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New York Post
3 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Fresh proof school choice can save Catholic schools — and help more generations of kids thrive
Over the past decade, no state in the country has been a bigger poster child for the decline of America's Catholic schools than New York. And no state has offered more hope about the reversibility of that tragic trend line than Florida. From 2015 to 2025, enrollment in the nation's Catholic schools fell another 13%, per a report to be released Wednesday by Florida nonprofit Step Up For Students. New York led the way, with a 31% drop. In Florida, though, enrollment grew — by 12%. In fact, Florida is the only US state in the top 10 of Catholic-school enrollment to see any growth in that span. The big reason: school choice. Florida has long had the most robust private-school choice programs in America. In 2023, it made every student eligible for choice scholarships, each worth roughly $8,000. This year, 500,000 students in Florida are using scholarships, including 89% of the students in its Catholic schools. New York families still have no private-school choice. Which is why, as The Post recently described it, Catholic schools are falling like dominoes. This isn't just tragic for Catholics. This is tragic for New York. For generations, Catholic schools have delivered top-notch education at low cost to masses of low-income families, many of them not Catholic. The 'Catholic school effect' is well documented: Catholic schools lifted millions of working-class families into America's middle class. They strengthened fragile communities. They saved taxpayers billions. Today, if America's Catholic schools collectively counted as a state, they'd rank first in reading and math, per the most recent results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Despite that success, thousands of Catholic schools have closed, not because families no longer want them, but because families can no longer afford them. For those of us who believe low-income families deserve access to more high-quality learning options, this is heartbreaking. But it's not inevitable. One potential solution is the Educational Choice for Children Act, a congressional proposal for a national school-choice program. ECCA would essentially bring the Florida choice model to every state. Under the plan, nonprofit scholarship groups would oversee funds raised through tax-credited contributions from individuals. Even if a state didn't have a choice program, families could apply for a federally supported scholarship. Florida shows the upside of expanding choice. In the 1990s, its education system was a joke. It ranked near the bottom on the NAEP tests; barely half its students graduated. Today, Florida's graduation rate is approaching 90%, it ranks No. 7 in Advanced Placement performance, and its demographically adjusted NAEP performance is among the nation's best. This progress comes even though Florida's per-pupil spending is among the lowest in the country. Federal data that allows for state-to-state comparisons show that New York spent $29,873 per pupil in 2022, the most in America. Florida spent $11,076. (New York's per-pupil spending has since climbed to more than $36,000 a year.) Private-school choice in Florida has been especially good for low-income students. A 2019 Urban Institute study found low-income students using choice scholarships were up to 43% more likely than their public-school peers to attend four-year colleges, and up to 20% more likely to earn bachelor's degrees. Another research team found that as private-school choice in Florida expanded, high-poverty public schools most impacted by the competition saw higher test scores, lower absenteeism and fewer suspensions. Florida's Catholic schools have been in the thick of this change. They've become increasingly diverse, in terms of students served, and increasingly diversified, in terms of programs offered — all while holding true to the core values that have made them so vital for so long. All education sectors in Florida know families now have the power to choose them, or not, and all have responded accordingly. New York could use more of that choice and competition — and the expanded options and opportunities that brings to low-income families. The result would be not only a comeback for Catholic schools, but systemic improvements in education that are long overdue. Danyela Souza Egorov is the founder of Families for NY. Lauren May is senior director of advocacy at Step Up For Students, which administers Florida's school-choice scholarship programs, and a former Catholic-school teacher and principal.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio rated 'weak' on math elementary level policy instruction by new report
Ohio school children in a classroom. (Photo by Morgan Trau.) Ohio is 'weak' on policies to strengthen elementary teachers' math instruction, according to a new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Ohio is one of 25 states that received a 'weak' rating by the NCTQ report that was released Tuesday. Only Alabama received a strong rating and seven states earned an unacceptable rating — Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and New Hampshire, according to the report. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The states earned their ratings based on these five policies — Set specific, detailed math standards for teacher preparation programs. Review teacher preparation programs to ensure they are providing robust math instruction. Adopt a strong elementary math licensure test. Require districts to select high-quality math curricula and support skillful implementation. Provide professional learning and ongoing support for teachers to sustain effective math instruction. A weak rating means a state has some of those policies in place, but not all. Ohio was strong in teacher preparation programs and received a moderate ranking in having a strong elementary math licensure program, according to the report. 