service, writes Steve Cohen in City Journal. "President Biden’s plan to 'forgive' student...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 19, 2022
- 2 min
Fuzzy civics: Teachers don't value knowledge
I learned about separation of powers, checks and balances and the three separate and equal branches of government -- executive,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 17, 2022
- 2 min
Freedom of ... um ... uh ...
Happy Constitution Day! How many First Amendment freedoms can you name? If you get more than one, you're a civics star. Americans' civics...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 12, 2022
- 1 min
Do good citizens listen to leaders?
Do "good citizens" always listen to leaders? Ilya Somin was taken aback by the worksheet his seven-year-old daughter brought home from...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 2, 2022
- 2 min
We used to share a story about America, but not any more
New laws restricting how teachers can discuss "divisive issues" try "to impose a singular narrative of the United States, because —...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 4, 2022
- 2 min
Celebrate US
The City of Orlando's email promoting a Fourth of July fireworks display set off fireworks of its own with a sour jape: “A lot of people...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 7, 2022
- 2 min
Teens back free speech for unpopular views
U.S. high school students and their teachers agree that people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions, according to the Knight...
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