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In a rustbelt city, disadvantaged students are proficient readers
Steubenville's families are struggling to make a living -- but their children are excellent readers.

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 212 min read
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Many schools 'either warehouse our kids in special ed or warehouse them in gen ed'
In many schools, "they're warehousing our children in special ed or warehousing them in gen Ed."

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 192 min read
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He had a 3.4 GPA, but he couldn't read
Passing special-ed students along with high grades and a diploma -- but no effective instruction --doesn't do them any favors.

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 192 min read
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Charter network trains -- and pays -- parents to teach reading
A Denver charter network has trained parents to work as reading tutors.

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 171 min read
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Johnny, Jelani and Juan can't read: Is it Mom and Dad's fault?
Don't blame parents for children's reading struggles.

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 173 min read
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What did we get for $190 billion in school aid? Very little
Pandemic learning loss averaged half a year for most students, but the neediest students lost more in reading and math.

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 122 min read
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If the scores are bad, should we dump the test?
A majority of black, Hispanic and low-income fourth-graders have "below basic" reading skills. Does it matter?

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 113 min read
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Getting better: How Louisiana is raising reading and math scores
How Louisiana is raising reading scores and hoping to improve math achievement.

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 33 min read
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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.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 292 min read
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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.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 202 min read
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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.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 182 min read
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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.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 151 min read
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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."

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 10, 20242 min read
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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...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 3, 20242 min read
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Western Civ is hot: Parents are choosing classical-ed schools
Classical schools teaching Great Books and Western civ are very popular with parents.

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20241 min read
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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....

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20242 min read
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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. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 20, 20243 min read
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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.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 18, 20243 min read
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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.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20242 min read
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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...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 28, 20242 min read
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