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Joanne Jacobs
May 9, 20232 min read
Why kids need to know 3 x 9 = 27
The ninth-grader needed to multiple 3 x 9 to answer an algebra problem. She didn't have a calculator, and I wouldn't let her go look for...
9 comments


Joanne Jacobs
May 9, 20232 min read
Math wars: What does the 'science of math' say about what works?
Jayden can't read a simple story problem. Mia can't subtract, if she knew that she should be subtracting. Peyton could no more find a...
22 comments


Joanne Jacobs
May 7, 20232 min read
Evanston High backs off on segregated math classes
I'm so old I remember when segregation was considered a bad thing. Evanston Township High (ETHS), just north of Chicago, created...
16 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Apr 14, 20232 min read
'Algebra for none' fails in San Francisco
The goal was equity. The result: Meh. Frustrated by high failure rates in eighth-grade algebra, San Francisco Unified decided in 2015 to...
102 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Apr 12, 20232 min read
Beyond fat cats on mats: Knowledge closes the learning gap
Teaching phonics is a critical first step in teaching reading, but students need to build knowledge and vocabulary to get from fat cats...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Apr 3, 20231 min read
Students learn more from tough graders
Students learn more when their teachers have high expectations, concludes a study in North Carolina, reports Kevin Mahnken. Algebra...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Mar 21, 20232 min read
If you have to think about 3x = 18 . . .
Thinking about everything is hard, writes Greg Ashman, author of Cognitive Load Theory, on Filling the Pail. It exhausts students'...
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Mar 6, 20232 min read
Learning math matters
Please "stop talking about so-called learning loss," writes Jo Boaler, a Stanford professor and math reform advocate, on the Hechinger...
7 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 27, 20232 min read
Seeking the 'science of math' teaching
Basing early literacy teaching on evidence of what works -- the "science of reading" -- has taken off in the last 10 years. Teachers are...
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 23, 20232 min read
Algebra: Gateway or barrier?
“What is so magical about algebra as a math requirement?” asked Eloy Ortiz Oakley, former chancellor of California’s community college...
18 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 9, 20233 min read
Khan: Students hit the wall in Algebra I if they don't know 3 x 7 = 21
Remote instruction led to disastrous learning losses," especially in math, according to conclusive research, writes Kevin Mahnken on The...
10 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 7, 20232 min read
If a Canadian walks 2 miles and 3.2 kilometers, how far is that in farsakhs?
Math is not "neutral," argueTori Trajanovski and Cristina De Simone on The Conversation. "Biases in math exist that are grounded in...
9 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 19, 20232 min read
How much math?
British students who pass a national math exam at 15 or 16 don't have to take any more math, unless they need higher-level math for...
8 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 19, 20222 min read
Teacher tries 'just-in-time' math for students who didn't learn the basics
A veteran teacher at Denver's George Washington High, Joe Bolz knows his students didn't learn much math when their middle schools...
5 comments

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 19, 20222 min read
Middle-school math is a disaster
Disrupted learning's effect on middle-school math skills is worse than you think, writes David Wakelyn on The 74. "As many as 1 million...
1 comment

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20221 min read
Florida's special-ed students are doing very well: Is it choice?
In Florida, which pioneered school choice for special-needs students more than 20 years ago, students with disabilities are doing very...
11 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 30, 20221 min read
Does Gates have 'right answer' for math ed?
The Gates Foundation is going to put more than a billion dollars into math education. Do we know how to teach math? asks Jay Caspian Kang...
9 comments

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20221 min read
Math and science are 'every human's birthright'
There's no need to "decolonise" math, writes John Armstrong in The Spectator. He's published an open letter criticizing a proposal...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20222 min read
Math scores keep falling: It's not 'drill and kill'
I learned my multiplication tables in fourth grade, and they've been mine ever since. I've had my worries over the years, but figuring...
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20221 min read
The $1 trillion math error
Weak math skills could cost young workers as much as $1 trillion in the coming decades, warns a a new study. National test scores show...
8 comments
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