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/
Sign up for my once-a-week (always free) newsletter: https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/
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
January 7, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I'd like to address an important misunderstanding about my piece hechingerreport.org/proof-points... that I'm seeing on social media. (1/4)
Chilling. I used to work on Portland Ave, where this reported ICE shooting took place.
January 7, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Chilling. I used to work on Portland Ave, where this reported ICE shooting took place.
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.
January 6, 2026 at 2:16 PM
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)
January 5, 2026 at 5:57 PM
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.
@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.
January 5, 2026 at 2:57 PM
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.
@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
December 15, 2025 at 12:11 PM
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...
Reposted by Jill Barshay
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"
December 8, 2025 at 6:28 PM
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"
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
December 8, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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...
Reposted by Jill Barshay
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...
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
December 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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...
hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
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
December 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
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...
Reposted by Jill Barshay
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
November 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM
interesting Proof Points column on male teachers seemingly not making a difference in elementary school hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Reposted by Jill Barshay
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
November 17, 2025 at 12:57 PM
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
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
November 10, 2025 at 6:36 PM
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...
Reposted by Jill Barshay
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
November 10, 2025 at 12:49 PM
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...
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... )
October 29, 2025 at 7:10 PM
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
October 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
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) 🧵
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
October 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
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...
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
October 21, 2025 at 7:42 PM
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...
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.
October 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
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)
October 13, 2025 at 3:33 PM
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)
Listen to yesterday's (Tuesday, Aug 26th) segment on @npr.org 1a where I talk about the Trump administration's new college admissions data collection -- and how it's bypassing the usual tech review process. wamu.org/story/25/08/...
The Trump administration scrutinizes higher education
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Education to collect extensive admissions data from colleges and universities.
wamu.org
August 27, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Listen to yesterday's (Tuesday, Aug 26th) segment on @npr.org 1a where I talk about the Trump administration's new college admissions data collection -- and how it's bypassing the usual tech review process. wamu.org/story/25/08/...
Thank you to @latimes.com for publishing my story about chronic absenteeism. Skipping school isn't like it used to be... although kids still grouse that school is 'boring' www.latimes.com/california/s...
Students are missing a lot more school. Why chronic absenteeism may be here to stay
Students started missing more school with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance is far from fully recovered as chronic absenteeism remains high. Is this a permanent change?
www.latimes.com
August 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Thank you to @latimes.com for publishing my story about chronic absenteeism. Skipping school isn't like it used to be... although kids still grouse that school is 'boring' www.latimes.com/california/s...
Tune into @npr.org 1A show at 11am today, 8/26. Host Jenn White will be interviewing me about the Trump administration's new college admissions data collection and why stats experts think it could be a trap for higher education. wamu.org/show/1a/
August 26, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Tune into @npr.org 1A show at 11am today, 8/26. Host Jenn White will be interviewing me about the Trump administration's new college admissions data collection and why stats experts think it could be a trap for higher education. wamu.org/show/1a/
Reposted by Jill Barshay
Excellent reporting as always from @hechingerreport.org on the new data collection craziness from the administration.
hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Inaccurate, impossible: Experts knock new Trump plan to collect college admissions data
New data survey could produce statistics that indicate bias where none exists
hechingerreport.org
August 19, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Excellent reporting as always from @hechingerreport.org on the new data collection craziness from the administration.
hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Absenteeism is big biz and companies are peddling costly services and tech solutions to schools. Here's a sampling of what schools that have succeeded in reducing their chronic absenteeism rates are actually doing. (Spoiler: outside vendors not required). hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Adding bus stops, serving biscuits and gravy, and catching butterflies: How schools are tackling absenteeism
Schools are struggling to bring students back after the pandemic
hechingerreport.org
August 13, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Absenteeism is big biz and companies are peddling costly services and tech solutions to schools. Here's a sampling of what schools that have succeeded in reducing their chronic absenteeism rates are actually doing. (Spoiler: outside vendors not required). hechingerreport.org/proof-points...