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Joanne Jacobs
7 days ago3 min read
Getting better: How Louisiana is raising reading and math scores
How Louisiana is raising reading scores and hoping to improve math achievement.
4 comments

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 292 min read
Reading, math scores are out: 'The news is not good'
Reading scores are still falling on the "nation's report card," while math scores are the same.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 202 min read
Biden's education legacy: Lots of spending, no new ideas
Biden's education legacy: He gave schools billions to recover from the pandemic, but didn't focus on learning.
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Joanne Jacobs
Jan 182 min read
Can you read cursive? There's (unpaid) work for 'citizen archivists' who can read old documents
The National Archives are looking for cursive-reading volunteers to transcribe and catalog historical documents.
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 151 min read
Atticus learns to read: Teaching phonics works
K-1 students made significant gains when teachers used UFLI Foundations, a systematic phonics and phonemic awareness program.
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 10, 20242 min read
Suing Lucy: Parents claim deceptive marketing of reading curricula
Massachusetts parents are suing a "balanced literacy" publisher and authors for fraudulently claiming their programs are "researched-based."
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Joanne Jacobs
Dec 3, 20242 min read
Most teens don't read for fun: What can teachers do?
Few teenagers read for fun regularly, and many don't read for school either, writes Natalie Wexler on Minding the Gap. We're "becoming a...
7 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20241 min read
Western Civ is hot: Parents are choosing classical-ed schools
Classical schools teaching Great Books and Western civ are very popular with parents.
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Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20242 min read
Who was the Good Samaritan? Let there be Bible stories in Texas schools
Texas' board of education has narrowly approved a new K-5 curriculum that includes Bible stories , reports Shaun Rabb for Fox News....
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 20, 20243 min read
Who's to blame for the reading crisis?
"Balanced literacy" guru Lucy Calkins has become the " scapegoat for America's reading crisis ," suggests Helen Lewis in The Atlantic. ...
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 18, 20243 min read
Teaching books doesn't work if students won't (or can't) read
English teachers don't teach many novels because students won't do the reading on their own.
12 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20242 min read
Democrats take over school board, but books stay 'banned'
When a Pennsylvania school board flipped from Republican to Democratic control, some policies changed -- but many did not.
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 28, 20242 min read
New report cards baffle parents: What does 'emerging' mean? (Your kid can't read)
Kris is an "emerging" reader, Carlos is "extending" and Emma is "developing." Is "proficient" Pat the best reader? Nope. Parents don't...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 28, 20242 min read
Teach the children well: From rural Oregon to Houston, students are learning more
Third-graders at Adrian Elementary School, in the poorest county in Oregon, have the highest reading proficiency scores in the state,...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 23, 20242 min read
Making money matter: More kids in special ed doesn't improve reading
Schools got $190 billion in emergency funding during the epidemic, write Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown's Edunomics Lab, and...
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Joanne Jacobs
Oct 5, 20242 min read
She can't read or write, but she made the honor roll and got into UConn
A former special-ed student is suing Hartford Public Schools because she wasn't taught to read or write.
6 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 2, 20242 min read
Georgetown students 'have trouble staying focused on even a sonnet'
Even elite colleges don't read very much and have trouble staying focused on books.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20241 min read
Bible stories shouldn't be 'forbidden fruit'
Students won't understand what they read if they're not familiar with the Bible, mythology, history and literature.
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20242 min read
Books are too long and boring, say English teachers
When I was in school in the '60s, we read Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights , Great Expectations, Hard Times, Canterbury Tales, The...
6 comments

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 12, 20242 min read
New teachers 'don't understand how kids learn to read'
A majority of Wisconsin students -- about three out of five -- score below "proficient" on state tests, write Danielle DuClos and Kayla...
4 comments
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