Joanne Jacobs
Instead of ‘gifted and talented’ …
It’s time to drop the “gifted and talented” label and use personalized, mastery learning to challenge all students, argues Michael Horn....
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Joanne Jacobs
Mar 24, 20182 min read
‘Doing it wrong’
In We’re Doing It Wrong, David Michael Slater goes after 25 bad education ideas and provides his alternatives. A middle-school English...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 14, 20181 min read
We know what works, but don’t do it
“Direct Instruction is the Rodney Dangerfield of education,” writes Fordham’s Robert Pondiscio. Despite 50 years of research showing its...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 28, 20181 min read
Easy-pass policy fails students
In last week’s post on “grading floors,” Memphis teachers debated whether giving minimum grades for minimal achievement motivates failing...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 5, 20171 min read
Not a gang school any more
Enrollment is soaring at Benito Juarez Community Academy. Photo: Amadou Diallo/Hechinger Report Choice has emptied many low-performing...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 20, 20172 min read
Computers enable mastery learning
Mastery learning — enabled by technology — is gaining popularity, reports Kyle Spencer in the New York Times Moheeb Kaied, a seventh...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 18, 20172 min read
College of competence: How WGU works
Western Governors University, a national nonprofit, has been providing online, self-paced competency-based education to career-minded...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 17, 20172 min read
Pass ’em along — or mastery learning?
Teachers can raise graduation rates — and their own performance ratings — by giving D’s instead of F’s to poorly prepared students,...
Joanne Jacobs
May 14, 20172 min read
Grade-free transcripts help prep-school kids
High school grades are rising, even as SAT scores remain flat, reports the College Board. In 2013, the average 12th grader earned a 2.90...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 26, 20171 min read
Dumping the D-: What mastery learning looks like
Windsor Locks students master a set of skills to pass courses. In Windsor Locks, Connecticut, “24 credits and a D-minus average” aren’t...
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