Holly Korbey

Nashville

Education journalist, author of BUILDING BETTER CITIZENS. Subscribe to The Bell Ringer, get smart about the science of learning: https://t.co/TW2VPLplk8

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Articles

Why phonics is still fighting the reading wars

3 days ago | tes.com | Holly Korbey

When Rhode Island’s Right to Read Act was passed in the US in 2019, Kari Kurto was hired to help implement the law, which was supposed to begin training teachers in structured literacy and the science of reading. Kurto, who is the national science-of-reading project director at The Reading League, an advocacy non-profit, felt like things were finally beginning to change.
Summer school

1 week ago | hollykorbey.substack.com | Holly Korbey

* Got tips or ideas? Want to work with me? Get in touch: [email protected]. Big news, Bell Ringers: It’s time for summer school! But not *that* kind of summer school. We’re going to have some fun. Read on to find out how to sign up. But first, more on reading whole books.
Why US schools have fallen in love with scripted lessons

2 months ago | tes.com | Holly Korbey

While there’s no official way to measure it, scripted curricula seem to be on the rise in US schools. More elementary schools are using structured, scripted lessons found in literacy curricula such as the University of Florida Literacy Institute Foundations owing to their positive research results in teaching pupils to read.
Training Teachers Like Doctors: Going From the Bare Minimum to Intensive Prep

2 months ago | the74million.org | Holly Korbey

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Josie Defreese’s first days as a high school English teacher last year were a little chaotic. Graduating from college just weeks before, Defreese took a job at Beech Grove High School in a diverse Indianapolis suburb, replacing two teachers in a row who had quit. “I had nothing, no resources,” Defreese said.
The building blocks of math that students need to excel - but aren’t always getting

Feb 25, 2025 | youthtoday.org | Holly Korbey

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education. A flexible understanding of how numbers work is as important to math as phonics is to readingStudents in Melissa Williams’ kindergarten class at the Westminster School in Atlanta, Georgia, practice connecting quantities to written numbers — a key part of number sense.
‘Number sense’ is one of the building blocks of math

Feb 19, 2025 | hechingerreport.org | Holly Korbey

ATLANTA — Students gathered around a bright blue number board in Melissa Williams’ kindergarten class at the Westminster School, gazing at the bank of 100 blank squares, organized in rows and columns of 10. Their assignment was to pick a numbered tile and figure out where it should go on the board. The task seems simple, but Williams’ goal was to bolster students’ “number sense” — a difficult-to-define skill, but one that is nevertheless essential for more advanced mathematics.
Is the 'Louisiana Miracle' next? Plus a new Tools for Practice

Jan 31, 2025 | hollykorbey.substack.com | Holly Korbey

Welcome, Bell Ringers, to the only artisanally handcrafted newsletter focused on news, tools and resources for the science of learning. I’m so happy you’re here. If you’ve ever wondered what’s happening behind the paywall, and want to join the comments discussion and get access to the full archive, try it out for seven days here:The Bell Ringer is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The evolution of 'no excuses' behaviour approaches

Jan 15, 2025 | tes.com | Holly Korbey

When Vanderbilt University sociologist Joanne Golann arrived at “Dream Academy”, her pseudonym for a US urban charter school, back in the early 2010s, she witnessed a behaviour management system that many in schools worldwide would say tilted towards the severe. Hallways were completely silent between classes. Students received detentions for minor infractions, like putting their head on their desk, and started off the year seated on the floor, until they “earned” the right to sit in a chair.
Just Tell Them: A conversation with Zach Groshell

Nov 22, 2024 | hollykorbey.substack.com | Holly Korbey

I’m excited to bring you another Bell Ringer special: a long-form, in-depth conversation with a top educator in the growing science of learning field. Instructional coach, author and podcaster Zach Groshell has a new book out November 26 on how teachers can use explanation to improve student learning. Check it out below—and as always, get everything The Bell Ringer has to offer by becoming a paying subscriber.
A Novel Burden

Nov 15, 2024 | hollykorbey.substack.com | Holly Korbey

Very excited to share The Bell Ringer’s first guest essay! We’ve got a banger today from Cafeteria Duty, a high school administrator in the U.S. who writes one of my favorite Substacks (CD’s post “Is Teaching Novels Even Worth It?”, which was also published at The Grade, is a personal favorite).