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Kids prefer memes and make-up videos to 'War and Peace'
Should we worry that young people are spending less time reading for pleasure and a lot more time watching YouTube videos?

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20252 min read
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Schools that work: Juanito can read at Hoover Street Elementary
Let's learn from schools where disadvantaged children are becoming proficient readers.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 6, 20251 min read
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What's wrong with 'just right' books
Teachers should teach students how to read grade-level books instead of matching them with texts at their comfort level, says literacy scholar Timothy Shanahan.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 5, 20252 min read
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NEA trains teachers in activism, self-care and 'the future of trans'
The NEA's online courses favor progressive fads over teaching.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 30, 20251 min read
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A radical idea to improve schools: Do what works
Doing what works -- and avoiding fads and ideology -- would improve learning dramatically.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 28, 20252 min read
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20% of high school graduates are 'barely literate'
Twenty percent of high school graduates have trouble reading anything more complex than a restaurant menu.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 20, 20252 min read
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Knowledge matters: 'You can't think critically about nothing in particular'
Schools want to teach "critical thinking" without teaching knowledge. It can't be done.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 9, 20252 min read
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Nervous in New England: Can the North rise again?
"Back to basics" won't help Northern schools catch up to Southern Surge states in reading. It takes a lot more.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 8, 20253 min read
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Won't read, can't think
We "think and read less, and see and feel more."

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 28, 20252 min read
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'Basic' readers can't make sense of the Tylenol-autism debate
Two-thirds of Americans don't read well enough to evaluate scientific or medical claims.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 27, 20252 min read
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To win back public-school parents, be like Mississippi
Education reforms are working in the South, and they can work in blue states too, if there's political leadership.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 26, 20253 min read
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Know-nothings: It's hard to think in a vacuum
If students don't learn facts, they won't be able to understand what they read or think deeply or critically.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 8, 20252 min read
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Teaching a toddler to read
Toddlers (at least some toddlers) can learn to read with help from a parent tutor, says father.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 7, 20252 min read
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YouTube vs. 'Goblet of Fire'
Fewer young people are reading books for pleasure.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 20252 min read
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Teaching 'Mockingbird' on the education frontier
Christian microschools are booming in Arizona, as parents use ESAs to fund the school of their choice. Chandler Fritz taught a summer reading class.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 22, 20253 min read
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How to raise reading scores: 'We taught the research-based stuff and cut the fluff'
Reading scores are rising for elementary students in New York City, Indiana, Louisiana and elsewhere as schools adopt research-backed methods.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 15, 20252 min read
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Why humanities don't get no respect -- except for philosophy
Humanities would get more respect -- and graduates would earn more -- if professors made classes harder.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 12, 20251 min read
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Summer reading is optional at most public schools -- and may not require actual reading
While nearly all private high schools require summer reading, most public schools do not. Some ask students to listen to music or watch a movie.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 9, 20252 min read
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No wonder kids don't like to read: YA books are vapid and ideological
Simplistic, heavily political YA books turn students off to reading.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 8, 20252 min read
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The middle-school reading crisis
Teachers aren't prepared for middle schoolers who can't read very well.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 7, 20251 min read
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