'Ohio's made significant investments in professional learning for teachers in reading, but much fewer investments in financially supporting professional learning in math instruction,' said NCTQ President Heather Peske. This past school year was the first year Ohio school districts were required to teach the science of reading curriculum, which is based on decades of research that shows how the human brain learns to read and incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Some of the Ohio's 2023 two-year budget went toward the science of reading — $86 million for educator professional development, $64 million for curriculum and instructional materials, and $18 million for literacy coaches. 'You can do two things at once,' Peske said. 'It's really important to kids that they have strong reading instruction and strong math instruction, so it's high time that Ohio focused on improving math instruction, especially at the elementary level.' Student math scores predict future earnings better than reading scores, Peske said. 'Strong math skills add up to better reading scores, stronger college readiness, and eventually even higher earnings for students,' she said. Ohio math scores are below pre-pandemic levels, according to the Nation's 2024 Report Card. Approximately 235,000 fourth-graders from 6,100 schools and 230,000 eighth-graders from 5,400 schools participated in the 2024 math and reading assessments between January and March of last year. In Ohio, the average fourth-grade math score was 239, two points higher than the national average and one point higher than the state's fourth grade math scores in 2022. The scale for NAEP scores is 0-500. The state's average eighth-grade math score was 279, seven points higher than the national average and three points higher than the state's 2022 test. 'If we want to improve student math outcomes, we really need to better prepare and support elementary teachers in their math instruction,' Peske said. Ohio lawmakers are paying attention to student math scores. Ohio Senate Bill 19 would require school districts or individual schools to come up with a math achievement improvement plan if they don't have at least 52% of students receive a proficient score in math comprehension. The bill has had three hearings so far in the Senate Education Committee. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Could phonics solve California's reading crisis? Inside the push for sweeping changes
To look inside Julie Celestial's kindergarten classroom in Long Beach is to peer into the future of reading in California. During a recent lesson, 25 kindergartners gazed at the whiteboard, trying to sound out the word "bee." They're learning the long 'e' sound, blending words such as 'Pete' and 'cheek' — words that they'll soon be able to read in this lesson's accompanying book. Celestial was teaching something new for Long Beach Unified: phonics. 'It's pretty cool to watch,' she said. 'I'm really anticipating that there's going to be a lot less reluctant readers and struggling readers now that the district has made this shift.' These phonics-based lessons are on the fast track to become law in California under a sweeping bill moving through the Legislature that will mandate how schools teach reading, a rare action in a state that generally emphasizes local school district control over dictating instruction. The bill is the capstone to decades of debate and controversy in California on how best to teach reading amid stubbornly low test scores. Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged his support, setting aside $200 million to fund teacher training on the new approach in the May revise of his 2025-26 budget proposal. "It's a big deal for kids, and it's a big step forward — a very big one," said Marshall Tuck, chief executive of EdVoice, an education advocacy nonprofit that has championed the change. California has long struggled with reading scores below the national average. In 2024, only 29% of California's fourth-graders scored "proficient" or better in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. The proposed law, which would take effect in phases beginning in 2026, would require districts to adopt instructional materials based on the "science of reading," a systemic approach to literacy instruction supported by decades of research about the way young children learn to read, from about transitional kindergarten through third grade. The science of reading consists of five pillars: phonemic awareness (the sounds that letters make), phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. 'It's finite. There's only 26 letters and 44 sounds," said Leslie Zoroya, who leads an initiative at the Los Angeles County Office of Education that helps districts transition to a science-of-reading approach. "Phonics isn't forever." Read more: New test score labels seek positivity, ditching the term 'standard not met' for 'below basic' After a failed effort last year, the bill gained the support this year of the influential California teachers unions and at least one advocacy group for English-language learners. In a compromise, school districts would have more flexibility to select which instructional materials are best for their students and the option to decline teacher training paid for by the state. For decades, most school districts in California have been devoted to a different approach called "whole language" or "balanced literacy," built on the belief that children naturally learn to read without being taught how to sound out words. Teachers focus on surrounding children with books intended to foster a love of reading and encourage them to look for clues that help them guess unknown words — such as predicting the next