Joanne Jacobs
All children can learn -- but how much?
Not all education problems are solvable, if we just try hard enough or spend enough, argues Freddie DeBoer in a column on optimism bias. ...
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Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 18
- 2 min
Against self-reliance
Hard work pays off. Even those born in poverty can build a better life. Self-reliance is better than dependence. Not so, argues Alissa...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 9
- 2 min
Columbia goes 'holistic,' dumps SAT/ACT requirement
Columbia University, know for its core curriculum in humanities, has become the first Ivy League school to drop SAT/ACT scores as an...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 23
- 1 min
Mediocrity for all isn't equity
In Culver City (CA), ninth- and tenth-grade honors classes were eliminated, reports Sara Randazzo in the Wall Street Journal. Officials...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 17
- 2 min
There's no such thing as accurate school lunch data
School lunch data was an inaccurate measure of student poverty, even before the shift to universal eligibility, write Ishtiaque Fazlul,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 15
- 2 min
To protect kids, treat parents' addiction, mental illness
The best predictor of children's risk of severe neglect and abuse is not poverty, writes Naomi Schaefer Riley in City Journal. It's drug...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 15, 2022
- 1 min
Ohio vouchers led to higher district scores, less segregation
Ohio's EdChoice vouchers enable 60,000 students from low-income families to leave district schools for alternatives. The program has led...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 10, 2022
- 2 min
Poverty is down, but can they fish?
Fewer people are living in poverty, but not because they're earning more, writes Jon Baron on The Hill. We're doing better at giving...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 20, 2022
- 2 min
'Anti-adoption drumbeat' leaves kids in foster care
Naomi Schaefer Riley hears an "anti-adoption drumbeat" from the media. "In the wake of the Dobbs decision, the Left wants to make sure...
Joanne Jacobs
- Nov 1, 2022
- 3 min
What will replace racial preferences in college admissions?
Based on yesterday's oral arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority appears likely to reject race-based affirmative...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 23, 2022
- 1 min
63% say 'no' to racial preferences in college admissions
Sixty-three percent of Americans say colleges shouldn't consider race in admissions, according to a Washington Post poll. Blacks are...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 23, 2022
- 1 min
Without test scores, college admissions is 'chaotic' -- and still unfair
Without SAT or ACT scores, deciding who to admit is "chaotic, admissions officers told Kelly Slay, a Vanderbilt researcher. It's hard to...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 11, 2022
- 2 min
How to help students succeed: It's not about exam schools
In A Tale of Two High Schools, Renu Mukherjee, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, looks at San Francisco's Lowell High School,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 10, 2022
- 2 min
Why does Kalamazoo Promise work for women but not men?
The Kalamazoo Promise, which guarantees college scholarships to all graduates of the Michigan city's schools, has increased college...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 9, 2022
- 1 min
Are schools too quick to report suspected abuse, neglect?
Teachers, counselors and other school staff are required to report suspected child abuse and neglect. In New York City, from August 2019...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 4, 2022
- 3 min
Is 'equity' the enemy of excellence?
The "exodus of families from traditional public-school districts is a warning message," writes Jessica Levin on EdPost. Focusing...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 16, 2022
- 2 min
'Why would you teach a disadvantaged child that the world hates them'
After flirting with Marxism at Oxford, Katharine Birbalsingh began teaching in a state school with a "holistic, child-centered approach,"...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 6, 2022
- 2 min
Black kids are a year farther behind in math: That matters, right?
Math scores for Black nine-year-olds dropped by 13 points compared to 2020, representing a year's worth of learning, reports the...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 20, 2022
- 1 min
School meals are free in California, Maine, Vermont
TANSTAAFL -- "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch" -- still applies, if you remember the taxpayers, but schools in some states will...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 12, 2022
- 3 min
Parents choose 'diverse by design' schools
"Diverse by design" schools are catching on, writes Kate Rix on the Hechinger Report. In Dallas, "50/50" schools try enroll an even mix...
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