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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 15, 20242 min read
SF brings back 8th-grade algebra, admits 'equity math' failed
Algebra will return to San Francisco middle schools, reports Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle. The school board's vote Tuesday...
13 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 9, 20242 min read
In defense of remedial math classes
Students who are almost ready for college math do best by taking college-level classes with support in basic skills, researchers agree....
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 8, 20241 min read
8th-grade algebra for some
Most middle schools offer eighth-grade algebra to high achievers, according to a new RAND survey, reports Kalyn Belsha on Chalkbeat. Only...
8 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 8, 20242 min read
Leveling up: How to get 'diverse' kids to advanced math
"Equity" doesn't mean lowering standards in Union district near Tulsa, reports Hechinger's Neal Morton. Most students in accelerated math...
18 comments


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
Feb 1, 20241 min read
Young students are better in phonics, worse in math
"Covid toddlers" -- kids who were two years old in March 2020 -- were more likely to be unprepared for kindergarten in fall 2023 reports...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 1, 20242 min read
Students are catching up in math, reading -- but gaps are wider
Reading and math scores are on their way up, reports the Education Recovery Scorecard. On average, students in grades three through eight...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jan 11, 20242 min read
'School math' is boring: Students want 'real math'
"Math is important, but we’re being taught the wrong kind of math," say high school students in a YouthTruth survey. While 57 percent...
8 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 29, 20232 min read
Culturally relevant math: If Cardi B owns $500K in handbags ...
Math achievement is very low for black students. Can "culturally relevant" math problems -- such as analyzing a hip-hop star's purse...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 6, 20232 min read
Math crisis is global: US teens do worse on PISA, but so do others
The bad news from international testing: U.S. 15-year-olds did significantly worse in math from 2018 to 2022 on the Program for...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 5, 20232 min read
WVU gives students what they want: Good grades in easy classes
West Virginia University is cutting majors and firing professors to fulfill the utilitarian vision of its president, E. Gordon Gee,...
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 1, 20231 min read
Practice makes better
How do get to Carnegie Hall? Practice! It's the same for math, writes Holly Korbey on Edutopia. “They are considered dirty words, but...
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20232 min read
Anti-racist math: 2 + 2 = whiteness
Apples and oranges featured heavily in my elementary school math curriculum, and yet I knew math was about the numbers, not about the...
10 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 28, 20232 min read
Segregation now: Evanston High offers all-black and all-Latino classes
Black students can opt to take all-black classes -- with a black teachers -- in math and writing at Evanston Township High School near...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 5, 20231 min read
Texas tracks for equity: 'I didn't know honors existed'
California progressives are eliminating advanced math in middle school in the name of equity. In Texas, equity means expanding access to...
10 comments

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 5, 20232 min read
'Data literacy' will widen STEM gaps
I was willing to swear a solemn vow to not major in math or science in college, I told my teacher. All I asked was to get out of trig....
13 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 28, 20231 min read
Darning socks, shorthand, algebra
Selective colleges should stop expecting top students to take calculus, argues Scott White in Forbes. I was with him that far. My...
10 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 20, 20232 min read
Old is new in math teaching: 'You have to explicitly teach content'
Johnny can't calculate -- or order enough pizza for a group of six who each want one-third of a pie. Math proficiency, already low,...
6 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 20232 min read
Math disaster in college: Would-be STEM majors can't add 1/2 + 1/3
After a year of remote algebra, Diego Fonseca struggled with advanced algebra. Despite a week at George Mason University's Math Boot...
44 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 20232 min read
Students aren't bouncing back in math
Math skills fell during "remote education" and many students aren't bouncing back, reports an education reporting collaborative in a...
4 comments
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