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What we're reading this week: April 20, 2023

The creator of popular language app Duolingo is developing artificial intelligence-powered programs he believes will be better teachers than humans.

California must better support its advanced learners

When my son entered kindergarten at our local public school last fall, I never expected I’d have to become an ambassador and advocate for giftedness and gifted education. He has always been an eager, rapid learner—intensely curious and a social butterfly—so we expected his first year of elementary school to be one of mostly excitement, fun and joy.

Georgia’s laudable addition of Great Works to its English standards

The Georgia Department of Education has released a new version of proposed English language arts standards for public comment, and they contain a big surprise. If you dig into the “Texts” section and go to grade eleven, you’ll find this requirement:

Democracy dies without trust and truth: Strengthen civics education

The two pillars of democracy—trust and truth—are now cracked. Many Americans believe the political system is corrupt (e.g., rigged, racist), and some don’t believe the results of elections, even certifiably fair ones. Related, we have lost a shared standard of truth and, with it, shared criteria for distinguishing fact from falsehood.

At long last, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. gets his due: New research shows big benefits from Core Knowledge

A new study demonstrates unusually robust and beneficial effects on reading achievement among students in schools that teach E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge curriculum. The working paper offers compelling evidence to support what many of us have long believed: Hirsch has been right all along about what it takes to build reading comprehension.

Lessons for ed reform from the Tennessee Three

When Tennessee House Republicans expelled, albeit briefly, two young, Black Democratic lawmakers late last week, it raised a number of unsettling questions—not only about the contours of our politics, but also about the future of educat

The extended case for faith-based charter schools

A little-noticed event in late 2022 destabilized a pillar of contemporary American K–12 education, namely that all schools considered part of the public system must be secular.

Algebra for none: The effects of San Francisco’s de-tracking reform

The ongoing debate over when students shoul

Cheers and Jeers: April 13, 2023

Cheers

What we're reading this week: April 13, 2023

A new study finds that Detroit’s neighborhood schools have a higher proportion of students in deep poverty than the city’s charter and application schools.

States blazing the trail towards mastery instead of seat time

In his March 30 Flypaper piece, “Rewrite attendance laws to promote learning, not seat time,” Chester Finn makes the case for reorienting school around student achievement rather than time spent in class.

Can we have both school choice and shared institutions?

If we put all our education hopes in markets, self-interest, competition, and “invisible hands,” will that contribute to the other fissiparous forces that are weakening the valuable shared assets we inherited from earlier generations? Recent surveys certainly suggest that mounting public support for school choice is coinciding with diminishing confidence in shared institutions and public values of all kinds, including patriotism itself.

Third grade reading retention is right

In 2022, seventeen states mandated that schools hold back students who aren’t meeting reading standards by the end of third grade, and eight others allowed it.

Progressive schools aren’t the problem

I read with interest Daniel Buck’s recent piece, “The agonizing individualism of progressive education.” In his view, progressive schools fail to uphold communitarian values by overemphasizing individualism.

How the switch from paper to computer tests impacts student achievement

Despite the expansion of computer-based testing in schools over the last decade—and ongoing concerns about negative impacts

More accurate identification of low-performing schools through math

As school accountability systems reset following pandemic disruptions, an opportunity arises to improve their accuracy and make sure the intended responses to data resulting from them are properly tuned. A new study from the U.S.

Cheers and Jeers: April 6, 2023

Cheers “We are in the midst of another national argument about schools. But, as usual, the squabbles do little good for children who need to learn.” —Jay Mathews Jeers

What we're reading this week: April 6, 2023

A majority of Americans don’t believe a college degree is worth the cost. Economist Bryan Caplan agrees and thinks college is worthwhile for only “A” students in high school (and “B” students if they pursue certain majors).

The wonderful but weighty challenges of parenting a gifted child

Until my oldest child entered elementary school last fall, I was blissfully ignorant about giftedness and the extent to which it colors and affects a young child’s educational experience. My husband and I have always been amazed at our son’s busy brain and body, as well as exhausted by his limitless energy, boundless curiosity, and never-ending questions.

Yes, good schools matter for low-income kids

As someone who’s had firsthand experience in the ups and downs of the education reform movement, I agree with Matthew Yglesias calling it a “strange death.” Reformers did over-promise, and they did fail at scaling up once-promising ideas.

The federal government is underinvesting in education research

In some circles, education research has a bad reputation.

Fordham Institute congratulates Chester E. Finn, Jr. on his appointment as Ohio state superintendent

Teachers union completes recovery of pro-charter spy balloon

Manhunt ends after think-tank bigwig found in state of partial undress

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cancels Checker Finn over Advanced Placement book

Who wore it better, Mike or Harry?

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Could bringing baseball’s pitch clock into the classroom boost efficiency?

Putting the “economics” back into home ec

Lizzo is rewriting social-emotional lyrics

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