Education

Bans on Smartphones in the Classroom Gain Favor Across Political Spectrum 0
- Education, MomThink
- July 1, 2024
The school year is over, and the results should leave parents and educators with more anxiety than relief. Achievement scores are near historical lows and student absenteeism is high. There is some bipartisan agreement, though, on classroom management that could help students begin to rebound in the fall: Prohibit smartphones in classrooms. Earlier this year, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb,
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What Do ‘Good Schools’ Look Like? It Depends on What Parents Want 0
- Education, Family, MomThink
- June 28, 2024
I often hear people in the education world, especially those who are more rooted in traditional schooling models, express concern about the “quality” and “outcomes” of the innovative schools and spaces now emerging. “How do we know these are ‘good’ schools with high academic achievement and strong outcomes for students?” they’ll ask. My response is always some
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In Defense of the Freedom to Be Wrong 0
- Philosophy, Education, MomThink
- June 27, 2024
It is the rare fortune of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks. —Tacitus It’s very important for institutions of concentrated power to keep people alone and isolated: that way they’re ineffective, they can’t defend themselves against indoctrination, they can’t even figure out what they think. —Noam Chomsky
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Why Is Higher Ed So Expensive?2
- Economics, Education
- June 26, 2024
Two things seem like they should go without saying: People use their own money more efficiently than they use someone else’s, and the more you subsidize a thing the more of it you tend to get. Both profoundly apply to American higher education, a teetering tower of ivory made simultaneously skyscraping and bloated by federal
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Is Your Vocabulary Worse Than Your Ancestors’?6
- Culture, Education, Featured
- June 24, 2024
“Are Americans more intelligent than a few decades ago, or less intelligent?” Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell, and Ryne A. Sherman asked this question in their 2019 paper, “Declines in Vocabulary Among American Adults Within Levels of Educational Attainment, 1974–2016.” To answer one angle of this inquiry, they examined American’s vocabulary over the last
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I Was Homeschooled and Became a School Teacher. Here Are Honest Pros and Cons of Learning at Home.2
- Education, Featured, MomThink
- June 21, 2024
It’s true. Sometimes homeschoolers do school in their pajamas. But that wasn’t the norm in my home when I was growing up. Generally, my mother kept us to a set schedule. Piano practice was at 8:15 sharp. Math class started at 9:00. The other subjects fell into place around that. Often, we finished our work
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