Joanne Jacobs
The case for quizzes: Students learn more -- and feel less anxious
Timed tests are unpopular with progressive educators, writes Hechinger's Jill Barshay. They think they're stressful and reward the...
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Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 23
- 2 min
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 22
- 2 min
Timed tests are misleading: Success is a marathon, not a sprint
The new digital SAT will take two hours, instead of three, and will give students more time to answer each question. That's a much better...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 17
- 2 min
Competency counts: No lectures, no mandatory classes, lots of tests
"Competency-based education," which assesses students on skills rather than seat time, is finally becoming a reality for vocational...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 20
- 2 min
Apprenticeship-to-degree model launches debt-free careers
How do you get a job at Goldman Sachs? In the U.S., it usually takes a degree from an elite college to get in the door. In Britain,...
Joanne Jacobs
- Aug 15
- 1 min
UK blames lenient pandemic grading for soaring college dropout rate
Earning A-levels was easier for British students during the pandemic. Passing college classes is harder. Worried by a 30 percent college...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jul 26
- 1 min
What works in teaching English (discussion) may not work in teaching math
The most effective use of class time depends on the subject, concludes a study conducted in high-poverty English high schools, reports...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 22
- 1 min
A 'lost generation' of learning: Scores fall, gaps widen for 13-year-olds
America's 13-year-olds are moving backwards educationally, according to a new report on long term trends by the National Assessment of...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 15
- 2 min
If colleges can't use race for admissions, what happens?
The U.S. Supreme Court to end racial preferences in college admissions, very soon, just about everyone predicts. So what happens next?...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 22
- 2 min
SATs are out. Published 'research' is in, but it's pay to play
Test scores are out. Everyone's got an A average. The "community service" trip to Mexico and the start-your-own-charity gambit are...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 3
- 2 min
Grades and grad rates rise, and that's not good news
Grades are up! Graduation rates are rising! But that's not good news. Test scores are down, across the country, writes Hechinger's Jill...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 6
- 2 min
Happy talk isn't helpful: Tell parents the truth about their kids' learning
Keri Rodrigues, co-founder and president of the National Parents Union, complained on Twitter about the special-education team "who...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 28
- 1 min
'They're here for the Wharton brand, a 4.0 GPA and to party'
Cheating has become the norm for college students, writes Suzy Weiss on Free Press. "Remote learning" during Covid lowered standards and...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 28
- 3 min
Who gets in? Try dartboard admissions
The college admissions race is a waste of time, argues Rick Hess, education policy director of the American Enterprise Institute. Except...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 19
- 2 min
How much math?
British students who pass a national math exam at 15 or 16 don't have to take any more math, unless they need higher-level math for...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 16
- 2 min
'Merit' is not the antonym of 'equity'
Four more Virginia high schools failed to tell students they'd won a National Merit commendation, at least not in time to list the honor...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jan 6
- 2 min
Employer: Don't tell us where you went to college
Rick Singer was sentenced to 42 months in prison this week for helping wealthy parents bribe and scam their children's way into...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 25, 2022
- 2 min
Tell parents truth: Enough with the happy talk
Tell parents the unpleasant truth about learning loss, writes Andrew Rotherham in a story on the state NAEP scores in the The 74. "The...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 25, 2022
- 3 min
Nation's Report Card shows 'appalling' fall in math, reading
Fourth- and eighth-graders' math and reading proficiency fell across the country after two years of disruption, reports the National...
Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 11, 2022
- 2 min
How to help students succeed: It's not about exam schools
In A Tale of Two High Schools, Renu Mukherjee, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, looks at San Francisco's Lowell High School,...
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