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Teaching science and social studies improves reading (and math)
After a long battle to persuade educators they need to teach phonics, systematically and explicitly, the science of reading has moved on...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 12, 20242 min read
3 comments


'Don't say gay' when you're supposed to be teaching fractions
One out of three classroom teachers are working under "gag orders" that limit their speech on gender, sexuality and critical race theory,...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 26, 20242 min read
1 comment


Poet X replaces Romeo: Why high school students can't read
Adam Kotsko, who teaches humanities at a small liberal arts college, finds that even his best students are unprepared to read and...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 23, 20241 min read
11 comments


Rewarding good behavior works -- but what about the love of learning?
Awarding "points" for good classroom behavior improves behavior -- without destroying intrinsic motivation, writes Emily Oster on her...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 13, 20241 min read
3 comments


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
Feb 13, 20242 min read
3 comments


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
0 comments


Beyond decoding: Teaching knowledge, vocabulary builds comprehension
In Portage, Michigan, fourth graders are reading about hurricanes -- including words such as "atmosphere" -- in their English Language...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 17, 20242 min read
9 comments


'P' is for propaganda
Let's dump the curriculum and teach Palestinian propaganda instead, said a group of Oakland (CA) teachers. They proposed an all-day...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 4, 20232 min read
3 comments


Practice makes better
How do get to Carnegie Hall? Practice! It's the same for math, writes Holly Korbey on Edutopia. “They are considered dirty words, but...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 1, 20231 min read
3 comments


'Fast learners' started out ahead
There are no fast learners, according to new research, writes Hechinger's Jill Barshay. Learning rates are remarkably similar --...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 1, 20232 min read
7 comments


What is the right balance between ingredients and cake?
What's the right balance between teaching knowledge and teaching skills? That's the wrong question, writes Daisy Christodoulou on No More...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 14, 20232 min read
0 comments


Teachers know little about how students learn
My teacher preparation program in the late '90s "never talked about how kids learn," writes M-J Mercanti-Anthony, the principal of a New...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20231 min read
1 comment


To kill 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Ninth-graders aren't reading To Kill a Mockingbird this year in Mukilteo, Washington, an affluent, mostly white town north of Seattle. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 6, 20232 min read
7 comments


Mom knows everything: Apps let parents track kids' schoolwork -- and drive them crazy
If only parents were involved in their children's education, teachers said, students would do so much better. If only teachers...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 5, 20232 min read
5 comments


Same again: Does teacher 'looping' improve learning?
Keeping teachers with the same cohort of students for two or three years, known as "looping," would build connections, improve learning...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 2, 20232 min read
5 comments


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
4 comments


'A' is for 'awesome,' 'awful' and 'average'
"The most popular high school grade in America" is "A," writes Tim Donahue, who teaches high school English at Greenwich Country Day...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 25, 20232 min read
7 comments


You can't give 'Hop on Pop' to a 7th-grader
Middle schoolers who read at the first, second and third-grade level won't read "baby books" and can't read grade-level books, says...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 17, 20231 min read
7 comments


Both sides: Schools try to create a 'safe space' to 'process' attack on Israel
I feel for teachers who feel obliged to discuss Hamas' terror attack on Israel with their students. How do you talk about terrorists...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 11, 20232 min read
3 comments


Rosalinda wants to be an astronaut, but she doesn't read very well
Massachusetts, which claims to have the best public schools in the nation, is "failing its neediest learners," write Mandy McLaren and...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 9, 20232 min read
7 comments
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