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Advancing Educational Excellence

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Robert Pondiscio

National
Senior Visiting Fellow

Robert Pondiscio is a senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

He writes and speaks extensively on education and education-reform issues, with an emphasis on literacy, curriculum, civic education, and classroom practice. His 2019 book, How the Other Half Learns, based on a year of observations at New York City’s Success Academy network of charter schools, was praised as “morally disturbing” and “unsparingly honest” by the New York Times. After twenty years in journalism, including senior positions at TIME and Business Week, Robert became a fifth-grade teacher at a struggling South Bronx public school in 2002. He subsequently served as vice president for the Core Knowledge Foundation, taught civics at Democracy Prep Public Schools, a network of high-performing charter schools based in Harlem, New York, and was a Senior Fellow and Vice President for External Affairs here at Fordham. 

Robert’s articles and op-ed columns on education have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the New York Daily News, Education Next, and dozens of other publications. A frequent speaker and expert guest on education issues, he has appeared on the Fox News Channel, CNN, and elsewhere.

Authored Commentary & Research

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students reading
High Expectations

The science of reading has won the argument. Has it won the classroom?

Robert Pondiscio 5.1.2026
NationalFlypaper
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Empty classroom desk
High Expectations

How to hire a school superintendent

Robert Pondiscio 4.9.2026
NationalFlypaper
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Girl in a classroom
High Expectations

The limits of high-quality curriculum evaluation

Robert Pondiscio 4.2.2026
NationalFlypaper
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School building
High Expectations

The 10-year test for durable schools

Robert Pondiscio 3.5.2026
NationalFlypaper
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Moving people at a school
High Expectations

Good schools don’t beat staff turnover. They’re built for it.

Robert Pondiscio 2.26.2026
NationalFlypaper
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Teacher in a classroom
High Expectations

Studying successful schools matters. Studying enduring success matters more.

Robert Pondiscio 2.19.2026
NationalFlypaper

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