Author: Matt Barnum

Chalkbeat Ideas is a new section featuring reported columns on the big ideas and debates shaping American schools. Sign up for the Ideas newsletter to follow our work.“The Southern surge” — learning gains in a number of Southern states — has drawn a remarkable wave of attention in recent weeks. A growing chorus of voices say these states offer a playbook to reverse a decade of nationwide learning declines. It’s “the biggest education story of the last few years,” wrote David Brooks in the New York Times. It’s even come up in the New Jersey governor’s race.So I wanted to…