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Too much calculus too soon
Stop teaching calculus to high school students unless they’ve mastered foundational concepts and are ready to pass a college-level class,...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 13, 20171 min read
2 + 2 = ???
Is this too broad? Or right on target? #math #teaching

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 15, 20171 min read


Prof: Math ‘operates as Whiteness’
A free online class on integrating social justice into high school math has been revised to focus on “social issues,” reports Toni...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 24, 20172 min read


Teach art — not STEAM
Integrating art into science and math teaching — turning STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) into STEAM — is...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 9, 20172 min read
Peer Tutoring
I’m not much of a fan of peer tutoring, so-called discovery learning, and the like. My belief has always been that my school district...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 29, 20171 min read
Getting Rid of Algebra, Part 3–The Empire Strikes Back
Is algebra itself racist because American minorities struggle to learn it? Probably not, for a number of reasons: For many decades,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 28, 20171 min read
Getting Rid Of Algebra, Part 2
Yesterday I posted about a proposal to eliminate algebra in community colleges and universities, except for STEM majors. Here is an...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 27, 20171 min read
Here We Go Again With Algebra
As a math teacher I’m often presented with what, if you think about it, is blatant rudeness: Other: What do you do? Me: I’m a math...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 26, 20173 min read


Arithmetic to algebra in a semester
Remedial math is the Bermuda triangle of community colleges. Many enter. Few go on to pass a college-level math class. City University of...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 23, 20172 min read


NC schools don’t push low-income achievers
North Carolina’s public schools are failing to place low-income achievers in challenging classes, reports the Charlotte Observer, which...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 2, 20171 min read


Math is dehumanizing, says ‘justice’ course
Teaching Social Justice Through Secondary Mathematics, an EdX course designed by Teach for America, doesn’t just give middle-school...

Joanne Jacobs
May 23, 20172 min read


83% of science aces are immigrants’ kids
Indrani Das, 17, won the Regeneron Science Talent Search this year for her study of a possible approach to treating the death of neurons...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 20, 20171 min read


More math, more money
“When states raise the number of math classes they require students to take in high school,” black students take more math and go on to...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 7, 20171 min read
Will movie inspire more black math aces?
Hidden Figures, which is getting good reviews, tells the story of three “colored computers” who helped the U.S. win the space race. As...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 15, 20172 min read
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