Jill Barshay
@jillbarshay.bsky.social
I write about education for The Hechinger Report. Sign up for my once-a-week (always free) newsletter: https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/
The impact of cell phone bans will not be measured by any one study. Here's a nice review of the evidence from @jillbarshay.bsky.social at Hechinger, highlighting the variation in findings across diverse studies hechingerreport.org/global-resea...
Inside the latest global research on school cellphone bans
First wave of studies raises questions about other digital distractions and cellphones at home
hechingerreport.org
“not one of the recommendations was a new idea to NCES,” said Peggy Carr. “Many had already been implemented or we were working on when the center was dismantled." Great reporting by @jillbarshay.bsky.social hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Some in the Trump administration are pushing to rebuild IES
After DOGE gutted IES, the education and statistics agency inside the Education Department, some in the Trump administration are trying to rebuild it. A new report of ideas on how to do that was relea...
hechingerreport.org
Q: Which teaching specialty is the lowest paid? A: Math. Learn why and 3 more surprising facts from an education finance course I took in today's newsletter. hechingerreport.bluelena.io/index.php?ac...
Correction: The $160,000 lifetime loss is not per student, but for all the students who were taught by that teacher that year. Per student, the income loss ranges between $42 and $133 per year. h/t @dynarski.bsky.social
Jill Barshay@jillbarshay.bsky.social · 6mo ago.@jeffdenning.com estimates when a teacher doles out grades that are inflated (0.2 or more points on a 4-point scale, the difference between a B and almost a B-plus), a student in that class loses about $160,000 in lifetime earnings, measured in present dollars. (2/3)
Grade inflation has real costs. Researchers documented a chain of harm to students, from lower test scores to higher failure rates in the future. Lower high school graduation rates, lower college going. And ultimately lower earnings in the workforce (1/3)
History buffs: @brandeisuniversity.bsky.social U president Arthur Levine did a deep dive into how universities weathered the Spanish Flu a century ago in his forthcoming book, “From Upheaval to Action: What Works in Changing Higher Ed." 🧵(1/2)
The Trump administration is demanding colleges hand over their admissions data to enforce the ban on affirmative action. Due date: March 18. Just a few problems that colleges are dealing with as they dig through the numbers and try to comply. (1/10) 🧵
Over 2,000 universities, incl those that have never practiced affirmative action, are scrambling to meet a March deadline to submit data on admissions to the Trump administration. Everything from sex and race to GPA and SAT is problematic to answer. Details here: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Trump's admissions data collection strains college administrators
Universities must report student demographics, grades and test scores by March 18
hechingerreport.org
“Two-parent households do not confer … academic advantage [for low-income kids]…. Those who live w/ both parents scored a 199. Those who live w/ just mom scored 200.” Money matters far more than family structure. @jillbarshay.bsky.social for @hechingerreport.org hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Conservatives see married parents as a solution to low student achievement. It's not that simple
NAEP data suggests that family structure affects student performance mostly in wealthier households
hechingerreport.org
Project 2025 claimed that data on achievement by student family structure isn't publicly available. That’s not true, though you need expertise to extract it. I did. And the results surprised me. (1/2) hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Conservatives see married parents as a solution to low student achievement. It's not that simple
NAEP data suggests that family structure affects student performance mostly in wealthier households
hechingerreport.org
I'd like to address an important misunderstanding about my piece hechingerreport.org/proof-points... that I'm seeing on social media. (1/4)
Talk nerdy to me: Teachers who use math vocabulary help students do better in math
Using words like ‘factors,’ ‘denominators’ and ‘multiples’ may be part of a constellation of good math teaching practices
hechingerreport.org
Chilling. I used to work on Portland Ave, where this reported ICE shooting took place.
Aaron Sojourner@aaronsojourner.org · 7mo agoICE just killed a driver here reportedly sahanjournal.com/immigration/...
Many public schools are losing students, but some are gaining. Great data crunching from Burbio showing "winners" and "losers". My hot take: several unrelated trends happening at once. Declining birthrates. Shifting migration within US. Some exodus from public schools.
When I tried teaching high school math more than a decade ago, I was struck by the importance of math vocabulary in the algebra curriculum I was following. There were so many more words and definitions than when I had studied math. 🧵(1/4)
Which college degrees are worth it? @mitzkow.bsky.social crunched the numbers from the latest @usdeptofed.bsky.social data dump. Fascinating. in 14% of all programs, or 4,441 of them, graduates earned least $50,000 more than typical high school graduates within 4 years. That's 435,722 students.
