Test Scores for U.S. 13-Year-Olds Show Lowest Math and Reading Levels In Decades

The last time math performance was this low for 13-year-olds was in 1990.

The big idea: do we need to dismantle the literary canon?

The temptation to chuck out the old is strong, but can only be part of the answer

As someone who writes books, lectures on teacher training courses and spent 15 years teaching English literature, I’m often asked what I think should be included in the literary canon or what should replace the existing canon. It feels like a trick question.

First, a definition might be useful. When we say canon we’re referring to an established selection of works that have been dyed into the fabric of British education. It’s the familiar roll call of names that have featured on the curriculum seemingly for ever, and may well continue to do so. Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Orwell, Blake, Priestley, Owen, Larkin … the parade of (largely) dead white men whom successive generations of British students are invited to meet and grapple with on their academic journeys.

Pandemic Stimulus Aid May Not Be Doing Enough to Help Schools

Elizabethton City Schools in Tennessee provided English tutoring this year for 404 elementary and middle school students with the increased funding.

The Surprising Obstacle to Overhauling How Children Learn to Read

New York City is mandating that all of its elementary schools change how they teach reading. Some may not make the change willingly.

Asked to Delete References to Racism From Her Book, an Author Refused

Maggie Tokuda-Hall declined Scholastic’s offer to license her book, “Love in the Library,” on the condition that she edit her author’s note to remove a description of past and present instances of racism.

New York City Schools Will Introduce ‘Massive’ Changes to Reading Curriculum

Over the last two decades, thousands of New York City children have struggled to pick up reading skills. Now, schools will be forced to change how they teach reading.

U.S. History Scores for 8th Graders Plunge

The dip in civics performance was the first decline since the test began being administered in the late 1990s.

College Students Have Something to Say. It’s Just Not What You’d Expect.

Two-Thirds of Kids Struggle to Read, and We Know How to Fix It

Two-Thirds of Kids Struggle to Read, and We Know How to Fix It

New York City Adds Reading Programs for Students with Dyslexia

New York City Adds Reading Programs for Students with Dyslexia

Anthony Cruz, a third-grader at P.S. 11 in the Bronx, used to hate going to school because he struggled with reading.

Who’s going to be triggered by Northanger Abbey? It’s hardly Game of Thrones | Catherine Bennett

Greenwich University is warning students to prepare themselves for the ‘toxic friendships’ Jane Austen satirises in her novel

Spoilers – but does it matter? Now Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is identified by a British university as a vehicle for potentially disturbing “gender stereotypes” and “toxic relationships and friendships”, perhaps the safest way to approach the satire is, if at all, second hand.

The University of Greenwich’s trigger warning (TW) is for undergraduates, but since the original intention of such alerts was to prepare readers for some possible reminder of upsetting experiences, it’s older ones who should be most grateful for this vigilance. Who, after all, is likely to have squeezed in more toxic relationships or suffered more acutely from gender stereotyping? Can such a novel be considered remotely safe for mature women, even those of us too young to have been jilted by an army captain in a Georgian pump room? Plainly, since Greenwich has stuck a warning on it, not.