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Teachers are fed up with student misbehavior, classroom chaos
The "new normal" of student behavior -- a toxic mix of disrespect, disruption, violence and apathy -- is driving teachers to despair,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 24, 20243 min read


Does preschool help kids -- or harm them?
Expanding free preschool is a progressive priority. Early experiments in the 1960s and 1970s -- Perry Preschool program and the...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 20, 20242 min read


To gain public trust, make college admissions less 'murky'
College admissions are "murky," and getting murkier, writes Peter Arcidiacono, a Duke economics professor, on Persuasion. "Test-optional"...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 9, 20241 min read


AP tests are tough: Is the bar too high for disadvantaged students?
"The basic philosophy of the Advanced Placement Program is simply that all students are not created equal," said the program's director,...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 21, 20233 min read


KIPP schools are game changers
KIPP charters are game changers, concludes a new Mathematica study. Compared to similar students who applied to KIPP but lost the...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 14, 20232 min read


Promises, promises: LeBron James' school struggles in Akron
Akron's I Promise School opened five years ago with high hopes and lots of extra funding from basketball star LeBron James' foundation....

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 1, 20231 min read


Inner-city schools aren't underfunded any more
Abbott Elementary, a popular ABC sitcom about teachers at an inner-city Philadelphia school, is "entertaining but not elucidating" about...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 12, 20232 min read


Prep disadvantaged kids for Ivy futures
Elite colleges should create and fund middle and high schools to educate disadvantaged students, writes Roland Fryer, a Harvard economics...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 6, 20231 min read


Poor blacks get nothing from affirmative action
Affirmative action in college admissions has failed to help disadvantaged black students, writes Bertrand Cooper in The Atlantic. If the...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 26, 20232 min read


What will replace racial preferences in college admissions?
Based on yesterday's oral arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority appears likely to reject race-based affirmative...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20223 min read
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