Careful newsletter readers this morning may notice that my counting skills aren't what they once were. If you're hunting for the missing #5 it's in today's story on our website. Click below: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
In a year that shook the foundations of education research, these 10 stories resonated in 2025
Special education, reading instruction, cellphones and… AI
hechingerreport.org
Jessica Brown also found that NYC UPK "reduced the capacity for children younger than 2 years old at private child care centers by 2,700 seats, and this decline was not offset by an increase in provision in the home day care market. The entire decrease in capacity occurs in areas with high poverty"
Jill Barshay@jillbarshay.bsky.social · 8mo agoImportant tale from California for those who care about public policy. Fix one problem, and you can inadvertently start another. "One state made preschool free. Then dozens of child care centers closed in its largest city" hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Important tale from California for those who care about public policy. Fix one problem, and you can inadvertently start another. "One state made preschool free. Then dozens of child care centers closed in its largest city" hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
One state made preschool free. Then dozens of child care centers closed in its largest city
Universal preschool promised equity but benefits went to the wealthy
hechingerreport.org
The current administration is destroying the research foundation that helps Americans know what is and isn't working in education policy. For example, the funding that helped MS achieve remarkable reading gains were cancelled in February. #nced #ncpublicschools hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
How Trump 2.0 upended education research and statistics in one year
Decades of carefully built infrastructure aimed at improving and tracking how American children learn vanished in an ideological attack
hechingerreport.org
A lot has happened this year. If you'd like a recap of what's happened to education research and statistics, here's my attempt. This might be a good one to listen to on your commute today. (Audio play button below headline. 16 minutes long.) hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
How Trump 2.0 upended education research and statistics in one year
Decades of carefully built infrastructure aimed at improving and tracking how American children learn vanished in an ideological attack
hechingerreport.org
interesting Proof Points column on male teachers seemingly not making a difference in elementary school hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Do male teachers make a difference? Not as much as some think
A teacher's gender doesn’t matter for young boys, national study shows
hechingerreport.org
A new national analysis finds no evidence that boys perform or behave better with male teachers in elementary school. This challenges a widespread belief: hechingerreport.org/proof-points... via @jillbarshay.bsky.social
Do male teachers make a difference? Not as much as some think
A teacher's gender doesn’t matter for young boys, national study shows
hechingerreport.org
It might seem that the federal education stats agency could easily be transferred to another cabinet dept if ED is closed. But not so straightforward. Why a move could degrade the quality of higher ed data. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Advocates warn of risks to higher ed data if Education Department is shuttered
But new hires and fresh research grants hint at a quiet rebuilding effort
hechingerreport.org
Even many critics of the Department of Education want its data collection efforts to survive — just somewhere else: via @jillbarshay.bsky.social: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Advocates warn of risks to higher ed data if Education Department is shuttered
But new hires and fresh research grants hint at a quiet rebuilding effort
hechingerreport.org
I just started adding an AI audio player to my weekly column Proof Points. Curious if any readers have clicked on the play button and what they think. Ok, terrible? (The actual button is at the top of the story under the headline. hechingerreport.org/proof-points... )
In a new manifesto, a prominent literacy scholar explains why a popular method for teaching reading in elementary and middle schools is failing children and tamping down reading achievement. hechingerreport.org/proof-points... (1/4) 🧵
Why one reading expert says 'just-right' books are all wrong
In a new book, researcher Timothy Shanahan argues that giving students easy texts is holding back US reading achievement
hechingerreport.org
School cellphone bans are perhaps a rare case in public policy, where the “data back up the hunches.” But the academic benefits are rather small and they come with a cost. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Cellphone bans can help kids learn — but Black students suspended at higher rates
Analysis of Florida school district after 2023 classroom cellphone restrictions shows reading and math test score gains
hechingerreport.org
The academic benefits of cellphone bans in schools are more modest than proponents had hoped for, but they do seem to be helping students. "A lot of discipline" in the first year as students adjust to the new rules. (1/2) hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Cellphone bans can help kids learn — but Black students suspended at higher rates
Analysis of Florida school district after 2023 classroom cellphone restrictions shows reading and math test score gains
hechingerreport.org
Despite Friday's wrecking ball at the Ed Dept. (which laid off another 466 employees and decimated special education offices), prep for the 2026 NAEP continues. Amid govt shutdown, employees who work on the "nation's report card" have been coming to work every day.
Big debates swirl around SEL -- social emotional learning. 1: Should be teaching soft skills at all or stick to academics instead? 2: Has the content of SEL programs has expanded far beyond innocuous things like taking turns and calming down? 🧵 (1/5)