Jill Barshay

Jill Barshay, a senior reporter at The Hechinger Report, writes the weekly “Proof Points” column about education research and data, covering a range of topics from early childhood to higher education. She taught algebra to ninth-graders for the 2013-14 school year. Previously, Barshay was the New York bureau chief for Marketplace, a national business show on public radio stations. She has also written for Congressional Quarterly, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Financial Times, and appeared on CNN and ABC News.

Work by Jill Barshay

Students Tried Khanmigo’s AI Tutor. Most Didn’t Want Its Help.

Soon after the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, students figured out how to use the chatbot as an answer machine, getting it to do their school work…

Celebrated Community College Program Boosts Graduation, But the Long-Term Impact Is Murkier

Every community college reformer wants to help more students earn degrees and get through college faster. A much-admired City University of New York support…

Students Slow Down, Learn More With an AI Tutor

Artificial intelligence makes many tasks faster and easier. But a new study suggests that students may learn more when AI makes them slow down.

What Happens When Tutoring and EdTech Vendors’ Pay Depends on Student Results?

School purchasing can seem like an administrative backwater, far removed from the heart of teaching and learning. But the way schools buy products and services…

Proposed Federal Grant Rules Could Increase Political Oversight of Education Research

The research behind the influential “science of reading” movement was built over decades through federally supported research spanning cognitive science…

When Teachers Rely on AI, Student Engagement Drops, Study Finds

Artificial intelligence is often promoted as a way to make teachers more effective by helping them write lesson plans, generate classroom materials and provide…

Math Students May Learn Less Using AI

When ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, educators quickly asked whether students would use artificial intelligence to cheat, learn or simply get through homework…

Michigan Schools Offer Clues for Tackling Chronic Absenteeism

Absenteeism is a huge and seemingly intractable problem for the nation’s public schools. And Michigan has one of the worst attendance rates in the country.