My fifth year of blogging at AmericanStudier featured more great Guest Posts like @grenadier.bsky.social's on Charles Ives, a series following up my work alongside @kellyjbaker.bsky.social as a Social Media Fellow at the De Lange Conference (thanks, @josheyler.bsky.social!), & much much more!

From Geoffrey Cohen, *Belonging* (2023), p. 127: "Research has shown that SAT scores reveal little more about students' likelihood of success than do their high school transcripts. When colleges use SAT scores as a guide to admissions, what we can predict... 1/2 www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...

Opinion | The University of California Needs the SAT Back

Even the overwhelmingly liberal Berkeley faculty are fed up with the admission of unprepared students.

wsj.com

High school begins today for my daughter, and all of the cliches about remembering her first day of Kindergarten like it was yesterday are so very true. I've been so privileged to be a part of her journey and to begin to see her think about who she is becoming and where she will go from here.

"Be the Voice of Educational Development" says Major Organization to its members in Very Long Email, because The Organization Refuses to Be That Voice Itself. Take a stand or don't, but do not solely rely on your individual members to take this stand for you. My dues will go elsewhere--thanks.

I finished Zadie Smith's *White Teeth* and have moved to my next book--Charlotte Bronte's *Jane Eyre.* Chapters 8 and 9--I was not prepared. My goodness.

🔥🔥🔥🔥 “All of the speculation and hype around A.I. is hiding the fact that the technology isn’t just large language models or agents or data centers. It is the backbone of a superstructure that merges regressive politics with unchecked economic power in the guise of technological innovation.”

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 2d ago

Anyway, I made a reading list in public. I try to avoid doing that. The Twitter “syllabus” wars scarred me. It’s gonna be a touchy few days.

This terrible story is further evidence that institutions see grades as data, as leverage, as political, as instruments of certification. This is a continued legacy of the long history of grades. They have never been about students or about learning. www.chronicle.com/article/this...

This College Changed Grades Behind Professors’ Backs. Then Things Got Weirder.

The fallout at a South Carolina technical college has laid tensions bare.

chronicle.com

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli.

Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly: I'm From The Future

ALT: Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly: I'm From The Future

static.klipy.com

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 6d ago

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli.

Henry VIII burning the monasteries with their libraries. The Nazi bombings during WWII that destroyed more libraries and artifacts. And now AI bros buying and destroying ancient and rare books. This loss of knowledge, loss of history, will haunt us for a long time. www.news.com.au/technology/o...

AI labs buy, scan, shred millions of rare books

If you have retreated to physical books because the internet is too full of AI slop, bad news — now they’re shredding the books to feed their AI slop machines.

news.com.au

My op-ed about Harvard and its new grade cap is out today in The Hill. I’d love to hear what you think. thehill.com/opinion/educ...

Harvard’s new cap on ‘A’ grades is doomed to fail

We know now from decades of research that grades are not scientific or objective measurements of student learning.

thehill.com

This is *essential* reading. Many of us in Mississippi have been shouting into the void that the "Mississippi Miracle" is a mirage created by an increase in standardized test scores that does not map onto meaningful learning, particularly as it relates to reading comprehension.

Megan Greenwell@greenwell.bsky.social · 2w ago

WIRED sent me to Mississippi to report a different kind of feature about reading. Why are third-graders there acing standardized tests but older students are still struggling with comprehension? What does measuring "literacy" even mean?

*Academic freedom,* rather than free speech, demands that we demonstrate the merit of our ideas by testing them against the available evidence and argumentation

I always love to hear from parents who have read and enjoyed *Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students, and What We Can Do about It*. I wrote the book with parents in mind as one of the primary audiences.

The Goose Girl@thegoosegirl.bsky.social · 3w ago

Just finished reading "Failing Our Future" by @josheyler.bsky.social and if you're teaching or parenting these days it's an essential read. I was lucky enough to go to a college without grades and sent my kids to elementary, middle, and even high school without grades. It is the way.

