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Charters are outperforming traditional public schools
Charter schools are outperforming traditional public schools, according to a new study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 7, 20233 min read
13 comments


At 91, math teacher isn't ready to retire
After 63 years of teaching high school math in Alexandria, Virginia, Lou Kokonis isn't planning to retire. The 91-year-old comes early to...
Joanne Jacobs
May 31, 20231 min read
0 comments


Don't make math harder than it needs to be
Struggle is supposed to be good for math students, writes Greg Ashman on Filling the Pail. Telling them how to solve problems is supposed...
Joanne Jacobs
May 31, 20232 min read
11 comments


No-tell teaching: Figure it out for yourself, kid
A leprechaun has two pots of gold, each with 10 coins in it, plus three extra coins. How many coins does he have in all? Some...
Joanne Jacobs
May 26, 20232 min read
10 comments


Students don't learn more from a same-race teacher
Elementary students don't learn more from a teacher who matches them in race or ethnicity, concludes a new study. There is little...
Joanne Jacobs
May 19, 20232 min read
5 comments


Presto chango! You're 'graduation ready'
New Jersey just doubled the percentage of students who are "graduation ready" in reading, writes Chrif Cerf, the former state...
Joanne Jacobs
May 17, 20231 min read
3 comments


Why kids need to know 3 x 9 = 27
The ninth-grader needed to multiple 3 x 9 to answer an algebra problem. She didn't have a calculator, and I wouldn't let her go look for...
Joanne Jacobs
May 9, 20232 min read
9 comments


Evanston High backs off on segregated math classes
I'm so old I remember when segregation was considered a bad thing. Evanston Township High (ETHS), just north of Chicago, created...
Joanne Jacobs
May 7, 20232 min read
16 comments


If you have to think about 3x = 18 . . .
Thinking about everything is hard, writes Greg Ashman, author of Cognitive Load Theory, on Filling the Pail. It exhausts students'...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 21, 20232 min read
5 comments


Learning math matters
Please "stop talking about so-called learning loss," writes Jo Boaler, a Stanford professor and math reform advocate, on the Hechinger...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 6, 20232 min read
7 comments


Algebra: Gateway or barrier?
“What is so magical about algebra as a math requirement?” asked Eloy Ortiz Oakley, former chancellor of California’s community college...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 23, 20232 min read
18 comments


Khan: Students hit the wall in Algebra I if they don't know 3 x 7 = 21
Remote instruction led to disastrous learning losses," especially in math, according to conclusive research, writes Kevin Mahnken on The...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 9, 20233 min read
10 comments


Teacher tries 'just-in-time' math for students who didn't learn the basics
A veteran teacher at Denver's George Washington High, Joe Bolz knows his students didn't learn much math when their middle schools...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 19, 20222 min read
5 comments

Middle-school math is a disaster
Disrupted learning's effect on middle-school math skills is worse than you think, writes David Wakelyn on The 74. "As many as 1 million...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 19, 20222 min read
1 comment


Does Gates have 'right answer' for math ed?
The Gates Foundation is going to put more than a billion dollars into math education. Do we know how to teach math? asks Jay Caspian Kang...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 30, 20221 min read
9 comments

Math and science are 'every human's birthright'
There's no need to "decolonise" math, writes John Armstrong in The Spectator. He's published an open letter criticizing a proposal...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20221 min read
4 comments


Math scores keep falling: It's not 'drill and kill'
I learned my multiplication tables in fourth grade, and they've been mine ever since. I've had my worries over the years, but figuring...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 29, 20222 min read
6 comments


The $1 trillion math error
Weak math skills could cost young workers as much as $1 trillion in the coming decades, warns a a new study. National test scores show...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20221 min read
8 comments


Failing college: Covid kids can't do the math
For a year or more, their high school classes were online. Perhaps they returned to an on-and-off schedule with frequent quarantine...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 4, 20222 min read
0 comments


Alabama (!) leads nation in minimizing learning loss
Alabama led the nation in maintaining math and reading achievement during the pandemic, reports Trisha Powell Crain of AL.com. That is,...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 31, 20221 min read
0 comments
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