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Ignorance isn't bliss: We need testing to know what students don't know
Testing is essential to improve schools and inform parents.
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 52 min read
2 comments


If the scores are bad, should we dump the test?
A majority of black, Hispanic and low-income fourth-graders have "below basic" reading skills. Does it matter?
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 113 min read
5 comments


Getting better: How Louisiana is raising reading and math scores
How Louisiana is raising reading scores and hoping to improve math achievement.
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 33 min read
4 comments


Catholic schools ace NAEP
Catholic school students are one to two years ahead of public students in reading and math.
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 311 min read
5 comments

Reading, math scores are out: 'The news is not good'
Reading scores are still falling on the "nation's report card," while math scores are the same.
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 292 min read
5 comments


A 'lost generation' of learning: Scores fall, gaps widen for 13-year-olds
America's 13-year-olds are moving backwards educationally, according to a new report on long term trends by the National Assessment of...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 22, 20231 min read
4 comments

40% of 8th-graders are 'below basic' in history
Eighth-graders don't know much about U.S. history and civics, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which...
Joanne Jacobs
May 4, 20232 min read
3 comments


'Shades of badness' in math, reading scores
The longer urban schools stayed closed the worse their fourth-graders are doing in math, concludes an analysis of National Assessment of...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 31, 20223 min read
6 comments

Tell parents truth: Enough with the happy talk
Tell parents the unpleasant truth about learning loss, writes Andrew Rotherham in a story on the state NAEP scores in the The 74. "The...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 25, 20222 min read
8 comments

Nation's Report Card shows 'appalling' fall in math, reading
Fourth- and eighth-graders' math and reading proficiency fell across the country after two years of disruption, reports the National...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 25, 20223 min read
6 comments
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