word based on the context of the story, or looking at the pictures — rather than sounding them out. "The majority of students require a more intentional, explicit and systematic approach," Zoroya said. "Thousands of kids across California in 10th grade are struggling in content-area classes because they missed phonics." California embraced the whole language approach to literacy, which took hold in the 1970s and 1980s, said Susan Neuman, a New York University professor who served as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education under former President George W. Bush. The state became a national leader in what was considered a progressive and holistic approach to teaching literacy, with a focus on discovering the joy of reading, rather than learning specific skills, she said. Bush then incorporated a phonics-heavy approach in an initiative that was part of his 2002 launch of No Child Left Behind, which increased the federal role in holding schools accountable for academic progress and required standardized testing. States, including California, received grants to teach a science-of-reading approach in high-poverty schools. But many teachers in the state disliked the more regimented approach, and when the funding ended, districts largely transitioned back to the whole language approach. In the years since, science of reading continues to draw opposition from teachers unions and advocates for dual-language learners. Read more: California school enrollment continues to drop as poor and homeless student numbers rise Many California teachers are passionate about the methods they already use and have chafed at a state-mandated approach to literacy education. Some don't like what they describe as "drill and kill" phonics lessons that teach letter sounds and decoding. Advocates for multiple-language learners, meanwhile, vociferously opposed adopting the most structured approach, worried that children who were still learning to speak English would not receive adequate support in language development and comprehension. A 2022 study of 300 school districts in California found that less than 2% of districts were using curricula viewed as following the science of reading. But the research has become clear: Looking at the pictures or context of a story to guess a word — as is encouraged in whole language or balanced literacy instruction, leads to struggles with reading. Children best learn to read by starting with foundational skills such as sounding out and decoding words. "Anything that takes your eyes off the text when a kid is trying to figure out a word activates the wrong side of the brain," Zoroya said. In the last few years, several larger districts in California have started to embrace more structured phonics learning, including Los Angeles Unified, Long Beach Unified and Oakland Unified. Recently, these districts have started to see improvement in their reading test scores. At Long Beach Unified, for example, the district's in-house assessment shows significant gains among kindergarten students. In 2023-24, 78% of them met reading standards, up 13 percentage points from the previous school year. Proficiency rates across first and second grade were above 70%, and transitional kindergarten was at 48%. The district's goal is to hit 85% proficiency across grades by the end of each school year. In 2019, LAUSD introduced a pilot science-of-reading based curriculum, and adopted it across all schools for the 2023-24 academic year. After the first year, LAUSD reading scores improved in every grade level and across every demographic, chief academic officer Frances Baez said. From the 2022-23 to the 2023-24 school years, LAUSD's English Language Arts scores improved by 1.9 percentage points — five times more than the state as a whole, which improved by 0.3, she said. Teresa Cole, a kindergarten instructor in the Lancaster School District, has been teaching for 25 years. So when Lancaster asked her to try out a new way of teaching her students to read three years ago, she wasn't thrilled. "I was hesitant and apprehensive to try it,' she said, but decided to throw herself into a new method that promised results. Teaching kindergarten is a challenge, she said, because children come in at vastly different stages. Many are just learning to hold a pencil; others can already read. She was seeing many children under "balanced literacy" lessons slip through the cracks — especially those with limited vocabularies. When she asked them to read words they didn't know, "it almost felt like they were guessing.' But as she began to teach a phonics lesson each morning and have them read decodable books — which have children practice the new sound they've learned — she noticed that her students were putting together the information much faster and starting to sound out words. "The results were immediate," she said. "We were blown away.' She was so impressed with the new curriculum that she started training other teachers in the district to use it as well. Read more: As children's book bans soar, sales are down and librarians are afraid. Even in California Looking back at her old method of teaching reading, 'I feel bad. I feel like maybe I wasn't the best teacher back then," Cole said. Part of the change, she said, was learning about the science behind how children learn to read. "I would never say to guess [a word] anymore," she said. This kind of buy-in and enthusiasm from teachers has been key to making the new curriculum work, said Krista Thomsen, Lancaster's director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Department. In schools where the teachers are implementing the program well, scores have started to rise. 