Jay Mathews
Jay Mathews
Columnist

Jay Mathews is an education columnist and blogger for the Washington Post, his employer for 40 years. He is the author of seven books, including three about high schools and his most recent, a New York Times bestseller, about the birth and growth of the KIPP charter school network. He created the annual Challenge Index rankings of high schools (formerly in newsweek.com, now at washingtonpost.com). He has won several awards for education writing and was given the Upton Sinclair award as “a beacon of light in the realm of education.” He has won the Eugene Meyer Award for distinguished service to The Washington Post.

Latest by Jay Mathews

Do you know what a DBQ is?

“Document-based question,” most talked-about part of influential AP U.S. History exam, faces a change.

Powerful high school term: DBQ

The document-based question on AP exams frightens students, but is changing significantly

Two D.C. schools dare require research

Small charters with mostly low-income students outshine our most affluent campuses.

How students can solve D.C. test mystery

Just ask them if they remember making so many brilliant answer changes in annual exams.