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Students want A's for trying hard, B's for (mostly) showing up
Gen Z students expect to be graded on effort, not achievement.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 131 min read
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Misbehavior is worse, say educators
Student misbehavior is up and motivation is down: 2024 is worse than 2023.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 101 min read
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Do your math: You'll earn more as an adult
Math skills predict adult earnings more strongly than reading skills, health or other factors.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 92 min read
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We know how to get safe, effective schools, so why settle for chaos?
Teachers and students need safe, orderly schools.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 82 min read
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Students need clear expectations, honest feedback
If schools can't hold students accountable, nobody's going to learn anything.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 72 min read
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Joanne Jacobs
Jan 50 min read
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Measuring good teaching by the smile-o-meter
Is it true that "the person doing the smiling is the person doing the learning"?

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 51 min read
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AI will replace human teachers in new Arizona charter school
A new Arizona charter will use AI to teach academics. Humans will "guide" children but won't teach.

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 42 min read
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Teens are doing less homework, earning higher grades
Teenagers are working less and earning higher grades. Everybody's "phoning it in."

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 18, 20242 min read
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Honey, we lost the parents
Democrats have lost their edge with parents of school-aged children.

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 17, 20242 min read
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'Diverse' college graduates are less likely to become teachers
Black and brown college graduates are less likely to choose a teaching career and more likely to leave the classroom for other jobs,...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 13, 20242 min read
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'Multilevel classes' aren't equitable or excellent, say teachers
Mixing high-achieving, average and low-achieving students in the same class was a noble experiment, writes Ryan Normandin, a high school...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 11, 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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Students learn more math when the teacher teaches
Direct instruction helps more students learn more math compared to student-led methods.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 25, 20242 min read
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Teaching shouldn't be 'guess what's in my head'
Explicit teaching works better than student-centered learning.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 25, 20242 min read
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Why teachers are stressed: Student misbehavior is #1 complaint
Student misbehavior is the "number one cause of job-related stress in teachers," reports Matt Lincoln for CBS12 in Palm Beach County,...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 22, 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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Young teachers like Trump?
Only 50 percent of educators -- 35 percent of those under 40 -- said they'd vote for Kamala Harris in a pre-election survey.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 16, 20241 min read
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Is everybody cheating?
Cheating is common for college students. Many think A is the only acceptable grade.

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 14, 20242 min read
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