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PL Thomas EdD

@plthomasedd.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1.7K following 6.1K posts

P. L. Thomas, Professor, Furman University. Teacher/Writer/Poet. Social media is not my classroom. Posts represent me only and no organization linktr.ee/plthomas Literacy (reading and composition) and education policy, comic book scholarship

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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 51m
The More Things Change ... : The Bi-Partisan Failure of Public Education (SC Edition) paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-more-t...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
The More Things Change ... : The Bi-Partisan Failure of Public Education (SC Edition)
“I am doomed, despite good intentions, to doing the bidding of the powerful in the name of intercultural education.” Paul Gorki (2008)
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 3h
Poem: The 451 App (22 August 2022) paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/poem-the-4...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Poem: The 451 App (22 August 2022)
"So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it." Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 3h
Teaching English in the “Science Of Reading” Era: We Teach English in Times of Perpetual Crisis: The Media Continue to Misread Teaching Reading and Literacy | ncte.org - publicationsncte.org/content/jour...
ncte.org
NCTE
NCTE amplifies the voice of educators through personal connection, collaboration, and a shared mission to improve the teaching and learning of English and language arts at all levels.
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 3h
Teaching English in the “Science of Reading” Era: We Teach English in Times of Perpetual Crisis: Selling a Story of Reading | ncte.org - publicationsncte.org/content/jour...
ncte.org
NCTE
NCTE amplifies the voice of educators through personal connection, collaboration, and a shared mission to improve the teaching and learning of English and language arts at all levels.
021
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 3h
We Teach English in Times of Perpetual Crisis: The Long (and Tedious) History of Reading Crisis | ncte.org - publicationsncte.org/content/jour...
ncte.org
NCTE
NCTE amplifies the voice of educators through personal connection, collaboration, and a shared mission to improve the teaching and learning of English and language arts at all levels.
000
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 3h
Teaching English in the “Science of Reading” Era: We Teach English in Times of Perpetual Crisis: For All ELA Teachers, “the Time Is Always Now” | ncte.org - publicationsncte.org/content/jour...
ncte.org
NCTE
NCTE amplifies the voice of educators through personal connection, collaboration, and a shared mission to improve the teaching and learning of English and language arts at all levels.
000
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
Education Journalism and Education Reform as Industry paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/education-...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Education Journalism and Education Reform as Industry
“The administrations in charge never cease announcing supposedly necessary reforms: to reform schools, to reform industries, hospitals, the armed forces, prisons” Gilles Deleuze
000
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/broken-new...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality
“[Louisa Moats] won the hearts and minds of a certain group of people while drawing the eye roll of others.” Rachael Gabriel
100
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”? paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-kids-t...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”?
“[R]ecent editorials...maintain that current deficiencies in reading are the product of ‘pseudo-scientific bungling’ and ... progressive methods of teaching.” William S. Gray (1942)
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/journalist...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education
“I once took a knife skills class, and they just show you how to chop an onion.” Matthew Yglesias
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different” paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/education-...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different”
“[T]he What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) should actually be called the Nothing Works Clearinghouse.” Drew Bailey and Tyler Watts
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/podcast-na...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World
“That said, we are still on a journey together, my students in me, seeking and confronting ways to navigate ungrading and workshop in a graded world.” P.L. Thomas
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 4h
AI Is Coming To Kill Is All! grimoiremanor.substack.com/p/ai-is-comi...
grimoiremanor.substack.com
AI Is Coming To Kill Is All!
But first, it must figure out the Oxford comma...
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Reposted by PL Thomas EdD
Grow Beyond Grades @growbeyondgrades.org · 5h
Does some of your best teaching run aground on grades? Writing workshop is one example—but so are inquiry, projects, performance, experimentation, revision & collaboration. Join @plthomasedd.bsky.social + the GBG community Saturday at noon ET. growbeyondgrades.org/events/10oct...
growbeyondgrades.org
Community Gathering - Navigating Ungrading in a Graded World with Paul Thomas — Grow Beyond Grades
For more than four decades, educator and writer Paul Thomas has been rethinking the relationship among grades, feedback, writing, and learning. Following this week’s podcast, join Paul for a conversat...
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 22h
Department of Education denies Freedom of Information Act request for school voucher data otherduties.substack.com/p/department...
otherduties.substack.com
Department of Education denies request for school voucher data
On September 24, 2026, I submitted a Freedom Information Act request to the South Carolina Department of Education requesting “copies of all student test results submitted to the Department for the 20...
