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Covid broke public schools: Let's build a 'future-ready' system
Education's "new normal" is horrifying. Let's build a new education system out of the ashes.
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 172 min read
1 comment


How virtual learning broke a top high school's culture of excellence
Eighteen months of remote schooling broke the culture of excellence at Baltimore's City College high school.
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 101 min read
0 comments


Five years to destroy public faith in schools
Public schools' response to the pandemic has caused permanent damage.
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 103 min read
0 comments


Covid school closings hurt kids' learning, health and happiness -- for nothing
Reopening schools didn't increase Covid cases, hospitalizations or deaths in five countries. But kids learned more.
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 272 min read
4 comments


No return to normal: Homeschooling is still growing
Homeschooling surged during the pandemic, and continues to grow.
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 25, 20242 min read
1 comment


Covid stress hurt memory, 'flexible thinking' for kids and teachers, says study
Students -- and teachers -- lost reasoning, memory and executive-function skills during the pandemic. Stress? Long Covid? Screens?
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 21, 20241 min read
0 comments


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 14, 20242 min read
10 comments


Four years after 'two weeks to flatten the curve' ...
Four years ago, schools across the country closed their doors. It was supposed to be for two weeks or three or . . . Most schools stayed...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 22, 20242 min read
9 comments


Students are catching up in math, reading -- but gaps are wider
Reading and math scores are on their way up, reports the Education Recovery Scorecard. On average, students in grades three through eight...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 1, 20242 min read
0 comments


'There's got to be a pony in there'
Public schools face a long, tough road to recover from school closures and pandemic chaos, writes Fordham's Dale Chu. Post-pandemic...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 10, 20231 min read
3 comments


Missing persons: Will absentees show up this year?
Chronic absenteeism -- missing 18+ days of a 180-day school year -- is way up, writes Ed Navigator's Tim Daly. Twenty-five percent of...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 8, 20231 min read
6 comments


Math disaster in college: Would-be STEM majors can't add 1/2 + 1/3
After a year of remote algebra, "Diego" struggled with advanced algebra. Despite a week at George Mason University's Math Boot Camp, the...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 20232 min read
54 comments

DIY schooling leaves home: Microschools, co-ops, hybrids, pods ...
When schools went remote, many parents took charge of their children's education, and learned how to find online and community resources,...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 21, 20232 min read
2 comments


UK blames lenient pandemic grading for soaring college dropout rate
Earning A-levels was easier for British students during the pandemic. Passing college classes is harder. Worried by a 30 percent college...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 15, 20231 min read
2 comments


Trouble with teachers: Why there's no post-Covid rebound
A crisis in classroom teaching quality is forcing school systems to "abandon once-ambitious student recovery plans," concludes a report...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 26, 20232 min read
23 comments


Education's 'long Covid' -- students aren't catching up
Don't call it "learning loss," they said. It's just "unfinished learning." Kids will catch up quickly. They'll be fine. First through...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 13, 20231 min read
1 comment


Less schooling, less learning
“The Longer Students Were Out of School, the Less They Learned,” concludes Harry Anthony Patrinos, an education economist for the World...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 14, 20231 min read
2 comments


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
Jun 14, 20232 min read
5 comments


Should I go to college? Class of '23 worries about costs, feels less prepared
The Class of '23 missed the last part of ninth grade, and many missed chunks of 10th and 11th grade as well. Forty-two percent say...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 8, 20231 min read
8 comments


Teens don't want to work, drive, have sex with a real-life person
Not long ago, teen-age boys dreamed of buying a car and "roaring away from school during lunch period, with a girl riding shotgun, on our...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 29, 20232 min read
11 comments
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