'But it's a steep learning curve," she said, especially for teachers who have long taught a balanced literacy approach. "We are stumbling through this process trying to get it right and making sure that every one of our kids has equitable access to learning how to read,"Thomsen said. "But we have every faith and every intention, and the plan is in place to get it where it should be going." A bill introduced by Assemblymember Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) last year requiring a science-of-reading approach in California public schools did not even get a first hearing. This year, Rubio introduced another version — Assembly Bill 1121 — that would have required teachers to be trained in a science-of-reading approach. Opponents included the California Teachers Assn. and English-language learner advocates, who said in a joint letter that the bill would put a "disproportionate emphasis on phonics," and would not focus on the skills needed by students learning English as a second language. The groups also voiced concern that the bill would cut teachers out of the curriculum-selection process and that mandated training "undermines educators' professional expertise and autonomy to respond to the specific learning needs of their students." Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, said the group opposed both bills because they were too narrow in their focus on skills such as phonics. 'They're essential. But English learners need more, right?' she said. "They don't understand the language that they're learning to read.' Rubio said she was shocked by the pushback. 'I was thinking it was a no-brainer. It's about kids. This is evidence-based." Rubio, a longtime teacher, was born in Mexico, and was herself an English-language learner in California public schools. In 2024, just 19% of Latino students and 7% of Black students scored at or above "proficient" on the fourth-grade NAEP reading test. But with the support of Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), the groups reached a compromise that not all teachers would be required to participate in the teacher training. Hernandez said she was pleased that the compromise included more of an emphasis on oral language development and comprehension, which is vital for multi-language learners to succeed. AB1454 requires the State Board of Education to come up with a new list of recommended materials that all follow science of reading principles. If a district chooses materials not on the list, they have to vouch that it also complies. The state will provide funds for professional development, though districts can choose whether to accept it. This article is part of The Times' early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Could phonics solve California's reading crisis? Inside the push for sweeping changes
To look inside Julie Celestial's kindergarten classroom in Long Beach is to peer into the future of reading in California. During a recent lesson, 25 kindergartners gazed at the whiteboard, trying to sound out the word 'bee.' They're learning the long 'e' sound, blending words such as 'Pete' and 'cheek' — words that they'll soon be able to read in this lesson's accompanying book. Celestial was teaching something new for Long Beach Unified: phonics. 'It's pretty cool to watch,' she said. 'I'm really anticipating that there's going to be a lot less reluctant readers and struggling readers now that the district has made this shift.' These phonics-based lessons are on the fast track to become law in California under a sweeping bill moving through the Legislature that will mandate how schools teach reading, a rare action in a state that generally emphasizes local school district control over dictating instruction. The bill is the capstone to decades of debate and controversy in California on how best to teach reading amid stubbornly low test scores. Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged his support, setting aside $200 million to fund teacher training on the new approach in the May revise of his 2025-26 budget proposal. 'It's a big deal for kids, and it's a big step forward — a very big one,' said Marshall Tuck, chief executive of EdVoice, an education advocacy nonprofit that has championed the change. California has long struggled with reading scores below the national average. In 2024, only 29% of California's fourth-graders scored 'proficient' or better in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. The proposed law, which would take effect in phases beginning in 2026, would require districts to adopt instructional materials based on the 'science of reading,' a systemic approach to literacy instruction supported by decades of research about the way young children learn to read, from about transitional kindergarten through third grade. The science of reading consists of five pillars: phonemic awareness (the sounds that letters make), phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. 'It's finite. There's only 26 letters and 44 sounds,' said Leslie Zoroya, who leads an initiative at the Los Angeles County Office of Education that helps districts transition to a science-of-reading approach. 'Phonics isn't forever.' After a failed effort last year, the bill gained the support this year of the influential California teachers unions and at least one advocacy group for English-language learners. In a compromise, school districts would have more flexibility to select which instructional materials are best for their students and the option to decline teacher training paid for by the state. For decades, most school districts in California have been devoted to a different approach called 'whole language' or 'balanced literacy,' built on the belief that children naturally learn to read without being taught how to sound out words. Teachers focus on surrounding children with books intended to foster a love of reading and encourage them to look for clues that help them guess unknown words — such as predicting the next word based on the context of the story, or looking at the pictures — rather than sounding them out. 