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
We train students to be risk averse. They don’t want to take any chances. And I’m like, that’s not how you learn things. —P.L. Thomas @GBGEdu @growbeyondgrades.org growbeyondgrades.org/blog/10-26pl...
growbeyondgrades.org
Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World — Grow Beyond Grades
For more than four decades, educator and writer P. L. Thomas has been rethinking the relationship among grades, feedback, writing, and learning. In this episode, he explores ungrading, writing worksho...
021
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
www.ethicalela.com/mary-oliver-...
ethicalela.com
Mary Oliver in Middle Age
There are poets we read, and there are poets we return to. Their words find us again in classrooms, in our own writing, in seasons of change, grief, wonder, and becoming. Sometimes we return to a s…
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Dr. Shanahan is Really Wrong About Three-Cueing ilec300.substack.com/p/dr-shanaha...
ilec300.substack.com
Dr. Shanahan is Really Wrong About Three-Cueing
The Science of Reading Act of 2026 (H.R. 7890)
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in 5 women is sexually assaulted on campus. Should we ban frats? | Jessica Valenti
Jessica Valenti: When so much sexual violence surrounds around one area of student life, something must be done
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
What's Wrong With Educational Research (Part 23,881) curmudgucation.substack.com/p/whats-wron...
curmudgucation.substack.com
What's Wrong With Educational Research (Part 23,881)
Noah Smith is an “econ blogger” who mostly does econ stuff, but a week ago he decided to take a swipe at education.
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Why are we addicted to Personality Tests? open.substack.com/pub/mannynoa...
open.substack.com
Why are we addicted to personality tests?
And are they even accurate?
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/broken-new...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality
“[Louisa Moats] won the hearts and minds of a certain group of people while drawing the eye roll of others.” Rachael Gabriel
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”? paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-kids-t...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”?
“[R]ecent editorials...maintain that current deficiencies in reading are the product of ‘pseudo-scientific bungling’ and ... progressive methods of teaching.” William S. Gray (1942)
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/journalist...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education
“I once took a knife skills class, and they just show you how to chop an onion.” Matthew Yglesias
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different” paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/education-...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different”
“[T]he What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) should actually be called the Nothing Works Clearinghouse.” Drew Bailey and Tyler Watts
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/podcast-na...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World
“That said, we are still on a journey together, my students in me, seeking and confronting ways to navigate ungrading and workshop in a graded world.” P.L. Thomas
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The House that TurnItIn Built 2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/the-house-th...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com
The House that TurnItIn Built
I gave this talk this afternoon at Concordia University, as part of the SkepTech series questioning education technology. Today's bird, which does not appear anywhere in the talk, is the house sparro...
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Experimenting With Our Children: Who Answers to the 18-Year-Old the Voucher Failed? schoolfinance101.com/2026/10/02/e...
schoolfinance101.com
Experimenting With Our Children: Who Answers to the 18-Year-Old the Voucher Failed?
Arizona and Florida fund universal ESAs, regulate receipts rather than learning, and leave a student who reaches 18 uneducated with almost no legal recourse.
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Not the Mere Creature of Anyone: A Century of Parental Control Over Schooling, and the Case for Children’s Recourse schoolfinance101.com/2026/10/06/n...
schoolfinance101.com
Not the Mere Creature of Anyone: A Century of Parental Control Over Schooling, and the Case for Children’s Recourse
For a hundred years the Supreme Court has asked how much control parents get over schooling, and almost never what the child is owed. Now public money follows the answer, the post-Espinoza end game…
020
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
We train students to be risk averse. They don’t want to take any chances. And I’m like, that’s not how you learn things. —P.L. Thomas @GBGEdu @growbeyondgrades.org growbeyondgrades.org/blog/10-26pl...
growbeyondgrades.org
Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World — Grow Beyond Grades
For more than four decades, educator and writer P. L. Thomas has been rethinking the relationship among grades, feedback, writing, and learning. In this episode, he explores ungrading, writing worksho...
031
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Counter-Narratives: Mississippi Reading Reform [Updated] paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/counter-na...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Counter-Narratives: Mississippi Reading Reform [Updated]
"Both miracles and scams usually start out small and then grow large." Howard Wainer (Review: Miracle Children)
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/broken-new...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality
“[Louisa Moats] won the hearts and minds of a certain group of people while drawing the eye roll of others.” Rachael Gabriel
000
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”? paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-kids-t...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”?
