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Joanne Jacobs
Jan 282 min read
Dumber and dumber: Americans, young and old, are slipping
Achievement is falling, and gaps are widening, for American students and adults since well before the pandemic.
13 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 262 min read
Who's scaring immigrant kids away from school?
"Activists" are spreading hysteria and scaring immigrant kids away from school.
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 232 min read
Trumpy young men (and women)
Young Americans are optimistic about Trump's presidency and moving rightward in their politics.
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 31 min read
California tells schools: Go easy on homework
A new California law urges school to set homework policies that ease stress and promote "equity."
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 22 min read
Return of the nerds: US should honor mathletes as much as athletes
Honor mathletes and science fair winners or plan to import a lot of high-tech immigrants.
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 24, 20242 min read
The true meaning of Christmas
Christmas traditions are worth preserving.
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Joanne Jacobs
Dec 23, 20241 min read
Star of wonder, star of light
A Sikh immigrant's Christmas tableau has become a community tradition in a California town.
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Joanne Jacobs
Dec 8, 20241 min read
It's time for separation of race and state: No more little boxes
The Census doesn't ask people about their religion. Why not stop putting Americans in pseudo-racial boxes? , asks Michael Lind. The...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 28, 20241 min read
The first Thanksgiving for newcomers
Fifth-graders who remember when they first came to the U.S. serve Thanksgiving food to newcomers at a Michigan school.
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 11, 20241 min read
Identity politics lost: It's time for the great rethink in education
"Your ancestors weren't villains," the meme declares. "Don't apologize for them to people who hate you." Conor Friedersdorf points out...
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 15, 20242 min read
Diplomas for all: Massachusetts will vote on ending state graduation standards
A Massachusetts ballot measure ending state graduation requirements is backed by 58% of voters, says new poll.
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 20, 20242 min read
Chicago to teachers: Give migrant students a 70% and pass them along
Chicago teachers say they were told to pass all migrant students, regardless of their academic skills.
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 16, 20242 min read
Well-behaved, motivated newcomers may raise classmates' achievement
U.S.-born students learn more when their classmates are immigrants, says a new study.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 16, 20242 min read
As immigrants fill empty seats, schools scramble to teach them
" Migrants coming here as been a godsend " for New York City schools threatened with closure because of declining enrollment, Schools...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Aug 25, 20242 min read
The baby bust is global: China adopts 3-child policy
China dropped the one-child policy in 2015, after 30 years. The new slogan was: "One child is too few, while two are just right." Birth...
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Joanne Jacobs
Aug 21, 20242 min read
Racial achievement gaps: Poverty, parents explain some (not all) of differences
Socioeconomic status explains some of the Black/White achievement gap and most of the Hispanic/White achievement gap.
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Joanne Jacobs
Aug 2, 20242 min read
Silicon Valley parents push back on ethnic studies
Parents want to know what will be taught in soon-to-be-mandatory ethnic studies class.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 27, 20242 min read
Minnesota adopts woke-centric social studies standards
Minnesota have approved "the most ideologically progressive and intellectually vapid social studies standards in America," writes Max...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 5, 20242 min read
$250K for 'woke' training: Reading, math scores fall even lower
Training teachers to "disrupt whiteness" isn't helping children learn at a Bay Area school, reports Jill Tucker in the San Francisco...
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 18, 20242 min read
The Finnish miracle is finished, but why?
Finland! Finland! Finland! Twenty years ago, Finland's top-of-the-world PISA scores made it "the most widely celebrated and imitated...
7 comments
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