Good news: it looks like NYT will cover the issue of books going missing from US classrooms. Bad news: they are only focused on high school. But the call is coming from the elementary and school buildings, too. Pls join me in encouraging @danagoldstein.bsky.social to broaden her focus.

My favorite response to the latest piece on the Southern Surge

A superb new piece on the Southern Surge. I was honored to speak with Kelsey Piper for her excellent reporting. Truly the must-read, send-to-all-your-friends article of the week. It is all over my feed, for good reason. open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

@natwexler.bsky.social takes a clear-eyed look at traction of federally-funded Ed research and reminds us that we are doing a weak job of getting research to be translated into classroom practice. W/ an excellent point about shallow focus on explicit instruction. open.substack.com/pub/nataliew...

Satisfaction with the quality of education in the US reaches record lows. And 73% of Americans think schools are headed in the wrong direction. New Gallup poll: news.gallup.com/poll/695174/...

“The demise of writing matters because writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking.” @dkthomp.bsky.social captures the high stakes of academic declines: we need to be training our brains to compete w AI. www.theargumentmag.com/p/you-have-1...

The good news: studies don’t strongly support the idea that tech is destroying kids’ attention spans. The bad news: it could be affecting their motivation to focus on academic tasks. Essential reading from @dtwuva.bsky.social: www.educationnext.org/pay-attentio...

This is fascinating and essential reading. And if @dtwuva.bsky.social’s second hypothesis is true, it offers powerful support for school cell phone bans.

‘For many Ts, balanced literacy was a welcome turn away from lesson plans in which all children at a certain grade level read the same stories and answered the same predetermined Q’s... “It used books that kids would actually read, which made it more meaningful for them.”’ archive.ph/7lass

Remember Wonders, the curriculum with no books in chapter book grades? I updated my recent piece with a closer look at its prevalence. And whew… open.substack.com/pub/curricul...

I just learned that Wonders is the most-used elementary ELA curriculum in Massachusetts, according to CEMD. < le sigh >

Me, searching for literacy discourse on this platform What am I missing? @callielowenstein.bsky.social @mjliben.bsky.social @katasolow.bsky.social @mandercorn.bsky.social @shannonsaglio.bsky.social @evidentlyreading.bsky.social

Here is one of the texts from the Wonders Grade 3 curriculum. Does this look like a text that is worthy of third graders’ instructional time?

A propos of everything in my feed, I’m going to ask you to read about this important study: “People dislike their political opponents for views most don't actually hold” www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/imaginary-...

@mandercorn.bsky.social just made my morning. “If we want college students to be equipped to read lots of books, then students K-12 need to progressively read an increasing volume of real books.” He also quotes the most important line of that piece, IMHO. open.substack.com/pub/curricul...

Contrary to what you might think from social media…

Wonders is a K-6 English Language Arts curriculum from McGraw-Hill. It includes zero chapter books in grades 3-6. Sixth graders read only passages and excerpts. The average text is 7.3 pages in length. The longest text is only 18 pages. open.substack.com/pub/curricul...

Today, we learned that high school math performance is at the lowest level since 2005, according to the NAEP. @hollykorbey.bsky.social is "disappointed but not surprised," based on her reporting. She points to these key issues:

This is spot on, via @marcportermagee.bsky.social. Why is this platform such a dead zone for K-12 academics discourse? Many smart K-12 voices came here. Did they come just to discuss politics?

It’s International Literacy Day! Can we please get CEO-Hat-Snatch levels of outrage over the fact that books have been snatched from classrooms and replaced with passages? And reviewers, states, & districts are buying it? ICYMI, I just wrote about the issues: open.substack.com/pub/curricul...

<primal scream> The first comment on my piece about books going missing from ELA curricula is EEK. The piece: open.substack.com/pub/curricul...

Books are going missing from school curriculum, and the issue is worse than you imagine. The culprits might surprise you, too. My latest, a deep dive into book-starved curricula: open.substack.com/pub/curricul...

I’m sure this piece by @natesilver538.tweet.pub is unpopular here, but it’s spot on. “A healthy political movement, you’d think, would welcome people who agree with them on 70 percent of issues, particularly if it sees Trump as an existential threat to democracy…” open.substack.com/pub/natesilv...

Concerns about declining academic rigor at Harvard: 88% of faculty believe that the university has a grade inflation problem. 74% support limiting student use of electronic devices and the internet during class. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Superb article on the decline in reading, in and out of classrooms. Really worth your time. By @gtoppo.bsky.social: www.the74million.org/article/why-...

