What We Lost And When We Lost It - Part 2

Send us Fan Mail Part two of the science crisis conversation picks up where last week left off. Alyse makes the case that NCLB and ESSA weren't malicious, they were underfunded, and that gap between policy intent and policy follow-through set the stage for everything that came after. Then the tech surge arrived and compounded the problem. TIMSS data shows the same pattern across four different subject and grade combinations: the more in-school computer use goes up, the more scores go down, and that trend predates the pandemic. This episode connects both threads back to one root cause and sets up the rest of the season. Resources & Links Mentioned Abundance — Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson (affiliate link) Jackson, C.K., Wigger, C., & Xiong, H. (2018/2021). "Do School Spending Cuts Matter? Evidence from the Great Recession." NBER Working Paper No. 24203; published version in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 13(2), 304–335. https://www.nber.org/papers/w24203  National Endowment for the Arts — "Educating Ourselves about Childhood Arts Experiences—and Why They Matter" (2025), based on Snapshots of Arts Education in Childhood and Adolescence: Access and Outcomes. https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2025/educating-ourselves-about-childhood-arts-experiences-and-why-they-matter  Broh, B. A. (2002). "Linking Extracurricular Programming to Academic Achievement: Who Benefits and Why?" Sociology of Education, 75(1), 69–95. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3090254 Special note about this study & my comments: research is mixed and depends on activity type, with sports participation showing the most consistent positive relationship to achievement in nationally representative data.  Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong — Emily Hanford, APM Reports. https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/  TIMSS 2019 data — daily computer users scored 41 points lower in math and 51 points lower in science than infrequent users. https://timss2019.org/international-database/  The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning - And How to Help Them Thrive Again — Jared Cooney Horvath (2025), LME Global. (affiliate link) About Alyse Alyse is a veteran high school science teacher in Pennsylvania, curriculum writer, and former cancer researcher. She's the founder of Keystone Science, which provides NGSS-aligned, inquiry-based science resources for secondary science teachers. Alyse strongly believes every student deserves a real science education, regardless of background, language, or ability, not a watered-down version of one. In addition to her teaching load, she currently serves on the PA Science Leadership Collaborative, a state-level committee that provides insights into the implementation of the PA STEELS standards. Comments and analysis in this podcast are her own and do not reflect the position or views of the PA Department of Education. Outside the classroom, she's outside: hiking, kayaking, running, creek walking, bee & birdwatching in her backyard, or elbow-deep in the garden. She's a self-certified tree hugger who has never met a tree she didn't want to save. Most days, though, she's the full-time chauffeur to two very busy kids. 🌐 Keystone Science Website 📧 Sign Up for the Keystone Science Email List