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Parenting alone: What happened to marriage?
Growing up in a two-parent family is an enormous advantage, writes Melissa Kearney in The Two-Parent Privilege. It's the norm for...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 8, 20232 min read


Love, marriage, honor roll: Culture closes 'excellence gaps'
Culture explains why Asian-American students do so well in school, writes Helen Raleigh, who's Asian American, in The Federalist. It's...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 13, 20232 min read


Promises, promises: LeBron James' school struggles in Akron
Akron's I Promise School opened five years ago with high hopes and lots of extra funding from basketball star LeBron James' foundation....

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 1, 20231 min read


Take a deep breath: NYC schools will spend $31,434 per student
New York City schools are spending more while enrolling fewer students, reports Kristina Watrobski for Crisis in the Classroom. Since...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 1, 20232 min read


'Anti-adoption drumbeat' leaves kids in foster care
Naomi Schaefer Riley hears an "anti-adoption drumbeat" from the media. "In the wake of the Dobbs decision, the Left wants to make sure...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 20, 20222 min read


A vote for merit in San Francisco
San Francisco Mayor London Breed replaced the recalled school-board members with three parents (clockwise from top left): Lisa...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 5, 20222 min read


Who’s been deleting Papa Bear?
The Three Bears story without Papa Bear. Instead Mama Bear is a single parent raising two bears, both of which appear to be female. Or...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 28, 20181 min read
The Incredibles are back
Incredibles 2 is a winner, writes Tyler O’Neil on PJ Media. The family of superheroes works together to defeat Screenslaver, who “uses...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 15, 20181 min read


The kids (many of them) aren’t alright
Family dysfunction is more common — and more devastating for children — than we think, writes Brian A. Jacob and Joseph Ryan in Education...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 30, 20182 min read


Black boys, but not girls, earn less than whites
“Even when children grow up next to each other with parents who earn similar incomes, black boys fare worse than white boys,” concludes a...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 19, 20182 min read


A grade-free utopia — or aristocracy?
Imagine schools and colleges without grades, writes Mark Barnes in Education Week. “Imagine classrooms where teachers never place...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 22, 20181 min read


Happy Thanksgiving
Have a happy Thanksgiving. (Don’t discuss politics. Just eat and “be grateful for the people you are eating it with.”) #Thanksgiving

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 22, 20171 min read
Schools vs. poverty: Poverty usually wins
Education doesn’t guarantee social mobility, writes Rachel M. Cohen in The Atlantic. “In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 3, 20171 min read


Educating the poor: What works best?
Students at KIPP South Fulton Academy in Atlanta. “No excuses” charters are more effective ways to improve prospects for disadvantaged...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 21, 20171 min read


Why can’t Johnny read? It’s a parenting gap
Focusing on the racial achievement gap obscures the underlying problem, argues Ian Rowe, a visiting fellow at Fordham. The family...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 28, 20172 min read
Decoding the world, through Disney movies
Life, Animated didn’t win the Oscar for best documentary (blame O.J. Simpson), but the movie about Disney and autism is well worth...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 4, 20172 min read


If families fail, what can schools do?
Who’s your daddy? asks Ian Rowe, a Fordham fellow, who leads two charter schools in the South Bronx. That’s the message on two mobile DNA...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 19, 20162 min read
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