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 22
- 1 min
Conservatives shouldn't give up on public education
Public education is progressive in its goals, yet schools are conservative institutions, writes Robert Pondiscio in National Affairs....
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 22
- 2 min
Conservative teachers are quiet
Teachers who are on the political right "speak in whispers behind closed doors," says Daniel Buck in an interview with Rick Hess....
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 21
- 2 min
If you have to think about 3x = 18 . . .
Thinking about everything is hard, writes Greg Ashman, author of Cognitive Load Theory, on Filling the Pail. It exhausts students'...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 15
- 2 min
Sneering at parents isn't a great political strategy
"Seething contempt for the idea that parents should get a say in their children's education is really not a great political strategy,"...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 8
- 2 min
Harvard students can't handle 'The Scarlet Letter' -- but prisoners can
“The last time I taught The Scarlet Letter, I discovered that my students were really struggling to understand the sentences as sentences...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 7
- 2 min
1 classroom, 5 achievement levels: The learning chasm
Trying to teach students who are way above and way below grade level in the same classroom puts an impossible burden on teachers, reports...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 3
- 1 min
Teacher pay: U.S. chose quantity over quality
U.S. teachers would earn a lot more if schools had invested in quality rather than quantity, argues Fordham's Chester E. Finn Jr. In his...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 1
- 1 min
'Diversity statements' are out in North Carolina, Texas ...
Would-be professors will not be asked to pledge allegiance to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to be considered for a job at the...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 27
- 2 min
Seeking the 'science of math' teaching
Basing early literacy teaching on evidence of what works -- the "science of reading" -- has taken off in the last 10 years. Teachers are...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 22
- 3 min
Ukrainian refugee girl flees unsafe San Francisco school
Yana and her mother fled Ukraine and found a new home with an aunt in San Francisco -- until the 13-year-old girl started Marina Middle...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 19
- 2 min
Learning is hard
Learning is hard, Dan Willingham tells Laura McKenna. It takes effort. But motivated students can learn effective learning and study...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 15
- 1 min
Unvaccinated NYC teachers reported to FBI: Is this true?
New York City teachers were reported to the FBI for refusing to be vaccinated, charges a lawyer for teachers who were fired due to the...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 10
- 1 min
Teachers are quitting because of classroom chaos
Soft discipline policies make teachers' jobs much harder, writes Daniel Buck, who's taught in a variety of schools. A friend quit after...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 10
- 2 min
Teachers are angry about shooting, but not shocked
"A 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot and wounded his first-grade teacher constantly cursed at staff and teachers, tried to whip students...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 8
- 3 min
Do parents know best? ESAs go for robots, rabbits, roping lessons
If a homeschooled child learns to code a toy robot, care for a pet rabbit or take cowboy roping lessons, is that an educational expense?...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 7
- 2 min
If a Canadian walks 2 miles and 3.2 kilometers, how far is that in farsakhs?
Math is not "neutral," argueTori Trajanovski and Cristina De Simone on The Conversation. "Biases in math exist that are grounded in...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 3
- 2 min
Teach civics -- not activism
"Fixating on activism misses the point of civics education," write Frederick M. Hess, a former civics teacher now education policy...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 2
- 1 min
Classroom libraries aren't a crime in Florida
The "great Florida classroom library freak-out of 2023" is based on faulty reporting, confusing directives from local school officials...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 1
- 2 min
Teach for America is shrinking
Teach for America is shrinking, write Ben Backes and Michael Hansen on Chalkboard. The nonprofit recruits college graduates for two-year...
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