Holly Korbey

Hi Mark! I’d love to talk about that—want to email me at holly@hollykorbey.com?

Holy moley, this disconnect.

From @hollykorbey.bsky.social latest:
open.substack.com/pub/hollykor...

The phonics wars Two approaches to early reading, the science of learning and what happens next

The most mind-blowing thing I read this week was this by @hollykorbey.bsky.social on the "phonics wars" in the USA. UK readers may well be aware that the USA has only relatively recently got on board with phonics following the "Sold a Story" podcast but....

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Thank you for reading! And yes it’s a little crazy…

Maryland’s big bet on the science of learning They’re training all k-12 teachers in how the brain learns

In her recent piece @hollykorbey.bsky.social profiles edu leaders across Maryland who are leading a movement to align teaching with the #ScienceOfLearning—featuring DFI partners Laurie Henry @salisburyuniv.bsky.social, FCPS Maryland & @hoodcollege.bsky.social
hollykorbey.substack.com/p/marylands-...

Maryland’s Big Bet on the Science of Learning

Sounds like Maryland is doing something right! 👍👍

#edusky

@hollykorbey.bsky.social

This by @hollykorbey.bsky.social is going to a useful resource for the US. I am glad that UK education reporting tends to get more into the issues.

open.substack.com/pub/hollykor...

Thank you!

When the math wars win, kids lose A new report + a new petition call for schools to stop quibbling and use the 'science of math'

Thanks to @hollykorbey.bsky.social for covering Ben Solomon's petition to retract the NY Math briefs, which he describes as pseudoscience. Check out her newsletter here: hollykorbey.substack.com/p/when-the-m...

Is England on the right path for inclusion? In both England and the US, SEND provision suffers from poor funding, a lack of trained professionals and system overwhelm. But their responses to these challenges have been very different, with the U...

“We cannot have a perfect inclusion system - inclusion is a process”

This is one of those rare 'must read' articles on the topic of inclusion by @hollykorbey.bsky.social. It explores the realities of the SEND system in the UK & the US.

www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Is England on the right path for inclusion? In both England and the US, SEND provision suffers from poor funding, a lack of trained professionals and system overwhelm. But their responses to these challenges have been very different, with the U...

The US and UK are both in a spiral of increasing SEND requirements but are taking different paths in response - what can each show the other about the best way forward for pupils and staff?

Fascinating deep dive from @hollykorbey.bsky.social
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Beyond the theoretical and pedagogical constraints of cognitive load theory, and towards a new cognitive philosophy in education Cognitive load theory (CLT), a construct of instructional psychologist John Sweller, has long been a mainstay of educational psychology and university educational technology courses, regionally and...

I find it somewhere between unbelievable and disheartening that people without empirical research credentials propose a new, untested, unresearched theory of learning; a new cognitive philosophy (!!) of learning.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
predictablycorrect.substack.com/p/beyond-loa...

I just spoke with Ivana Greco about the supply side part of this issue.

@hollykorbey.bsky.social and I discussed it on the Bell Ringer podcast.

I’m gonna spend this school year talking about this one on repeat.

I was honored to be on The Pulse to explain the science of learning and why understanding how we learn matters so much more to transforming education than AI and the internet. Get a primer on the research and why it matters in this episode 👇

Thanks--and hi!! 😘

@sbook.bsky.social Hi Susan, I'm a reporter working on a story about special education inclusion, I can tell you more, would you be interested in talking to me? You can reach me at holly@hollykorbey.com. Thanks!

Thank you! Will do!

Help a reporter: I'm looking for experts on special education inclusion, who should I be talking to? For a story.

The U.S. ignores home-grown ed ideas that are accelerating progress overseas One could argue that the University of Virginia cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham is one of the most influential Americans of the 21st century. Willingham has observed that we have learned more...

US ignores home-grown education ideas that are accelerating progress overseas. fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...

Education professors scored no better than physics or business faculty on basic learning science, raising serious questions about teacher preparation programmes.
researchandeducation.ro/2025/06/30/d...

Opinion | A.I. Is Fueling a ‘Poverty of Imagination.’ Here’s How We Can Fix It.

"AI is not that novel. It is not that potentially revolutionary. It is in a long continuum of technologies that promise to transform education, starting with the TV, the typewriter, VCRs, tablets [and] Chromebooks."

- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...

The Practice Problem Research shows that students benefit from digital math practice platforms. So why don’t more students use them?

Teachers, school leaders, students and parents have a lot of problems with the digital math practice platforms that have become ubiquitous in classrooms, even though research shows they "work." So what do we mean by "work"? In education, it's complicated. www.educationnext.org/practice-pro...

Not only is Annie a friend, she's a subscriber and huge supporter of The Bell Ringer!! :)

4 ways to do explicit instruction right What does an explicit instruction lesson look like in real life?

In year after year of reform efforts, teachers had been told to “do explicit instruction,” with no roadmap on how to do it, or how to do it well.

@gtavernetti.bsky.social and @hollykorbey.bsky.social discuss.

open.substack.com/pub/hollykor...

so therefore we can never really nail down what it would take to help more kids. I fundamentally disagree with that. The science is complicated *and* there's some stuff we know. Would love for you to subscribe if you want to learn more, or want to pick out where I'm leaving out necessary nuance!

A lot of this circular arguing on social media, from my vantage point, looks like a way to weasel out of any accountability to children--the science is too complicated, you're calling it by the wrong thing, you're interviewing people I disagree with...

on things like the science of motivation, and how inquiry and DI overlap. My central argument, and I think it's a strong one, remains the same: there's research on how memory works, and how acquiring academic knowledge works, that many teachers don't know, and it would be good for them to know it.

People do have disagreements about the term SoL, I'm not sure it's great myself, but I have never maintained that this science boils down to two or three items. How can you know that about me? By reading my actual posts and stories, including stories on my Substack

You are basing your opinion of my work on stories you haven't read. You are welcome to critique whatever you want, but I can't respond in any meaningful way on what you think I might be saying behind the paywall.

Where are you finding in my work that I've said the science of learning is a unified field and acting like it's the only science available? Can you point to some stories so I can respond? Thank you!