I enjoy learning new things myself, so this past weekend I not only spoke at ResearchED NYC but also attended several sessions. I would like to briefly reflect on Ben Lovett’s talk about test anxiety. We had a very small audience for him, which surprised me. I consider the subject to be very topical, and… Read More Test anxiety: less about performance, more about preparation
Sometimes confirmation comes faster than expected. Last Saturday in New York, I argued that the real issue with AI in education is not a lack of studies, but a lack of good studies. And that a lot of people are drawing conclusions far too quickly from what is available. Today, I came across this post… Read More Extra evidence for one of the main points of my talk past Saturday in NYC: major article on AI in education retracted
I thought I’d start the week with a proper hot topic in education. There’s certainly no shortage of opinions about grouping students by attainment. Whether we’re talking about tracking (separating students into different programmes or pathways), setting (ability grouping within schools), or broader comprehensive models, the debate tends to return in the same form. Do… Read More Mixed attainment vs ability grouping: less about averages, more about trade-offs
Since slightly less research made the selection for my blog over the past few weeks, I am also taking a look at the studies I placed on the ‘to read someday’ pile. This one is from October 2024, but remains highly relevant. This study by Matthew Kraft and Melissa Arnold Lyon examines the state of… Read More Looking beyond the teacher shortage: 50 years of the profession
There is no shortage of studies on leadership in education. What is often lacking, however, is nuance regarding exactly how that leadership operates. This article by Nassir and Benoliel is interesting because it attempts precisely that: not only to examine whether leadership has an effect, but also how. In their research, both researchers start from… Read More Autonomy strengthens teams, but doesn’t keep teachers from leaving
There is currently no shortage of opinions on AI in education. What remains scarce, however, is solid evidence. That makes the recent report, The Evidence Base on AI in K-12: A 2026 Review, interesting. Not because it brings spectacular conclusions, but precisely because it does not. It exposes just how thin the real knowledge base still is,… Read More AI in education: what 800 studies do (and don’t) tell us
We hear it all the time: we have to work longer. This leads to tensions, strikes, and demonstrations. Just this week, among the pilots in the country where I live. But… are there also personal benefits to working longer? It is perhaps a question that some might find offensive, but it is one that Noah Arman… Read More Does working longer keep your brain sharp? The answer is nuanced
When I talk to people about demographics, after a while we quickly run into *the* question: why are we having fewer children? A popular explanation is that more education for women means marrying later, having children later, and ultimately having fewer children. That narrative is so deeply ingrained in how we think about education and demographics… Read More Doesn’t education lead to fewer children after all?
*Update*: Daniël Muijs sent me this link. I’ve added this to this blog! This blog exists because of the almighty RSS feeds. When I checked my Old Reader today, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is what I saw: I haven’t clicked on every single article, but this is an example of one of the… Read More This morning’s RSS feed: a wave of BERA retractions (and what it says about academic publishing)
This is one of those studies where your first thought is: yes, we already know that. And yet, it is worth taking a moment to read more slowly. Guixia Wang and her colleagues analysed PISA data from more than 400,000 students in 53 countries. Their question was simple: how does achievement motivation relate to school-related anxiety?… Read More More motivation at school, more anxiety?