top of page


At calm, focused schools, scores are high, but so is suspension rate
Students -- including those with disabilities -- are learning at Indiana schools that stress structure and good behavior. But suspension rates are high for students with disabilities.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 63 min read
Â


Why special-ed teachers quit: High stress, high risk, low pay
How can districts hire and retain high-quality special-ed teachers?

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 302 min read
Â


Math teacher was trained on equity, culture, but not how to teach math
At a well-respected graduate school of education, a former engineer learned about equity, culture and identity, but very little about how to teach math.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 293 min read
Â


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 263 min read
Â


Teachers are sold 'snake oil' about brains and learning
Can high expectations raise IQ? Are some people right-brained and others left-brained? Nope.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 192 min read
Â


2 + 2 = oppression
Woke math lives.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 181 min read
Â


Can teachers be fired for celebrating murder?
Teachers' "disruptive" speech may not be protected, even if it's on their own time.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 162 min read
Â


'Kids aren't phone zombies now'
"Kids aren't phone zombies now," says teacher whose school banned smartphones.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 142 min read
Â


Did college radicalize Tyler Robinson?
Something happened to Tyler Robinson, but it's probably not a semester of engineering classes.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 131 min read
Â


Civics teachers 'don't know what they can and can't say'
Civics teachers don't agree on the goals of teaching civics, and fear controversy.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 92 min read
Â


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 82 min read
Â


Oklahoma's teacher test: How do we tell a boy from a girl?
Can you pass Oklahoma's test for new teachers? Yes, unless you're a very dim bulb.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 53 min read
Â


Effort matters: Kids have to do the work
Effort matters.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 33 min read
Â


AFT tells teachers: Don't report child neglect -- or chronic absentees
Teachers are being encouraged not to report suspected child neglect or abuse -- or chronic absenteeism -- to keep families together.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 303 min read
Â


The great divide: Set up 'productive struggle' or teach math step by step?
There's no consensus on the "science of math." Special educators say generalists are pushing ideas that don't work for struggling students.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 263 min read
Â


The new math has more on 'social justice,' less math
Money earned by people who were very, very good at math is being spent to promote anti-racist, justice-infused not-very-mathy math.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 262 min read
Â


Unsafe spaces: Throw rocks at the teacher, get 'Tiger tokens'
A student who threw rocks was rewarded when he stopped, says teacher. There were no consequences for him or "Tiger Tokens" for students whose learning was disrupted.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 253 min read
Â


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 223 min read
Â


Teachers are skeptical of 'equitable' grading: 'Students sink to lower expectations'
Teachers don't like grading "reforms" that lower expectations.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 202 min read
Â


Low standards let kids sink
High expectations are worth a few tears.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 122 min read
Â
bottom of page