Support for cell phone bans in schools continues to climb. Note the sharp spike in support by age 14-29. Source: @pewresearch.org www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

The author and her daughter have compelling stories, and the studies she cites are even more striking. www.wsj.com/health/welln...

PSA

Impressive gains in high-school performance and in math outcomes in Houston. Curriculum improvement is a cornerstone. Reforms are summarized as “a heavy emphasis on coaching and blending curriculum and instruction, along with longer school hours.” www.the74million.org/article/the-...

Bad: Americans in a “Sex Recession,” according to survey data. Worse: Young people are not immune. The downward shift in sex for 18-29YOs coincides with the arrival of smart phones in 2012. ifstudies.org/blog/the-sex...

“Time on subject can turn around a school district.” – Rahm Emmanuel Fascinating details on Emmanuel’s legacy in Chicago: lengthening the school day was one of his signature moves in improving student outcomes in that era.

“There’s too much discussion about bathrooms and locker rooms, not enough discussion about classrooms.” – @rahmemanuel.bsky.social He says the public is talking about education quality while Dem elites overfocus on gender. Much Ed discussion in this podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

“Where’s the books?” Been spending time with educators using “bloated basal” curricula. You know, the ones that have zero-to-few actual books. Us poring over the materials:

This is insane:

Feeling the same sick feeling I had when I heard about Sandy Hook. And Uvalde. And… I’m jealous of people in the countries where gun laws make these tragedies blessedly rare. Which is practically all other countries.

Have you worried that culture war battles are taking focus away from academics, hurting student outcomes? A new study just proved you right: “Overall, I find that student achievement declines in the years after a local political controversy…” 😬 www.educationnext.org/how-adult-cu...

Reading stamina is a muscle, and just like “we would never ask anyone to go get up and run a marathon,” kids need to train their minds to read longer & harder texts over time.  I was pleased to discuss the disappearance of whole books from classrooms w Ivana Greco. thedispatch.com/article/book...

Mississippi’s success is being used as a wake-up call for parents in Minnesota. The campaign’s website: “No More Excuses, Minnesota. Let’s Teach Kids to Read.” www.ciresiwalburnfoundation.org/read

Everyone is missing an important angle in this Eric Adams cash-in-a-chip-bag scandal: Where did Greco get Herr’s chips in New York City??? Inquiring minds really want to know. www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...

“I think it could have been handled a lot differently.” – Sean O’Brien, leader of the Teamsters, on COVID era school closures It hits different to hear the Teamsters head throwing shade at teachers’ unions over COVID missteps. Fascinating listen overall: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

This is incredible: “Americans bet $121B in 2023, which is more than they spent that year on video games, movie tickets, music streaming services, books and concert tickets combined. 121 billion.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... .

So sus. apnews.com/article/trum...

I’m excited to dive into this. “For decades, Americans have debated why our students consistently score lower than their peers in other developed countries.” Yet Americans remain mired in “educational debates that are centered around issues that adults care most about...” Sound familiar?

British education minister Nick Gibb explains that England rose in international math and reading rankings by embracing the ideas of American leaders @dtwuva.bsky.social and ED Hirsch… Both of whom are broadly ignored here in America. fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...

"About one in four teachers say their schools don’t give students zeroes. And nearly all of them hate it." www.chalkbeat.org/2025/08/20/m...

“Multiple large, high-quality randomized studies are finding that guaranteed income transfers do not appear to produce sustained improvements in mental health, stress levels, physical health, child development outcomes or employment.” www.theargumentmag.com/p/giving-peo...

Mossflower, Lucy Calkins’s new organization, has announced that they have aligned their decodable readers to the widely-lauded UFLI foundational skills materials. People have feelings about this news.

Striking levels of self-censorship observed among college students: “We asked: Have you ever pretended to hold more progressive views than you truly endorse to succeed socially or academically? An astounding 88 percent said yes.” thehill.com/opinion/educ...

In year after year of reform efforts, teachers had been told to “do explicit instruction,” with no roadmap on how to do it, or how to do it well. @gtavernetti.bsky.social and @hollykorbey.bsky.social discuss. open.substack.com/pub/hollykor...

“We show that there is no external evidence for improved student outcomes at Railside after the Boaler/Staples treatment.” Fascinating thread on Jo Boaler’s efficacy claims: x.com/savemathnow/...