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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...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 25, 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.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 21, 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.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 2, 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...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 27, 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...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 5, 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...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 18, 20242 min read


The new Irish: Hispanics are upwardly mobile Americans
Hispanic immigrants are a lot like Irish immigrants who came to American in the 1800s, writes Noah Smith. They are working-class folks...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 7, 20242 min read


'White flight' from overachieving Asians?
A "B" grade is an "Asian F" and a "white A," they used to say in Silicon Valley high schools. Maybe they still do, if they have enough...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20232 min read


No hablo ingles? No es un problema at California community colleges
Immigrants can find classes in Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, Armenian, Korean and other languages at some California community colleges. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 17, 20232 min read


Should teens work more?
Desperate for entry-level workers, employers are pushing states to ease child-labor laws to let teenagers work longer hours, at younger...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 16, 20232 min read


San Diego legislator proposes in-state tuition for Tijuana residents
Tijuana, Mexico residents would pay in-state tuition at San Diego community colleges under a bill proposed by Assemblyman David Alvarado,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 12, 20231 min read


America is not black and white any more
Affirmative action was created at a time when most Americans belonged to a white majority or a black minority, writes Megan McArdle in...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 2, 20222 min read


Thank you, Ms. Lung
Born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, Jamil Jan Kochai started second grade in Sacramento speaking Pashto and Farsi, but very...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 21, 20222 min read


How Asians excel: It's the culture
Harini Logan, 14, of San Antonio, Texas holds the National Spelling Bee trophy with her family. Photo: Reuters Don't tell Asian-American...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 5, 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


Ukrainians, but not Afghans, get fast track to U.S.
Ukrainian refugees are getting a warmer welcome than Afghans, according to a group of refugee advocates and Democratic senators, writes...

Joanne Jacobs
May 30, 20221 min read


‘Refugee High’ copes with Afghans
Omar, who had little schooling in rural Afghanistan, is learning English at Chicago’s Sullivan High School. Photo: Taylor Glascock/WBEZ...

Joanne Jacobs
May 30, 20222 min read


‘Russian’ school gets a new name
A “Support Ukraine” rally in Indianapolis on April 9. Children still come for after-school classes in math, science and chess, but the...

Joanne Jacobs
May 7, 20221 min read


The Ukrainians are coming
California schools have begun to welcome Ukrainian refugee children, reports Carolyn Jones on EdSource. So far, it’s only a few students,...

Joanne Jacobs
May 7, 20222 min read


Trying is not the same as achieving
Grading students based on effort rather than achievement is spreading from P.E. class to academic classes in high schools, but...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 20, 20222 min read
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