Just finished reading "Failing Our Future" by @josheyler.bsky.social and if you're teaching or parenting these days it's an essential read. I was lucky enough to go to a college without grades and sent my kids to elementary, middle, and even high school without grades. It is the way.

Currently doing this calculation: does the possibility of airplane defenestration outweigh my hatred of getting out of my seat mid-flight? I'm just not sure, folks.

CNN@cnn.com · 4w ago

A passenger on a Ryanair flight was sucked halfway out of the plane after the window he was sitting next to became dislodged in midair. https://cnn.it/3STp1RO

A Brief History of Nobody Reads Anymore 🧵

As we enter a new academic year, I have decided to permanently and significantly reduce my speaking fees for in-person and virtual events. And even these are highly negotiable. At this time of crisis in higher ed (and reduced budgets) I want to open doors for working together to make change. 1/3

June newsletter! My convo with @edufuturist.bsky.social, some new collabs w/ @retrievelearn.bsky.social & Chavella Pittman, new book by @derekbruff.bsky.social etal, @josheyler.bsky.social on Harvard's grade cap, & some nude beaching for good measure. newsletter.sarahrosecav.com/june-is-for-...

June is for Linking

Last month's TUnE-Bio grant meeting, Simmons Commencement, and a some (delightful!) speaking gigs on various campuses means this June has been about trying to recover from the academic year and rememb...

newsletter.sarahrosecav.com

I recently had an op-ed in The Hill about Harvard's grade-cap policy. I cut it down quite a bit to meet the length requirement, so i've posted the full version (which has a longer argument about the flaws with grade inflation narratives) here: josheyler.wordpress.com/2026/06/30/d...

Director’s Cut of Op-Ed on Harvard’s Grade Cap

A few weeks ago, I had an op-ed published in The Hill about Harvard’s recent, terrible decision to cap A-grades at 20% for all undergraduate courses. As with most media outlets, The Hill had …

josheyler.wordpress.com

This may be the silliest and most painful thing I've ever done, but you only live once, right?? www.instagram.com/p/DaBmOboDDK...

Currently reading *Les Mis* (my slow read for the year) & Zadie Smith's *White Teeth* (my every-day read). The similarities are as striking as they are surprising. Both are big in the best ways (historically minded; shifts in national identity) & small (delving into well-drawn characters). Love it!

I'm hosting a Q&A on writing books about teaching & learning at this event. It won't position myself as an expert here, just as someone who wants to see others publish bold and vital books about education. #VirtuallyGather26 is the kind of inclusive, accessible event that others should aspire to.

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

"I feel like AI defeats the purpose of this class." I went into this past school year thinking that it might finally be the year where I had no choice but to begin integrating AI into our classroom as a tool and skill. Walking out of this year? Talking with students? I realized I was wrong.

Give this brilliant piece a read. Grade inflation is not a thing and certainly not a problem. The new cap on A's will accomplish nothing. Josh does a great job situating the decision within a broader context.

Josh Eyler@josheyler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My op-ed about Harvard and its new grade cap is out today in The Hill. I’d love to hear what you think. thehill.com/opinion/educ...

Great piece by @josheyler.bsky.social on Harvard's ludicrous decision to put a hard cap on A grades. (Spoiler: Josh is not a fan 😏)

Harvard’s new cap on ‘A’ grades is doomed to fail

We know now from decades of research that grades are not scientific or objective measurements of student learning.

thehill.com

“We know now from decades of research that grades are not scientific or objective measurements of student learning. They are reflections of progress on an individual instructor’s learning goals as determined by performance on activities, assignments and exams created by that same instructor.”

Josh Eyler@josheyler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My op-ed about Harvard and its new grade cap is out today in The Hill. I’d love to hear what you think. thehill.com/opinion/educ...

"We know that grades are not scientific or objective measurements of student learning. They are reflections of progress on an individual instructor’s learning goals as determined by performance on activities, assignments and exams created by that same instructor.

Josh Eyler@josheyler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My op-ed about Harvard and its new grade cap is out today in The Hill. I’d love to hear what you think. thehill.com/opinion/educ...