Joanne Jacobs
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.
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 242 min read
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
Aug 22 min read
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
Jun 212 min read
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 201 min read
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 202 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,...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 52 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.
Joanne Jacobs
May 61 min read
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 61 min read
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
Jan 172 min read
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
Nov 14, 20232 min read
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
May 4, 20232 min read
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
Apr 27, 20232 min read
'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
Dec 13, 20222 min read
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
Oct 15, 20221 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...
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