'The majority of students require a more intentional, explicit and systematic approach,' Zoroya said. 'Thousands of kids across California in 10th grade are struggling in content-area classes because they missed phonics.' California embraced the whole language approach to literacy, which took hold in the 1970s and 1980s, said Susan Neuman, a New York University professor who served as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education under former President George W. Bush. The state became a national leader in what was considered a progressive and holistic approach to teaching literacy, with a focus on discovering the joy of reading, rather than learning specific skills, she said. Bush then incorporated a phonics-heavy approach in an initiative that was part of his 2002 launch of No Child Left Behind, which increased the federal role in holding schools accountable for academic progress and required standardized testing. States, including California, received grants to teach a science-of-reading approach in high-poverty schools. But many teachers in the state disliked the more regimented approach, and when the funding ended, districts largely transitioned back to the whole language approach. In the years since, science of reading continues to draw opposition from teachers unions and advocates for dual-language learners. Many California teachers are passionate about the methods they already use and have chafed at a state-mandated approach to literacy education. Some don't like what they describe as 'drill and kill' phonics lessons that teach letter sounds and decoding. Advocates for multiple-language learners, meanwhile, vociferously opposed adopting the most structured approach, worried that children who were still learning to speak English would not receive adequate support in language development and comprehension. A 2022 study of 300 school districts in California found that less than 2% of districts were using curricula viewed as following the science of reading. But the research has become clear: Looking at the pictures or context of a story to guess a word — as is encouraged in whole language or balanced literacy instruction, leads to struggles with reading. Children best learn to read by starting with foundational skills such as sounding out and decoding words. 'Anything that takes your eyes off the text when a kid is trying to figure out a word activates the wrong side of the brain,' Zoroya said. In the last few years, several larger districts in California have started to embrace more structured phonics learning, including Los Angeles Unified, Long Beach Unified and Oakland Unified. Recently, these districts have started to see improvement in their reading test scores. At Long Beach Unified, for example, the district's in-house assessment shows significant gains among kindergarten students. In 2023-24, 78% of them met reading standards, up 13 percentage points from the previous school year. Proficiency rates across first and second grade were above 70%, and transitional kindergarten was at 48%. The district's goal is to hit 85% proficiency across grades by the end of each school year. In 2019, LAUSD introduced a pilot science-of-reading based curriculum, and adopted it across all schools for the 2023-24 academic year. After the first year, LAUSD reading scores improved in every grade level and across every demographic, chief academic officer Frances Baez said. From the 2022-23 to the 2023-24 school years, LAUSD's English Language Arts scores improved by 1.9 percentage points — five times more than the state as a whole, which improved by 0.3, she said. Teresa Cole, a kindergarten instructor in the Lancaster School District, has been teaching for 25 years. So when Lancaster asked her to try out a new way of teaching her students to read three years ago, she wasn't thrilled. 'I was hesitant and apprehensive to try it,' she said, but decided to throw herself into a new method that promised results. Teaching kindergarten is a challenge, she said, because children come in at vastly different stages. Many are just learning to hold a pencil; others can already read. She was seeing many children under 'balanced literacy' lessons slip through the cracks — especially those with limited vocabularies. When she asked them to read words they didn't know, 'it almost felt like they were guessing.' But as she began to teach a phonics lesson each morning and have them read decodable books — which have children practice the new sound they've learned — she noticed that her students were putting together the information much faster and starting to sound out words. 'The results were immediate,' she said. 'We were blown away.' She was so impressed with the new curriculum that she started training other teachers in the district to use it as well. Looking back at her old method of teaching reading, 'I feel bad. I feel like maybe I wasn't the best teacher back then,' Cole said. Part of the change, she said, was learning about the science behind how children learn to read. 'I would never say to guess [a word] anymore,' she said. This kind of buy-in and enthusiasm from teachers has been key to making the new curriculum work, said Krista Thomsen, Lancaster's director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Department. In schools where the teachers are implementing the program well, scores have started to rise. 'But it's a steep learning curve,' she said, especially for teachers who have long taught a balanced literacy approach. 'We are stumbling through this process trying to get it right and making sure that every one of our kids has equitable access to learning how to read,'Thomsen said. 