Author Profile

Joy Pullmann

Joy Pullmann is managing editor of The Federalist and author of The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids, out from Encounter Books February 28. She previously was managing editor of School Reform News at the Heartland Institute and the assistant editor for The American, an online magazine published by the American Enterprise Institute. Joy is also the 2013-14 recipient of a Robert Novak journalism fellowship for in-depth reporting on Common Core national education mandates. Joy has taught high school and middle school history, literature, and debate. She is a graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs. She and her husband live in the Midwest and have four children ages five and younger. Follow her on Twitter (@JoyPullmann).

Articles by Joy Pullmann

‘Witches’ and ‘Viruses:’ The Activist-Academic Threat and a Policy Response

Jun 17, 2020 · Joy Pullmann and Sumantra Maitra · Comments Off

How much of academia is infiltrated by activists? Some conservatives claim that “neo-Marxism” and its sister paradigms like feminist pedagogy, post-structuralism, and post-modernism have long infected certain departments in the humanities and social sciences. Those paradigms have now spread to more disciplines and funding committees. However, conservatives have been slow to explain how activist departments … Continue reading “‘Witches’ and ‘Viruses:’ The Activist-Academic Threat and a Policy Response”

How Common Core Damages Students’ College Readiness

Mar 10, 2017 · Joy Pullmann · Comments Off

As Massachusetts was considering signing on to a national curriculum and testing plan called Common Core, one of its lead writers gave a presentation to its state board of education. Even Common Core advocate Professor Jason Zimba agreed this national program would prepare students “for the colleges most kids go to, but not for the … Continue reading “How Common Core Damages Students’ College Readiness”

Blueprints for Reform Apr 5, 2021
The university system in the United States has accomplished a great deal of good, but it has strayed from its chief goals of scholarly inquiry and responsible teaching, especially in the past 20 years. All too often, universities allow teaching to become shallow and trendy, failing to challenge students intellectually and disparaging traditional principles of … Continue reading “Blueprints for Reform”
Political Reality on North Carolina Campuses: Examining Policy Debates and Forums with Diverse Viewpoints Feb 17, 2021
From the executive summary of “Political Reality on North Carolina Campuses: Examining Policy Debates and Forums with Diverse Viewpoints”: Everywhere in higher education, there is a rhetorical affirmation of the values of free speech and the development of informed citizens. North Carolina’s state motto in Latin is Esse Quam Videri, which translates to “To Be … Continue reading “Political Reality on North Carolina Campuses: Examining Policy Debates and Forums with Diverse Viewpoints”
Scholastic Gag Orders: NDAs, Mandatory Arbitration, and the Legal Threat to Academics Jan 6, 2021
In this Martin Center policy brief, Scholastic Gag Orders: NDAs, Mandatory Arbitration, and the Legal Threat to Academics, Stephen Baskerville explores how non-disparagement agreements (NDAs) and mandatory arbitration (MA) provide a veil of legally enforced secrecy, shielding administrations from negative publicity, professional censure, and legitimate oversight, as they cleanse their faculty of ideologically heterodox professors.

Is Our Obsession with College Fueling a Mental Health Crisis? Aug 2, 2021
Long before Covid, mental health experts declared a different sort of pandemic—a precipitous decline in mental health on college campuses. One 2019 survey by the American College Health Association found that over the course of a year, 55.9 percent of students reported feeling hopelessness, 65.6 percent reported feeling very lonely, 70.8 percent reported feeling very … Continue reading “Is Our Obsession with College Fueling a Mental Health Crisis?”
Letter to the Editor: Davidson College has changed Aug 1, 2021
To the editor: I graduated from Davidson College nearly 50 years ago. Since that time, the College has maintained that the culture of the school has remained unchanged. The failure to adopt the Chicago Principles of Free Expression demonstrates to this graduate that this is simply not true. Thank you for your coverage of what … Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Davidson College has changed”
Beauty and Wisdom: Renew the Culture by Restoring the Liberal Arts Jul 30, 2021
Universities are in dire need of reform. They are too expensive; the classwork is too easy; the curriculum too unfocused. Too many students drop out or don’t care. Indeed, many of today’s universities have strayed so far from their original purpose that creating a path for reform and renewal seems impossible. But a new book … Continue reading “Beauty and Wisdom: Renew the Culture by Restoring the Liberal Arts”