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

New Evidence Affirms Teachers Should Go Slow Using AI to Grade Essays

When ChatGPT was released to the public in November 2022, advocates and watchdogs warned about the potential for racial bias. The new large language model was…

How are Teens Using AI?

Two new surveys, both released this month, show how high school and college-age students are embracing artificial intelligence. There are some inconsistencies…

Seniority-Based Teacher Layoffs Hurt Low-Income Students

Teacher layoffs are likely this fall as $190 billion in federal pandemic aid expires. By one estimate, schools spent a fifth of their temporary funds on hiring…

The Potential of AI Feedback to Improve Student Writing

This week I challenged my editor to face off against a machine. Barbara Kantrowitz gamely accepted, under one condition: “You have to file early.

Three Lessons School Districts Have Learned About Contracting for Results

Schools spend billions of dollars a year on products and services, including everything from staplers and textbooks to teacher coaching and training. Does any of it help students learn more?

Can Artificial Intelligence Grade Student Essays?

Grading papers is hard work. “I hate it,” a teacher friend confessed to me. And that’s a major reason why middle and high school teachers don’t assign more…

School Segregation 70 Years After Brown v. Board of Education

It was one of the most significant days in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 17, 1954, the nine justices unanimously ruled in Brown v.

Math Teachers Rely Heavily on the Internet for Instructional Materials

Writing lesson plans has traditionally been a big part of a teacher’s job. But this doesn’t mean they should be starting from a blank slate. Ideally…