We moved to America in 2015, in time for my kid to start third grade. Now she's a year away from graduating high school (!) and I've had a front-row seat for the US K-12 system in a district rated as one of the best in the country. There were ups and downs, but high school has been a monster.
Childhood and Education #21: Grades and Standards
First you get to college via the wrong metrics, as previously discussed in #12. Then things get easier.
In now-delayed book, Heritage president details MAGA plans to remake education: "America's teachers have gone insane”
Media Matters has obtained a galley copy of Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts’ now-delayed book, Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America. In a review of the chapter on American education titled “Schools Should Teach Piety,” Roberts attacks teachers and advocates for gutting the public school system through so-called “school choice” policies.
Education - One Nation Victoria
Literacy, numeracy and knowledge first. A clear year-by-year syllabus, orderly classrooms, real trade pathways, and vouchers so funding follows the student.
Early childhood, primary and secondary education – Victorian Socialists
Every child deserves free, quality public education. We’re fighting for universal preschool and childcare, better student-teacher ratios, and an end to NAPLAN.
Education Policy
Australia continues to rank lower than comparable high- and middle-income countries in achieving quality education outcomes. This despite record spending by federal and state governments on progressive curriculum initiatives. One Nation will restore critical thinking in the classroom and reinstate the cornerstones of education.
Standardized Education | The Paper Pilot
The Paper Pilot's digital garden of thoughts on philosophy, politics, and sociology
Pluralistic: Writing vs AI (07 Jan 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
I come from a family of teachers – both parents taught all their lives and now oversee Ed.D candidates, brother owns a school – which has left me painfully aware of the fact that I am not a great teacher.
More than calculators: Why large language models threaten public education
And what we should do about it.
We could be building a better world with our students. Why are we disempowering them instead?
And why did our constructionism impulse die when it was most needed?
Childhood And Education #17: Is Our Children Reading
Reading is the most fundamental thing in education.
Equity in K-12 STEM Education
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) live in the American imagination as promising tools for solving pressing global challenges and enhancing quality of life. Despite the importance of the STEM disciplines in the landscape of U.S. political, economic, and social priorities, STEM learning opportunities are unevenly distributed, and the experiences an individual has in STEM education are likely to vary tremendously based on their race, ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender, and a myriad of other factors. Equity in K-12 STEM Education: Framing Decisions for the Future approaches equity in STEM education not as a singular goal but as an ongoing process that requires intentional decision-making and action toward addressing and disrupting existing inequities and envisioning a more just future. Stakeholders at all levels of the education system - including state, district, and school leaders and classroom teachers - have roles as decision-makers who can advance equity. This consensus study report provides five equity frames as a guide to help decision-makers articulate short- and long-term goals for equity and make decisions about policy and practice.
Use of technology in classrooms has been a disaster for students [column]
Schools and other educational facilities should reduce their use of technology in the classroom. According to a 2021 paper published by Northwestern College, tech in schools has led to increased
Pluralistic: America and “national capitalism” (18 Feb 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Thomas Piketty's 2013 unexpected bestseller (a 750 page economics book translated from French!) Capital in the 21st Century, offers a very convincing explanation of our political decay, and it continues to serve this purpose as the decay undergoes alarming acceleration:
The History of Literacy Is the History of Class
Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.
Pluralistic: Comrade Trump (20 Apr 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
There aren't a lot of things I agree with Mark Carney about, but there's one area where he and I are in total accord: the old, US-dominated, "rules-based international order" was total bullshit:
