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What is the right balance between ingredients and cake?
What's the right balance between teaching knowledge and teaching skills? That's the wrong question, writes Daisy Christodoulou on No More...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 14, 20232 min read


A-F grades don't provide enough useful feedback, say educators
Only 13 percent of teachers say A-F grades are "very effective" in giving useful feedback to students, writes Alyson Klein in Education...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 9, 20231 min read


Teachers know little about how students learn
My teacher preparation program in the late '90s "never talked about how kids learn," writes M-J Mercanti-Anthony, the principal of a New...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20231 min read


To kill 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Ninth-graders aren't reading To Kill a Mockingbird this year in Mukilteo, Washington, an affluent, mostly white town north of Seattle. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 6, 20232 min read


Mom knows everything: Apps let parents track kids' schoolwork -- and drive them crazy
If only parents were involved in their children's education, teachers said, students would do so much better. If only teachers...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 5, 20232 min read


Urban charters produce more brains for the buck
Urban charter schools use "fewer dollars to achieve better outcomes" than traditional public schools enrolling similar students,...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 3, 20231 min read


Same again: Does teacher 'looping' improve learning?
Keeping teachers with the same cohort of students for two or three years, known as "looping," would build connections, improve learning...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 2, 20232 min read


How to kill the bad-teaching monster: Don't forget the garlic
To kill a vampire permanently dead, you'll need to hammer a wooden stake in its heart, shoot it with a silver bullet melted down from a...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20233 min read


Why are Dept of Defense schools so good?
The highest-scoring school district in the country isn't a school district, reports Sarah Mervosh in the New York Times. The "Defense...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 31, 20232 min read


Cursive! Taught again in California
California students will be taught to write in cursive, reports NPR. A new law signed -- in cursive -- by the governor takes effect in...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 28, 20231 min read


'A' is for 'awesome,' 'awful' and 'average'
"The most popular high school grade in America" is "A," writes Tim Donahue, who teaches high school English at Greenwich Country Day...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 25, 20232 min read


Diapers in kindergarten?
Kids are starting kindergarten in diapers and "pull-ups," complain teachers on the subreddit, r/Teachers, writes Megan Quinn on Your...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 7, 20232 min read


None dare call it 'behaviour'
Students in Australia report "shocking levels of classroom disruption in international surveys," and schools face "a worsening teacher...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 6, 20231 min read


AI will change testing: Can it grade essays?
Number 2 pencils and fill-in-the-bubble are out, writes Matteo Wong in The Atlantic. Standardized tests are going digital. In a few...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20232 min read


Old is new in math teaching: 'You have to explicitly teach content'
Johnny can't calculate -- or order enough pizza for a group of six who each want one-third of a pie. Math proficiency, already low,...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 20, 20232 min read


If we want to pay (some) teachers more ...
The teacher pay debate tends to be simplistic and unserious, writes Andrew Rotherham on Eduwonk. He calls out a tweet by Education...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 19, 20232 min read


When teachers don't get no respect, schools don't get new teachers
Fewer young people want to be teachers, writes Jessica Grose in the New York Times. The new teacher pipeline is running dry. She cites a...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 19, 20232 min read


Houston's revamped schools: 'ruthless efficiency,' lots of engagement
After a state takeover of Houston schools, Superintendent Mike Miles has launched a very ambitious set of reforms for the city's...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 7, 20233 min read


Students aren't bouncing back in math
Math skills fell during "remote education" and many students aren't bouncing back, reports an education reporting collaborative in a...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 20232 min read


Let AI do it: High schoolers don't need to write essays any more
"Good-bye and good riddance" to teaching students to write essays, writes Daniel Herman in The Atlantic. Herman, who teaches English at a...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 5, 20232 min read
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