Joanne Jacobs
Please come to school, pretty please, with a cherry on top . . .
Schools are struggling to get students to show up every day. Twenty-six percent of students are chronically absent, missing at least 10...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jun 142 min read
Chicago spends $29k per student for 19% math proficiency
Chicago Public Schools doubled per-student spending since 2012, according to a report by the Illinois Policy Institute. Achievement is...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 111 min read
Students show up when parents get cash for perfect attendance
Nearly 200 low-income families living in Birmingham (Alabama) public housing qualified for a drawing worth $300 in rent and utility...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 171 min read
Parents get a new message: Slightly sick kids should be in class
Worried about a nationwide epidemic of absenteeism, more schools are telling parents to send slightly sick children to school, reports...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 112 min read
Smart jocks: Students will show up for sports
High school students are back on the field, the court, the track and the pool, with participation in sports nearing pre-pandemic levels,...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 52 min read
$250K for 'woke' training: Reading, math scores fall even lower
Training teachers to "disrupt whiteness" isn't helping children learn at a Bay Area school, reports Jill Tucker in the San Francisco...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 23, 20232 min read
To help left-behind students, get 'butts in seats'
You can't win if you don't play. The only way to improve student achievement is to "get butts in seats," writes Jessica Grose in the New...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 9, 20232 min read
For failing students, lockdown was freedom, school is 'prison'
School is "like being in prison," says 14-year-old Kieran, who has dyslexia and ADHD. He prefers doing physical labor with his father....
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Summer jobs boost school success
Working for the summer pays off for teenagers from low-income families, concludes a study of Boston's summer job program. Winning the job...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 14, 20232 min read
Still disrupted: Students are missing a lot of school
Schools haven't returned to normal reports Alia Wong for USA Today. An alarming number of students are "missing vast stretches of their...
Joanne Jacobs
May 11, 20233 min read
Set up to fail: In real life, you've got to show up and do the work
"Equitable grading" is supposed to be fairer to students who have trouble completing homework, getting to school on time and studying for...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 3, 20232 min read
Grades and grad rates rise, and that's not good news
Grades are up! Graduation rates are rising! But that's not good news. Test scores are down, across the country, writes Hechinger's Jill...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 7, 20231 min read
Education fads will make learning decline worse
"As bad as the pandemic was for student learning," some education fads will make it worse, writes Greg Richmond, superintendent of...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 30, 20232 min read
Teacher: Students are learning they don't need to show up or do the work
No-consequences attendance policies have encouraged students to skip class, teacher Loren Green told the Albany, New York school board....
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 26, 20222 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...
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