New report cards baffle parents: What does 'emerging' mean? (Your kid can't read)
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Kris is an "emerging" reader, Carlos is "extending" and Emma is "developing." Is "proficient" Pat the best reader? Nope. Parents don't...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 42 min read
An 'F' for grading: Can expectations go any lower?
Grading may be stressful, writes George Leef on the Martin Center for Academic Renewal. It may deliver unwelcome news to students or...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 22 min read
Why I quit teaching: Pay was OK, but not the loss of autonomy
Ben Stein quit teaching after 20 years as a teacher and coach in the West Des Moines school district, he writes on USA Today. He was...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 132 min read
No extra credit for Kleenex: 'Equitable grading' is honest -- not easy, says advocate
"Equitable grading" isn't a strategy to inflate grades and lower expectations, argues Joe Feldman, author of Grading for Equity and CEO...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 9, 20231 min read
'B' is for below grade level (and chronically absent)
"Rosie" averaged an 83 in core classes and tested more than two months above grade level in fifth grade in 2019. She was absent three...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 9, 20231 min read
A-F grades don't provide enough useful feedback, say educators
Only 13 percent of teachers say A-F grades are "very effective" in giving useful feedback to students, writes Alyson Klein in Education...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 6, 20232 min read
Homework load keeps getting lighter as grades go higher
Forty-four percent of 13-year-olds (eighth grade) did no homework in 2022, writes Tom Loveless. The numbers are very similar for...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20232 min read
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
Aug 15, 20231 min read
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
Aug 4, 20231 min read
'D' is for 'didn't show up or do the work'
“You’ll have a kid who does nothing for the whole semester, and then last two weeks of May or June, they’ll do a couple assignments and...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 3, 20231 min read
Students learn more from tough graders
Students learn more when their teachers have high expectations, concludes a study in North Carolina, reports Kevin Mahnken. Algebra...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 7, 20231 min read
Education fads will make learning decline worse
"As bad as the pandemic was for student learning," some education fads will make it worse, writes Greg Richmond, superintendent of...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 26, 20222 min read
Teacher: Students can cut class, skip assignments and pass
Giving students a minimum of 50 percent on assignments -- regardless of whether they're turned in -- was a disaster, a former D.C. public...
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