Good morning. The Trump administration announced an import ban on some Canadian products, including alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles. It also rescinded a Biden-era policy that extended federal sex discrimination rules to protect L.G.B.T.Q. people. And there’s more news below. But first, let’s go to school.
Modest proposalsA long time ago, after a stint as a restaurant cook, I spent a few years as a teacher in the New York City public schools. My perch was Bushwick High School, a vast and crumbling brick and terra-cotta building on Irving Avenue, where I taught social studies. The school’s closed now — done in by low graduation rates — but when I was there it was a pulsing organ of the community, overcrowded and chaotic, a difficult place and a beautiful one, too.
Naturally I had ideas about how to make Bushwick better. Everyone there did — students and parents, administrators, teachers, aides, nurses and school security officers. Sometimes there was agreement, in the way that everyone can agree that it would be awesome to go to Utopia High School every day and not this darker place that exists in reality. More often, there was not: That idea’s too expensive. This one’s not going to move the needle. But from our posts in the classroom, we weren’t always watching the trends of scholarship. Had our ideas to fix the place been tried or studied? Did they work, and how much did they cost? We just complained (or campaigned) in the staff room or in meetings with parents or elected officials, on the front steps or in the fetid heat of the gym. (Go Tigers!)
My colleagues on The Upshot, a section of our newsroom devoted to data journalism, went to the experts. They recently took up the question of how educators might fix our nation’s ailing schools, where student abilities have been in decline over the last decade. Compared with 2015, reading scores are down in 83 percent of school districts, with declines in math scores that are nearly as widespread. Our reporters wanted to know what could actually help reverse the trend. They asked 37 leading academics and researchers who study education to rate a range of ideas to improve student achievement, looking at both effectiveness and cost. Basically, they figured out how to rank the proposals. I urge you to read them. What to doThree ideas grabbed my attention. Another seemed so obvious that I couldn’t believe it wasn’t already standard practice. Small-group tutoring (No. 1). The experts put this well above reducing class size. Students meet multiple times a week, in groups of three or four, with the same tutor, during the school day. That practice is, one expert said, the “most promising intervention” available. Small-group tutoring moves the needle on testing. The downside? It has to be done often and well, and finding a lot of tutors who are available during the school day is both hard and expensive. Expanded access to advanced classes (No. 7). More kids should be able to take algebra in eighth grade or Advanced Placement classes in high school, the experts said. That’s not just about expanding gifted and talented programs. It’s about making these opportunities available to more higher-achieving students in more schools, particularly in low-income ones that offer fewer college-prep classes. The caveat: “Pushing students into material they haven’t prepared for can backfire,” one expert said. Increase teacher pay (No. 20). A simple business: Compensate educators the way we compensate other jobs that require the same education and experience. No one goes into education to get rich. But you want people to stay in the field, building experience, stacking knowledge. That’s hard when they make less than they’d get doing virtually any other job they can get with a college degree. (An expert cautioned that it remains a question whether teachers with bigger paychecks become better instructors. And also: It would cost a lot of money.) Ban cellphones (No. 22). There’s no real evidence yet that doing so increases test scores, experts told The Times. But, one noted, “There are academic and social benefits that are hard to quantify.” I’ll say. (Some states have already made it the law of the land.) All I had to deal with a million years ago were the precious few kids who had a Discman to play Rakim on CD. I can’t imagine teaching Global History, much less learning Global History, in a room full of kids straining not to look at their phones. Look at all the rankings here. They were put together by Sarah Mervosh, Francesca Paris and Claire Cain Miller. Then look at the comments. You may be moved to leave one yourself.
More terrain: Israeli forces are expanding into Gaza beyond the boundary they agreed to with Hamas. Satellite images show how much territory Israel now controls. No devices: Phoebe Bridgers banned phones from her tour, forcing fans — or allowing them — to be fully present in the moment. Sick of dating apps? Young people in Japan are turning to matchmakers for help getting married. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was a calculator to determine how much protein you need, based on your age and weight.
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Many educators exalt writing as the only way that their pupils will learn to think. The truth is messier, one professor writes. American power grids are vulnerable to foreign attack. Clean energy offers a lifeline, two cybersecurity researchers write. The Anniversary Sale ends soon: Morning readers, enjoy our best offer. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your interests with expert coverage of news, culture, business and more. Save now: $1/week for your first year.
3.24— That, on average, is how many earned runs a Yankees pitcher gives up in a game. The team starts a best-of-three contest with the Boston Red Sox tonight for the right to move on in the playoffs. The Sox have strong arms, too, so it could be a pitching-heavy duel. And what are each team’s worst stats? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
