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ChatGPT writes better than most students: What next?
Is writing over? The ability to write clearly and cogently has been seen as "a gatekeeper, a metric for intelligence, a teachable skill,"...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 11, 20222 min read


'Ya gotta believe'
"We're not good now, but we can get better" was the unofficial motto of a start-up charter high school in San Jose, I concluded in 2001....

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 8, 20222 min read


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, 20222 min read


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...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 1, 20222 min read


Does Gates have 'right answer' for math ed?
The Gates Foundation is going to put more than a billion dollars into math education. Do we know how to teach math? asks Jay Caspian Kang...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 30, 20221 min read


Math scores keep falling: It's not 'drill and kill'
I learned my multiplication tables in fourth grade, and they've been mine ever since. I've had my worries over the years, but figuring...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20222 min read
Climate ed in PE, art . . . ?
New Jersey teachers are teaching about climate change in all grade levels and subjects, writes Caroline Preston on the Hechinger Report. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 22, 20222 min read


Most don't want schools to 'say' LGBTQ
Most Americans don't think young children are ready for lessons about sexuality and gender, writes Morgan Polikoff, a USC education...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 16, 20221 min read


College students lost learning too, but how much?
Universities aren't even trying to figure out how much students lost when classes went remote, writes Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 11, 20221 min read


Most want more focus on academics, less on gender, sex
The red wave turned out to be a purple haze. Moderates outperformed extremists. Democracy did not end. Trumpery lost its luster. An...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 10, 20222 min read


Kids need to learn independently and together
Learning online taught her students to be independent, resourceful and productive, writes Kyle Redford, who teaches fifth grade at a...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20222 min read


Teaching reading should not be political
"So the anti-public school, pro-book banning crowd has latched onto the “science of reading” movement…shocked," tweets Ryan Davis...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 7, 20222 min read


In search of lost time
Schools need more time to "instruct, support, and engage with students," after more than two years of disruption, writes Rick Hess,...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 28, 20221 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...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 26, 20222 min read


Teaching controversial issues is OK for teens, but not younger students
Most Americans want schools to teach older students about controversial issues, according to USC's Understanding America Survey, reports...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 17, 20222 min read


To do better, do less
Subtraction is powerful, writes Justin Reich on the ACSD blog. Administrators and teachers are "exhausted and overwhelmed" -- and being...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 15, 20221 min read


Woke charters stress 'anti-racism,' but parents want excellence
Urban parents' vision of a good school hasn't changed, writes Robert Pondiscio on Education Next. They want "safety, solid academics,...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 14, 20222 min read


'Student-centered learning' means less learning
Student-centered learning is supposed to be inclusive, democratic, personalized and accessible, write Rebekah Wanic and Nina Powell in...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 13, 20222 min read


NYU fires tough chem prof, raises complainers' grades
Would-be doctors have to get through organic chemistry, a tough class that can be a dream killer. When NYU pre-meds earned poor grades...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 5, 20223 min read


You're not so special
"No one is you, and that is your superpower!" reads a sign at Brian Huskie's school. "Ridiculous," he writes on SubStack. "Imagine being...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 27, 20222 min read
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