Jonathan Zimmerman

Jonathan Zimmerman states that literacy rates were low after the Civil War, particularly in the South and poorer states.

Jonathan Zimmerman states that cultural spaces should prioritize free and open dialogue, even when discussions are unsettling, asserting that public thinkers and artists must embrace the "rough-and-tumble" of discourse as essential to their mission.

Jonathan Zimmerman observes that America's "brittle and abusive" political climate has shifted culture war debates within education from race to issues of gender and sexuality, disproportionately impacting English teachers who more directly address these subjects in their curricula.

Topics like the upcoming presidential election may lead to difficult discussions in communities and classrooms. Jonathan Zimmerman offers advice on how to facilitate constructive dialogue among your students.

Jonathan Zimmerman argues that college rankings should prioritize teaching quality, advocating for classroom observations to assess professor effectiveness rather than relying on inadequate metrics like salaries or student evaluations.

Jonathan Zimmerman writes that the type of well-rounded teaching that Tim Walz was known for in his educational career would not be possible today because of standardized testing.

Jonathan Zimmerman argues that the push to weaken tenure will hurt all professors, and warns that these efforts can be turned on conservative professors, even though they are being used against progressive professors currently.

Jonathan Zimmerman argues that Congress should not pass a law that uses the IHRA's definition of antisemitism, because it would prevent debate and discussion about what constitutes antisemitism on college campuses.

Jonathan Zimmerman discussed free speech and academic freedom in relation to concerns of antisemetic speech on campus, and what the definition of such speech would be.

Jonathan Zimmerman explains that controversy around what is being taught in classrooms is nothing new, but what is new is the aggressive legislative approach states are taking.

“State legislatures have now used the power of law to try to inscribe one view, and to prevent another,” Jonathan Zimmerman told the Washington Post.

A new year means a new version of the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, with the 2024 edition announced yesterday by Education Week. Nine researchers from the University of Pennsylvania made the annual 200-member list, which was created by Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to gauge the public impact of ed scholars’ contributions.

As schools find themselves at the epicenter of debates surrounding issues like race, gender and sexual orientation, educators must grapple with the challenges of a rapidly politicized classroom environment.

Jonathan Zimmerman considers quality monitoring in schools a civic responsibility given the need for an educated populace.

In the wake of the Supreme Court striking down affirmative action, Jonathan Zimmerman writes that what will really make a difference for Black and brown students is improved classroom instruction.

Jonathan Zimmerman says a new take on summer schooling could connect more teachers with the passion and idealism that brought them into education in the first place.

Jonathan Zimmerman says that, in light of affirmative action being overturned, some colleges may base admissions on income. That could bring in more white working-class students, which will make campuses more ideologically diverse places.

Jonathan Zimmerman says, “The best thing we could do to promote equity and inclusion in higher education would be to provide more tutoring and other academic support to first-generation and minority students."

Jonathan Zimmerman calls the moves for conservative lawmakers becoming university presidents an “erosion of trust” in higher education to be unbiased.

Jonathan Zimmerman criticizes legislation limiting what can be taught about American history.

Jonathan Zimmerman criticizes the censorship of books in school as inhibiting free discussion.

Jonathan Zimmerman says people should not be stopped from choosing to participate in 'segregated' graduation ceremonies specialized for minority groups.

Jonathan Zimmerman says our colleges and universities do not effectively expose students to different points of view.

Jonathan Zimmerman says the political “self-segregation” of students who want to avoid other viewpoints doesn’t help political divisions.

Jonathan Zimmerman sees the effort to bring religion into the classroom as–in some parts of the laws–clearly unconstitutional, while others are a bit more complicated.

Jonathan Zimmerman says landing a tenure-track job has become akin to winning the lottery.

Jonathan Zimmerman explained that attacks on Critical Race Theory and Social and Emotional Learning by conservatives represent a new nationalization of educational politics.

Sigal Ben-Porath and Jonathan Zimmerman study the boundaries of free speech and censorship in classrooms and curriculums.

Most adults think Black History Month is integral to the American story — but they disagree over whether it gets too much attention, according to a recent survey focused on polarization around American history and how to defuse the culture wars.

The results mean public schools need to do a better job of teaching both the history of minority groups and “what binds all of us together,” says Professor Jonathan Zimmerman, a #PennGSEExpert in the history of education.

Zimmerman noted that "American exceptionalism" is a rallying cry for the political right, but is not enshrined in law as an educational goal.

Zimmerman explains that hoop earrings were popular among both genders long before they were referenced in rap songs.

Jonathan Zimmerman is lauded for having shaped educational practice and policy in 2022.

