Joanne Jacobs
New teachers 'don't understand how kids learn to read'
A majority of Wisconsin students -- about three out of five -- score below "proficient" on state tests, write Danielle DuClos and Kayla...
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Joanne Jacobs
Aug 72 min read
Special ed labeling, spending soar -- but it doesn't seem to help students
Spending more on special ed doesn't lead to better outcomes. Teaching reading well does.
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 22 min read
Reading revolution: It's a lot more than 'back to basics'
States are jumping on the "science of reading" bandwagon, writes Sarah Schwartz for Education Week. New York, Massachusetts, Indiana,...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 162 min read
Do teachers learn how to teach reading? 19 states are 'weak' or worse
There will be no reading "miracles" without effective teachers, warns the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) in a new report....
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 15, 20232 min read
Parents trust their child's reading teacher, but should they?
More than 90 percent of parents think their child's elementary school and teacher are doing a "good" or "excellent" job of teaching...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 8, 20231 min read
Training teachers in 'science of reading' improves reading
Low-performing California schools improved third-graders' reading by training teachers in how children learn to read, according to a new...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20233 min read
How to kill the bad-teaching monster: Don't forget the garlic
To kill a vampire permanently dead, you'll need to hammer a wooden stake in its heart, shoot it with a silver bullet melted down from a...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 17, 20232 min read
Why so many parents mistrust schools: They didn't teach our kids to read
"When schools fail to teach reading, it harms the public's trust in schools," writes Kendra Hurley in Slate. Her children's Brooklyn...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 13, 20232 min read
Please, please, please don't politicize reading instruction
Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters declared the first week of October "Teach Kids to Read Week." This is controversial, reports Sarah...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 3, 20231 min read
Good news in Tennessee
Tennessee's focus on tutoring and summer school is paying off, report Marta W. Aldrich and Kae Petrin on Chalkbeat. Scores are up for the...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 3, 20232 min read
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
There are three terrifying things about the long-term federal test data on 13-year-olds' achievement, writes Vladimir Kogan, an Ohio...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 27, 20232 min read
Why Johnny can't read in Oregon
Oregon schools, which once outdid national averages, produced "jaw-dropping declines in student outcomes" during the pandemic, and now...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 20, 20232 min read
'It's heartbreaking to realize I never taught my students to read'
Hoping to share her love of reading, Bridget Scanlan became an "intervention" teacher working with struggling readers and special-ed...
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 20, 20232 min read
38% of ed schools get 'F' in prepping teachers to teach reading
Thirty-eight percent of teacher-education programs are failing to prepare future teachers to teach reading using the most effective...
Joanne Jacobs
May 10, 20232 min read
It's 'our fault' Johnny and Juanita can't read, says NYC chancellor
New York City's public schools have been teaching reading badly for decades, ignoring research on how children learn to read, said...
Joanne Jacobs
May 1, 20232 min read
It's easier to become a teacher, but ...
States are dropping licensing tests to qualify more teachers, write Hannah Putnam and Heather Peske of the National Council on Teacher...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 5, 20232 min read
Some teachers resist 'science of reading' laws
Teachers' unions are pushing back against state laws requiring early literacy instruction to be based on the "science of reading," write...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 3, 20233 min read
NAACP pushes for literacy reform: Teach our kids to read
Black leaders have transformed reading instruction in northern Virginia, reports Sarah Carr in the Washington Post. The Fairfax County...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20221 min read
Florida's special-ed students are doing very well: Is it choice?
In Florida, which pioneered school choice for special-needs students more than 20 years ago, students with disabilities are doing very...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 1, 20222 min read
Leave the straw man alone: Teach those kids to read
Students don't need to sound out words, letter by letter, teachers were told. They don't need to be taught phonics systematically. If...
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