Joanne Jacobs
It's summer school or else for would-be fourth graders in Tennessee
Thousands of Tennessee children will be going to summer school -- or repeating third grade, reports Chalkbeat's Marta W. Aldrich. Sixty...
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Joanne Jacobs
- May 23
- 1 min
Test reading and civics at the same time
Only 6 percent of eighth-graders can read Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech and identify two ideas from the Constitution or...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 17
- 1 min
Presto chango! You're 'graduation ready'
New Jersey just doubled the percentage of students who are "graduation ready" in reading, writes Chrif Cerf, the former state...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 26
- 2 min
Knowledge isn't just for Republicans
Teaching knowledge is not just for Republicans or conservatives, writes Natalie Wexler on Minding the Gap. Anyone who values equity...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 17
- 1 min
When fourth graders can't read
Third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers have many more students who read poorly because they missed out on decoding instruction when...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 12
- 2 min
Beyond fat cats on mats: Knowledge closes the learning gap
Teaching phonics is a critical first step in teaching reading, but students need to build knowledge and vocabulary to get from fat cats...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 12
- 2 min
Will 65% of Tennessee 3rd-graders repeat the year? Not likely
If Tennessee's read-or- repeat law had been in place last year, 65 percent of third graders would have been at-risk of retention for...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 20
- 2 min
Many students need tutoring, but few are getting it
Intensive tutoring is the best way to help students who suffered learning setbacks during the pandemic, but school districts are...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 15
- 1 min
'Parents can't solve a problem they don't know they have'
Many parents don't realize how badly their children are doing in school, reports AP's Bianca Vazquez Toness. Teachers don't like to...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 14
- 2 min
Why even kids who like to read hate English class
English teachers are teaching kids to hate reading, writes Pamela Paul, a New York Times op-ed columnist, in response to Nathan Heller's...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 13
- 2 min
When 3rd-graders can't read, should they repeat the grade?
Third graders who read more than a year below grade level will be passed on to fourth grade in Michigan, where Democratic Gov. Gretchen...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 8
- 2 min
Harvard students can't handle 'The Scarlet Letter' -- but prisoners can
“The last time I taught The Scarlet Letter, I discovered that my students were really struggling to understand the sentences as sentences...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 2
- 2 min
From wombats to koalas: Does knowledge 'transfer' for young readers?
"Chatty Chick chats in church" in a poem used by reading tutors. Last year, the second grader I was tutoring was shocked at Chatty...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 1
- 1 min
The author of 'Cat in the Hat' is back
Dr. Seuss has been uncanceled for Read Across America Day, which falls on his March 2 birhday. The White House proclamation quoted the...
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 8
- 2 min
If liberal arts are dying, is it suicide?
Liberal educators aren't making the case for liberal arts education, writes John Agresto, former president of St. John's College in Santa...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 14, 2022
- 2 min
Third graders are way behind in reading and catching up very slowly
Third graders are way behind in reading, reports Hechinger's Jill Barshay. These students, who were in kindergarten when their schools...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 1, 2022
- 1 min
Can Jayden read?
Parents are positive thinkers: 92 percent say their kids are doing reading and math at grade level, even after the pandemic, according to...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 1, 2022
- 2 min
Once they can decode ...
Once students can sound out words, the next step is teaching comprehension, writes Matt Bardin on The 74. Once a middle and high school...
Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 1, 2022
- 2 min
Leave the straw man alone: Teach those kids to read
Students don't need to sound out words, letter by letter, teachers were told. They don't need to be taught phonics systematically. If...
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