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Charters are outperforming traditional public schools
Charter schools are outperforming traditional public schools, according to a new study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 7, 20233 min read


Textbooks are light on Latino history -- except for Sonia Sotomayor
U.S. history textbooks don't include much about Latino Americans, concludes a report by Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and...

Joanne Jacobs
May 23, 20231 min read


Students don't learn more from a same-race teacher
Elementary students don't learn more from a teacher who matches them in race or ethnicity, concludes a new study. There is little...

Joanne Jacobs
May 19, 20232 min read


'Book bans' sound bad, but so does graphic sex in school libraries
President Biden keeps talking about "book bans," writes Andrew Rotherham on Eduwonk. It's become "a nervous tic" for Education Secretary...

Joanne Jacobs
May 15, 20232 min read


Segregating medical school
Separating medical students into racial affinity groups supports the "antiracist and anti-oppression curriculum," argues an article in...

Joanne Jacobs
May 7, 20231 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...

Joanne Jacobs
May 7, 20232 min read


'Ethnic studies lens' vs. 'e pluribus unum'
Washington state plans to make ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement, but it's not clear what that means, writes David J....

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 10, 20232 min read


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. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 23, 20232 min read


Why was Rosa Parks told to move to the back of the bus?
Florida is approving new "anti-woke" social studies textbooks, reports Sarah Mervosh in the New York Times. Some publishers think the...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 17, 20232 min read


Elite Philly school is being 'dismantled' by lottery admissions, say parents
An influx of unprepared students, admitted by a new lottery system, is destroying Philadelphia's top-ranked school, charges a report by...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 9, 20231 min read


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
Mar 9, 20232 min read


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 23, 20231 min read


DC 2nd-graders will study gender roles in Rome, Aksum and China
Writing social studies standards is always controversial. Often they're vague and meaningless, but sometimes they're insanely detailed,...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 21, 20232 min read


Exodus: Achievers' families are leaving
As many New York City middle schools end selective admissions, middle- and upper-middle-class parents are considering private schools or...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 26, 20232 min read


54% of parents are considering a new school for their kids
A majority of parents are considering a new school, according to a new survey by the School Choice Awareness Foundation. Two-thirds say...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 24, 20231 min read


'Diversity training' costs billions, but does it work?
There's no evidence diversity training works and some evidence it hurts, writes Jesse Singal in a New York Times commentary. The...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 22, 20232 min read


Teach practical skills -- not college prep -- says post-pandemic poll
The pandemic has changed Americans' priorities for K-12 education, writes Greg Toppo on The 74. Preparing for college, ranked #10 in...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 19, 20232 min read


It's just kiddie sex, not pedophilia, so no worries
Jonathan Evison's Lawn Boy, doesn't belong in school libraries, say angry parents, because the graphic novel depicts an adult man having...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 27, 20222 min read


Mastering newspeak at Stanford
Will Stanford continue to award master's degrees? Will my daughter's major -- American Studies -- need a new name? Stanford's IT...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 23, 20223 min read


Don't push good teachers over the fiscal cliff
School districts are hiring more staffers, even as enrollments decline. When federal pandemic relief funds run out in 2024, who will be...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 7, 20221 min read
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