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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
Apr 3, 20232 min read


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
Mar 6, 20232 min read


'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, 20231 min read


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
Feb 28, 20233 min read


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 19, 20232 min read


'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 16, 20232 min read


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
Jan 6, 20232 min read


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, 20222 min read


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 25, 20223 min read


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,...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 11, 20222 min read


Is 'equity' the enemy of excellence?
The "exodus of families from traditional public-school districts is a warning message," writes Jessica Levin on EdPost. Focusing...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 4, 20223 min read


Down, down, down
The pandemic -- and the response to the pandemic -- was a disaster for students. We knew that, but now we really know that. Reading and...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 1, 20222 min read


The smart get smarter
In the ten years before the pandemic, high achievers did better in math and reading while everyone else slid, writes Fordham's Michael...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 1, 20222 min read


ACT: Pandemic fueled grade inflation
High school grade inflation accelerated during the pandemic, according to ACT. “The findings echo a recent federal study that also showed...

Joanne Jacobs
May 17, 20222 min read


Teaching about racism: Americans are divided
Americans agree that schools should teach about historic racism and slavery, but divided on present-day racism, writes Matt Barnum on...

Joanne Jacobs
May 9, 20221 min read
Tutoring, or Test Prep?
I was well into this article before I realized that the British “tuition” must be the American “tutoring”. An east London secondary...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 3, 20201 min read


Grade inflation is expanding
Grade inflation is expanding, especially at high schools with affluent students, concludes a Fordham’s newest study, Grade Inflation in...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 19, 20181 min read


Math licensing test is too hard, say teachers
Does a third-grade teacher need to know high school math? asks Ann Doss Helms in the Charlotte Observer. “Almost 2,400 North Carolina...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 29, 20181 min read


Testing basic skills leads to two-tier system
Schools serving mainly poor and minority students end up teaching the basic skills and schools serving more advantaged students, knowing...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 31, 20181 min read


Show me the test scores
You want my kids to go to your schools? Show me they’re learning, writes Citizen Stewart in a defense of test-based accountability....

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 30, 20182 min read
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