“[R]ecent editorials...maintain that current deficiencies in reading are the product of ‘pseudo-scientific bungling’ and ... progressive methods of teaching.” William S. Gray (1942)
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/journalist...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education
“I once took a knife skills class, and they just show you how to chop an onion.” Matthew Yglesias
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different” paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/education-...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different”
“[T]he What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) should actually be called the Nothing Works Clearinghouse.” Drew Bailey and Tyler Watts
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/podcast-na...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World
“That said, we are still on a journey together, my students in me, seeking and confronting ways to navigate ungrading and workshop in a graded world.” P.L. Thomas
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Banning Books Should Be Un-American paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/banning-bo...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Banning Books Should Be Un-American
"Tennessee reportedly has 1,000 to 2,000 total book bans, as does Texas. Florida has somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000." Peter Burditt, The Tennessean (27 July 2026)
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
pen.org/report/book-...
pen.org
A Spotlight on School Book Bans
Nearly 12,000 books were banned in public schools during the 2025-2026 school year, according to PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans.
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Planck scale for program evaluation mysticsandstatisticsblog.substack.com/p/the-planck...
mysticsandstatisticsblog.substack.com
The Planck scale for program evaluation
Why small effects break all the rules of evidence-based policy
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PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We train students to be risk averse. They don’t want to take any chances. And I’m like, that’s not how you learn things. —P.L. Thomas @GBGEdu @growbeyondgrades.org growbeyondgrades.org/blog/10-26pl...
growbeyondgrades.org
Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World — Grow Beyond Grades
For more than four decades, educator and writer P. L. Thomas has been rethinking the relationship among grades, feedback, writing, and learning. In this episode, he explores ungrading, writing worksho...
052
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Parent Trap paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-parent...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
The Parent Trap
“I know my child”
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Education Journalism and Education Reform as Industry paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/education-...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Education Journalism and Education Reform as Industry
“The administrations in charge never cease announcing supposedly necessary reforms: to reform schools, to reform industries, hospitals, the armed forces, prisons” Gilles Deleuze
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/broken-new...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Broken News: The Paradox of Education Journalism Quality
“[Louisa Moats] won the hearts and minds of a certain group of people while drawing the eye roll of others.” Rachael Gabriel
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”? paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-kids-t...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”?
“[R]ecent editorials...maintain that current deficiencies in reading are the product of ‘pseudo-scientific bungling’ and ... progressive methods of teaching.” William S. Gray (1942)
031
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/journalist...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Journalists Need an Evidence-Based Reckoning: This Week in Nonsense about Education
“I once took a knife skills class, and they just show you how to chop an onion.” Matthew Yglesias
020
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different” paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/education-...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Education Reform Needs Reform: “And Now For Something Completely Different”
“[T]he What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) should actually be called the Nothing Works Clearinghouse.” Drew Bailey and Tyler Watts
010
PL Thomas EdD @plthomasedd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/podcast-na...
paulthomas701128.substack.com
Podcast: Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World
“That said, we are still on a journey together, my students in me, seeking and confronting ways to navigate ungrading and workshop in a graded world.” P.L. Thomas
020
Reposted by PL Thomas EdD
Grow Beyond Grades @growbeyondgrades.org · 04/10/2026
🎙️ New on the Grow Beyond Grades podcast: P. L. Thomas on ungrading, writing workshop, feedback, grade contracts—and why grades can make learners risk-averse. @plthomasedd.bsky.social @achiaravalli.bsky.social 🎧 growbeyondgrades.org/blog/10-26pl...
growbeyondgrades.org
Navigating Ungrading and Workshop in a Graded World — Grow Beyond Grades
For more than four decades, educator and writer P. L. Thomas has been rethinking the relationship among grades, feedback, writing, and learning. In this episode, he explores ungrading, writing worksho...
022
Reposted by PL Thomas EdD
Arthur Chiaravalli @achiaravalli.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I really enjoyed my conversation with @plthomasedd.bsky.social. Got me thinking about how the richest teaching and learning experiences (such as writer's workshop) run aground on grades. Love to hear your thoughts, and hope to see you at the follow-up Community Gathering!
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Reposted by PL Thomas EdD
Grow Beyond Grades @growbeyondgrades.org · 04/10/2026
P. L. Thomas has been experimenting with different ways of thinking about grades, feedback, writing, and learning for decades. We’re thrilled to have his voice in Beyond Grades—and in this week’s Grow Beyond Grades conversation.
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