Education
Jay Mathews’ teacher policy fantasy
“When it comes to education policy, leave it to the teachers — not the politicians” declares Jay Mathews in his latest Washington Post column. It’s hard to believe that someone…
Jay Mathews
Author, education reporter and online columnist
Education
How cheating can raise high school graduation rates
Want a quick and easy way to raise graduation rates? Credit recovery courses are the method of choice for many school districts. Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews writes, High school…
Education
WaPo debates NC education policy
In “North Carolina superintendent defends Teach For America,” Washington Post education reporter Jay Matthews gives Warren County Superintendent Ray V. Spain the floor to defend Teach for America. Spain concludes,…
Liberty
It Is Cheating, And They Simply Don’t Care
Writing at the Washington Post, Jay Mathews discusses the problem of plagiarism and poor writing skills by high school and college students. There will always be cheating, but what bothers…
Liberty
Burn Down the Ed Schools!
What does it say about university schools of education when students who have spent a couple years taking classes in them are inferior teachers compared to a group that only…
Liberty
Harvard Schmarvard
The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews has a terrific talent for cutting through the crap about education and in this blog post he slices up the notion that students who go…
Liberty
Summa Cum Touchy-Feely
Despite all the “draconian” cuts to the budget that supposedly have UNC staffers working day and night to handle the extra work forced on them by layoffs, it seems that…
Liberty
Public schools ignore “outsiders,” good ideas
Jay Mathews observes, As much as they deny it, they [educators] really don’t like outsiders messing with the way they do their jobs. … The problem is that schools, unlike…
Liberty
Obama’s kids
Will Barack and Michelle Obama send their two daughters to a public or private school? Jay Mathews considers the question here. The daughters attended the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School,…
Liberty
Does performance pay ruin teamwork?
Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews argues that performance bonuses for teachers would undermine collegiality because “competition for money can bring out the worst in people.” I disagree. Here’s why: 1.…
Liberty
It’s not the buildings but the teachers
Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews makes a startling claim: great teaching, not buildings, make great schools. Ok, it’s not that startling. JLF has been saying that for years. Anyway,…
Liberty
The debate over block schedules
Jay Mathews reports that more schools are abandoning block schedules (four or five 90 minute periods) for the traditional school schedule (seven or eight 45 minute periods). There are advantages…