Eight University of Pennsylvania-affiliated researchers are ranked in the top 200 nationwide – and all eight are associated with Penn GSE.

Jonathan Zimmerman argues that it would be unlikely for a tenured professor like Professor Wax to be forced out simply because students were not interested in attending her classes.

Jonathan Zimmerman claims that most higher education institutions have not taken adequate steps to determine the impact of remote teaching on student learning, and this lack of effort is the real scandal.

Jonathan Zimmerman discusses the opt-out option included in the guidelines for teaching sex education in schools and suggest similar compromises be applied to alleviate the polarized views on book bans.

Jonathan Zimmerman, expert on the history of education, discusses how Florida Governor Ron Desantis is making public schools a "national political project." Zimmerman explains that historically teachers get fired for differences in political idealogies that arise at a local or state level, but not any more.

Jonathan Zimmerman writes that history can inform our contemporary debates, but it can’t resolve them.

The United States has come to an inflection point in our disagreements about what America is and what it means, says Jonathan Zimmerman.

Penn GSE's Jonathan Zimmerman and editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson are recognized for their contribution to the conversation about free speech. 

Jonathan Zimmerman speaks about how teaching has been ignored until recently because “it has never been professionalized.” He says research has received more attention while teaching has gotten less, and suggests four guidelines for those considering peer review of teaching.

Jonathan Zimmerman opined that the role of an educational institution is to make its students more aware, informed and thoughtful adults through structured dialogue – not necessarily to discipline them for words spoken and actions taken in the past.

Jonathan Zimmerman said that bills banning the teaching of so-called “critical race theory” in schools could create more problems for conservatives than they solve. “I understand the danger of indoctrination in our schools, about race and everything else,” he said. “But the solution to that problem is to present multiple perspectives in our classrooms, not to bar certain perspectives from them.”

Jonathan Zimmerman posed tough questions about who will instruct students about the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Most of our history teachers, he says, are not adequately educated for that task.

Jonathan Zimmerman proposed a domestic sister city program to alleviate partisan divisions and remind Americans of their commonalities.

Jonathan Zimmerman asked, “Can we be honest about critical race theory (CRT)?” He argues the topic has become highly politicized. To confront biases, one must share different versions of America with students and allow them to use critical thinking skills to confront conflicting truths and weigh opposing arguments.

Jonathan Zimmerman talks about his latest book and the state of education in the U.S. In addition to failing to teach people how to distinguish information from disinformation, the education system hasn’t taught them to engage across differences, Zimmerman says. “The only institution that has even a chance of intervening in that,” he says, “is a school.”

Jonathan Zimmerman discusses a trend across higher education, where we’re relying on draconian penalties — especially suspensions — to discipline our students instead of working with them to help them get better.

Jonathan Zimmerman told The 74 that the sometimes vituperative arguments about American ideals and history held a vital place in K-12 classrooms.

Jonathan Zimmerman writes about the declining availability of tenure-track positions and a movement toward preparing doctoral students for jobs outside the academy, but suspects the change will come from outside of the academy, not from within it.

In a virtual forum moderated by Penn GSE Dean Pam Grossman, Dr. Jonathan Zimmerman, Penn Law Professor Jacques deLisle, and Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at Penn Global Amy Gadsden discussed the challenges of ensuring free speech in digital learning spaces.

Jonathan Zimmerman’s The Amateur Hour: A History of College Teaching in America is a richly researched, eye-opening history of college teaching in the United States over a span of more than a century and a half, mining personal papers and institutional records and reports from over 50 archives.

Considered one of the foremost education historians today, Zimmerman has been listed among Education Week’s annual Top 100 "Edu-Scholars" who influence public discussion in the USA for the past decade.

Jonathan Zimmerman advocated for a program that would enlist college students and other young adults to support school-aged children with online learning and extracurricular activities in exchange for a small stipend during the pandemic.

Jonathan Zimmerman wrote about efforts by those at both ends of the political spectrum to censor certain books in schools. “It’s too easy to mock the conservatives out in Alaska. It’s a lot harder to look in the mirror, and to ask whether we liberals might be imitating them,” he wrote.

Jonathan Zimmerman writes, “Schools are always implicated in national crises, always,” pointing to schools’ role selling war bonds during World War I and cultivating victory gardens in World War II. “But in prior crises, they were engaged in the struggle, because it was a struggle against a human enemy rather than a biological one. This is a struggle against a biological one that requires schools not to step up, but to stand down.”

Six researchers from Penn GSE have made Education Week’s 2020 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings list.