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Joanne Jacobs
Jun 21, 20241 min read
Thou shalt not establish a state religion
Louisiana's law requiring public schools and universities to post the Ten Commandments is unlikely to be deemed constitutional.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jun 20, 20242 min read
It's time to dump 'ethnic studies' mandates
Ethnic studies will be offered in all California high schools by the 2025-26 school year, and will be a graduation requirement by 2030,...
6 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jun 5, 20242 min read
It's cultural literacy, not Bible lessons, say Texas educators
Texas will add Bible stories and religious history to its K-5 reading curriculum.
7 comments

Joanne Jacobs
May 31, 20241 min read
Teachers should keep their politics to themselves, say parents
Parents overwhelmingly say teachers should keep their politics out of the classroom.
24 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Mar 28, 20242 min read
Virtue signaling turns nasty at Stanford, silly at Vanderbilt
"Aggression and abuse" are now "an accepted part of campus activism," writes Theo Baker, a Stanford sophomore, in The Atlantic. When...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Mar 12, 20242 min read
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...
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 27, 20242 min read
Minnesota adopts woke-centric social studies standards
Minnesota have approved "the most ideologically progressive and intellectually vapid social studies standards in America," writes Max...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Feb 26, 20241 min read
'Black Lives Matter' coloring book is light on black history
Brooklyn students got schooled on radical politics during Black History Month, reports Francesca Block on Free Press. Students at P.S....
1 comment

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 19, 20241 min read
Teach old, 'problematic' books
Teach old books, argues Daniel Buck, author of author of What Is Wrong with Our Schools?, on Fordham's Flypaper blog. Yes the language...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jan 29, 20242 min read
'For All Mankind' celebrates courage, competence, resilience
I'm a fan of the Apple+ series For All Mankind, which imagines an alternative reality in which the Soviet Union reaches the moon first,...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 12, 20241 min read
Teaching the Chinese Exclusion Act won't end anti-Asian bias
California students will learn more about Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history in hopes of preventing racism and hate,...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Dec 11, 20232 min read
The young and the senseless
Ignorance rather than malice could why one fifth of young Americans think the Holocaust is a "myth," and another 30 percent aren't sure,...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 30, 20232 min read
True or false? Credible or cockamamie?
California teachers are supposed to incorporate "media literacy" into lessons in history, English, science and math, reports Saleen...
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 15, 20233 min read
Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat Internet memes
"America's K-12 education system is uniquely ill-suited to help students make sense of complicated world events and navigate contentious...
3 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 4, 20231 min read
History: What do you know, and how do you know it?
Each year, half a million middle and high school students "examine primary and secondary sources," analyze a historical subject and...
6 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jul 24, 20232 min read
Black history in Florida: 'Strong, valuable people'
Alex Haley's Roots, which traced his ancestors back to Africa, was a very big deal when it was shown on TV in 1977. I was surprised to...
18 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jul 4, 20232 min read
Home of the brave
Most Americans are proud of our country and happy to be citizens, writes Michael Baharaeen on the Liberal Patriot. Political progressives...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jun 8, 20232 min read
Public is divided on public schools
Most Democrats say the public schools positive effect on the U.S. Most Republicans disagree. The partisan divide on the value of public...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
May 23, 20231 min read
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...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
May 23, 20231 min read
Textbooks are light on Latino history -- except for Sonia Sotomayor
U.S. history textbooks don't include much about Latino Americans, concludes a report by Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and...
2 comments
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