top of page


Dump the devices and bring back textbooks
Good, old-fashioned printed textbooks are valuable learning guides.
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 202 min read
6 comments


Teachers can't do it all: Let them focus on teaching
Teachers should focus their time and energy on teaching, not DIY curriculum design.
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 132 min read
1 comment


Who was the Good Samaritan? Let there be Bible stories in Texas schools
Texas' board of education has narrowly approved a new K-5 curriculum that includes Bible stories , reports Shaun Rabb for Fox News....
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20242 min read
4 comments


How schools can help poor kids beat the odds: Consistency, collaboration, priorities
Schools that help disadvantaged students achieve focus on consistently good teaching, a strong, shared curriculum and lots of collaboration.
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 1, 20242 min read
0 comments


U.S. history teachers prefer DIY curriculum to textbooks
U.S. history teachers are using "digital sources and primary documents" rather than textbooks , according to a report by the American...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20242 min read
3 comments


Silicon Valley parents push back on ethnic studies
Parents want to know what will be taught in soon-to-be-mandatory ethnic studies class.
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 2, 20242 min read
5 comments


Bible stories should be cultural literacy, not forbidden fruit
Teaching students about religion is fine in public schools, writes Natalie Wexler. "Inculcating specific religious beliefs" is not....
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 21, 20242 min read
4 comments


Teachers can ignore curriculum, push their own ideology
Even when schools adopt a well-designed, balanced curriculum, many teachers will ignore the curriculum and do their own thing, writes...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 20, 20241 min read
1 comment


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,...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 20, 20242 min read
6 comments


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


Kids can learn a lot more math -- and have fun -- in kindergarten
Kindergarten math may be too easy, writes Holley Korbey for the Hechinger Report. The focus is on reading. Math expectations are low. In...
Joanne Jacobs
May 6, 20241 min read
1 comment


DIY math: Many high school teachers rewrite the curriculum
Many teachers are creating -- or downloading -- their own math materials, according to a recent survey, writes Hechinger's Jill Barshay....
Joanne Jacobs
May 6, 20241 min read
3 comments


Beyond decoding: Teaching knowledge, vocabulary builds comprehension
In Portage, Michigan, fourth graders are reading about hurricanes -- including words such as "atmosphere" -- in their English Language...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 17, 20242 min read
9 comments


What is the right balance between ingredients and cake?
What's the right balance between teaching knowledge and teaching skills? That's the wrong question, writes Daisy Christodoulou on No More...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 14, 20232 min read
0 comments


Educating citizens: We can do better, but will we?
"The new National Assessment of Educational Progress civics and history results are as deplorable as they were predictable," writes...
Joanne Jacobs
May 4, 20232 min read
10 comments


'Our nation's children are all our children'
"There's no such thing as someone else's child," said President Joe Biden in honoring the new Teacher of the Year, an Oklahoma math...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 27, 20232 min read
7 comments


We're not that far apart on how to teach our history
The "history wars" are a fight between "imaginary enemies" concludes More in Common, after surveying Americans. "Both Democrats and...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 13, 20222 min read
3 comments


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
0 comments
bottom of page