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4-day school weeks are spreading, but students learn less
More schools -- and not just in rural areas -- are adopting four-day weeks, reports AP's Heather Hollingsworth. Districts hope the change...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 26, 20232 min read
10 comments


Schools spend $20 billion a year for equity training, but does it work?
Public schools spend billions on equity training, but have no idea what works, writes Katherine Reynolds Lewis in USA Today. "None of the...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 25, 20232 min read
6 comments


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
Sep 23, 20232 min read
1 comment


Old is new in math teaching: 'You have to explicitly teach content'
Johnny can't calculate -- or order enough pizza for a group of six who each want one-third of a pie. Math proficiency, already low,...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 20, 20232 min read
6 comments


Students aren't bouncing back in math
Math skills fell during "remote education" and many students aren't bouncing back, reports an education reporting collaborative in a...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 20232 min read
4 comments


Let AI do it: High schoolers don't need to write essays any more
"Good-bye and good riddance" to teaching students to write essays, writes Daniel Herman in The Atlantic. Herman, who teaches English at a...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 5, 20232 min read
20 comments


Sympathy for the disruptor
A student walks into class 10 minutes late and yells, "What's up, bitches?" What's a teacher to do? To cope with a rising tide of student...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 1, 20233 min read
9 comments


'Learning stations' are glitzy busywork: Teachers should teach
"Learning stations" are a waste of time, writes Daniel Buck. Motivated achievers may be able to learn independently, but most students...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 23, 20232 min read
10 comments

Afraid to teach: 'It's safer to avoid current events'
Polarization is chilling classroom dialogue, according to a series of interviews with teachers by the Constructive Dialogue Institute...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 14, 20231 min read
6 comments


Shakespeare's smut: 'Out, out, gosh-darned spot'
There's no need to edit the dirty jokes out of Shakespeare's plays to comply with Florida's new law, according to the state Education...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 14, 20232 min read
0 comments


Easy come, easy go: Googling is bad for learning
Students don't need to learn facts, educators have been saying since the Cro-Magnon first learned to search the Internet. "They can just...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 12, 20232 min read
2 comments


AI can be a teaching and learning tool -- or a crutch
Bots powered by artificial intelligence are getting smarter and smarter. Will people get dumb and dumber? Rick Hess of the American...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 11, 20233 min read
2 comments


'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
Aug 4, 20231 min read
4 comments


U.S. schools devalue academics, celebrate failure
Are you excessively cheerful? Did you turn your frown upside down and now it's stuck that way? David Steiner will remove your...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 28, 20233 min read
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What works in teaching English (discussion) may not work in teaching math
The most effective use of class time depends on the subject, concludes a study conducted in high-poverty English high schools, reports...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 26, 20231 min read
4 comments


Trouble with teachers: Why there's no post-Covid rebound
A crisis in classroom teaching quality is forcing school systems to "abandon once-ambitious student recovery plans," concludes a report...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 26, 20232 min read
23 comments


Chaos: I tried to teach for America, and I failed
"Too many teachers mistake the generally sound advice to not provide a stand off with a student during class with "don't assert authority...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 18, 20233 min read
3 comments


Doing more of what wasn't working won't help kids catch up
"If we really want to narrow gaps and make up for pandemic-related learning loss, we need to change what and how we teach -- especially...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 13, 20231 min read
4 comments


Equity! Equity! What about the math?
There's a lot of talk about "equity" in the latest draft of California's proposed math framework. In addition to a guarantee of...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 7, 20232 min read
4 comments


Set a bot to monitor a bot: Is the TA hallucinating?
Are two bots better than one? Georgia Tech is hoping its old-tech AI tutoring bot will keep its new-tech AI chatbot from "hallucinating,"...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 28, 20232 min read
0 comments
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