'But we have every faith and every intention, and the plan is in place to get it where it should be going.' A bill introduced by Assemblymember Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) last year requiring a science-of-reading approach in California public schools did not even get a first hearing. This year, Rubio introduced another version — Assembly Bill 1121 — that would have required teachers to be trained in a science-of-reading approach. Opponents included the California Teachers Assn. and English-language learner advocates, who said in a joint letter that the bill would put a 'disproportionate emphasis on phonics,' and would not focus on the skills needed by students learning English as a second language. The groups also voiced concern that the bill would cut teachers out of the curriculum-selection process and that mandated training 'undermines educators' professional expertise and autonomy to respond to the specific learning needs of their students.' Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, said the group opposed both bills because they were too narrow in their focus on skills such as phonics. 'They're essential. But English learners need more, right?' she said. 'They don't understand the language that they're learning to read.' Rubio said she was shocked by the pushback. 'I was thinking it was a no-brainer. It's about kids. This is evidence-based.' Rubio, a longtime teacher, was born in Mexico, and was herself an English-language learner in California public schools. In 2024, just 19% of Latino students and 7% of Black students scored at or above 'proficient' on the fourth-grade NAEP reading test. But with the support of Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), the groups reached a compromise that not all teachers would be required to participate in the teacher training. Hernandez said she was pleased that the compromise included more of an emphasis on oral language development and comprehension, which is vital for multi-language learners to succeed. AB1454 requires the State Board of Education to come up with a new list of recommended materials that all follow science of reading principles. If a district chooses materials not on the list, they have to vouch that it also complies. The state will provide funds for professional development, though districts can choose whether to accept it. This article is part of The Times' early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Science
- Newsweek
Teacher Gives 4th Graders Anonymous 'Question Box'—Results Raise Eyebrows
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A fourth grade teacher has gone viral for showcasing the questions she got from her students when she allowed them to ask "any question they like." The teacher, who did not give her name but who posts to Reddit under the username u/goatsnsheeps, took to the r/pics sub on May 27, where she explained: "I have a question box where my 4th grade students can put in any question they like. Here are some." She explained in the comment section that she usually takes 10 minutes at the end of each day to answer the questions, some of which require research on her end so she can study the subject herself and relay it to the students in a way they will understand. Some of those questions were illustrated in the post, as she shared handwritten notes from her students asking things like "why do feet sweat," "how were languages made," "when did people discover colors," and "how does our body work? How does it bend easily?" Other questions were more subjective, like "when did people discover beautiful art," while some were straightforward: "When was coffee invented?" and the elementary-school favorite: "Who invented homework?" Among these questions were some more bizarre ponderings: "Why was brain rot made," and "What grass made out of," being a favorite among commenters in the post, which racked up more than 24,000 upvotes. One commenter wrote under the post, racking up more than 14,000 upvoted of their own: "WHAT GRASS MADE OUT OF?" with one person replying simply: "Green," and another joking: "But what was it called before people discovered colors?" One commenter advised the teacher: "Keep an eye on the 'who invented homework' kid. He seeks vengeance." Another said: "When did people discover beautiful art' is such an endearing and innocent question that most likely has an equally beautiful answer." One user suggested that the questions asked was a "very interesting display of the students' academic levels. Some seem way more advanced than their peers," with another pointing out that the students would have started kindergarten in 2020, and "a year or two of learning at home during a pandemic might be why there's such a range in abilities." Pictured: Stock image of a group of schoolchildren and their teacher in an elementary school classroom. Pictured: Stock image of a group of schoolchildren and their teacher in an elementary school classroom. dolgachov/Getty Images Studies have shown there is some merit to this concern: in January 2025, a report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that the reading and math skills of fourth and eighth-grade students have declined in multiple states to below the national average. Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, told reporters that they are "not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic," according to Education Week. The Reddit user wrote in a comment that all of her students ask "big questions," but they often reflect their "own personal interests." "For example, I have kids who ask a lot about cats and asked 'What is the world record for owning the most cats' and they have cats at home. Or I have students who play sports who submitted 'what was the first sport ever played?'" she said. She added: "Since starting this, the students and I both find it extremely rewarding," and she tries to "answer every single [question] as best I can." Newsweek has contacted u/goatsnsheeps via Reddit for comment on this story. Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to life@ with some extra details, and they could appear on our website.
