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NEA trains teachers in activism, self-care and 'the future of trans'
The NEA's online courses favor progressive fads over teaching.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 301 min read
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A radical idea to improve schools: Do what works
Doing what works -- and avoiding fads and ideology -- would improve learning dramatically.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 282 min read
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20% of high school graduates are 'barely literate'
Twenty percent of high school graduates have trouble reading anything more complex than a restaurant menu.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 202 min read
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How to raise reading scores: 'We taught the research-based stuff and cut the fluff'
Reading scores are rising for elementary students in New York City, Indiana, Louisiana and elsewhere as schools adopt research-backed methods.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 152 min read
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To boost achievement, stop doing stupid things
The first step in improving education is to stop doing stupid things.

Joanne Jacobs
May 273 min read
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Are children learning? Politicians don't seem to care
Education isn't on the national agenda: Politicians argue about library books and locker rooms, but not about raising achievement.

Joanne Jacobs
May 132 min read
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Georgia tackles 'literacy crisis' -- Will California be next?
Reading scores are up in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee . Other states are trying to follow the leaders. Only one in...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 212 min read
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Suing Lucy: Parents claim deceptive marketing of reading curricula
Massachusetts parents are suing a "balanced literacy" publisher and authors for fraudulently claiming their programs are "researched-based."

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 10, 20242 min read
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Who's to blame for the reading crisis?
"Balanced literacy" guru Lucy Calkins has become the " scapegoat for America's reading crisis ," suggests Helen Lewis in The Atlantic. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 20, 20243 min read
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New teachers 'don't understand how kids learn to read'
A majority of Wisconsin students -- about three out of five -- score below "proficient" on state tests, write Danielle DuClos and Kayla...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 12, 20242 min read
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Special ed labeling, spending soar -- but it doesn't seem to help students
Spending more on special ed doesn't lead to better outcomes. Teaching reading well does.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 7, 20242 min read
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Reading revolution: It's a lot more than 'back to basics'
States are jumping on the "science of reading" bandwagon, writes Sarah Schwartz for Education Week. New York, Massachusetts, Indiana,...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 2, 20242 min read
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Do teachers learn how to teach reading? 19 states are 'weak' or worse
There will be no reading "miracles" without effective teachers, warns the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) in a new report....

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 16, 20242 min read
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Parents trust their child's reading teacher, but should they?
More than 90 percent of parents think their child's elementary school and teacher are doing a "good" or "excellent" job of teaching...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 15, 20232 min read
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Training teachers in 'science of reading' improves reading
Low-performing California schools improved third-graders' reading by training teachers in how children learn to read, according to a new...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 8, 20231 min read
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How to kill the bad-teaching monster: Don't forget the garlic
To kill a vampire permanently dead, you'll need to hammer a wooden stake in its heart, shoot it with a silver bullet melted down from a...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20233 min read
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Why so many parents mistrust schools: They didn't teach our kids to read
"When schools fail to teach reading, it harms the public's trust in schools," writes Kendra Hurley in Slate. Her children's Brooklyn...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 17, 20232 min read
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Please, please, please don't politicize reading instruction
Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters declared the first week of October "Teach Kids to Read Week." This is controversial, reports Sarah...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 13, 20232 min read
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Good news in Tennessee
Tennessee's focus on tutoring and summer school is paying off, report Marta W. Aldrich and Kae Petrin on Chalkbeat. Scores are up for the...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 3, 20231 min read
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Be afraid. Be very afraid.
There are three terrifying things about the long-term federal test data on 13-year-olds' achievement, writes Vladimir Kogan, an Ohio...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 3, 20232 min read
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