In 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his “I Had a Dream” speech. At the time, racist barriers substantially impacted the life chances of blacks, the parents and grandparents of today’s black youths. Structural racism in American society was clearly evidenced…
Phonics works. It teaches children to sound out words simply and efficiently. The problem with it? Nothing, except “educators” always think there’s some better way to do things. That was Lucy Calkins and the Columbia Teachers College Reading and Writing…
If you ever wonder why the literacy rate of American public school students keeps falling, take a peek at the schools’ English curriculums. Last year, the school board of Montgomery County, Maryland, decided that the books in the English language…
The Thales Way By Robert L. Luddy (Thales Press, 152 pages, $24) Would you be interested in a book on reforming education by a man who created flourishing grade, middle, and high school charter schools, all with waiting lists today,…
This article is adapted from Paul Kengor’s book Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century. Google the phrase “founding father of public education,” and you’ll likely land on Horace Mann (1796–1859). But many of us would submit…
Long after students have returned to in-person learning, grim headlines still depict the educational hit that students took during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, a Stanford economist recently predicted that the learning loss for students whose schools shifted to virtual…
The University of Pennsylvania proudly says that it was founded by Benjamin Franklin, who also chaired its governing board in its formative years. That famed colonial polymath and Founding Father would no doubt be unhappy if he saw what leaders…
If finances are the top concern of public school officials beset with low state test scores, they should be on board with scholarship proposals that enable students to attend private schools while reducing taxpayer costs — like the one just…
The recent National Assessment of Educational Progress scores show that schools are failing at their most basic task. Math and reading proficiency is in a pattern of steep decline — down 4 points in reading and 9 in math —…
