Skip to main content

Mobile Navigation

  • National
    • Policy
      • High Expectations
      • Quality Choices
      • Personalized Pathways
    • Research
    • Commentary
      • Gadfly Newsletter
      • Flypaper Blog
    • Events
    • Scholars Program
  • Ohio
    • Policy
      • Priorities
      • Media & Testimony
    • Research
    • Commentary
      • Ohio Education Gadfly Biweekly
      • Ohio Gadfly Daily
  • Charter Authorizing
    • Application
    • Sponsored Schools
    • Resources
  • About
    • Mission
    • Board
    • Staff
    • Career
Home
Home
Advancing Educational Excellence

Main Navigation

  • National
  • Ohio
  • Charter Authorizing
  • About

National Menu

  • Topics
    • Accountability & Testing
    • Advanced Education
    • Career & Technical Education
    • Charter Schools
    • Curriculum & Instruction
    • ESSA
    • Evidence-Based Learning
    • Facilities
    • Governance
    • Personalized Learning
    • Private School Choice
    • School Finance
    • Standards
    • Teachers & School Leaders
    • Think Again
  • Research
  • Commentary
    • Gadfly Newsletter
    • Flypaper Blog
    • Gadfly Podcast
  • Events
  • Scholars Program
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube
Podcast

#968: Are school inspections the accountability tool we’ve overlooked? with Erik Robelen

Erik Robelen Michael J. Petrilli Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. David Griffith, Ph.D.
5.7.2025
 

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, former Education Week reporter Erik Robelen joins Mike and David to discuss school inspections—what they are, how they might fit into accountability systems, and who’s actually using them in U.S. schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a study on how AI tools can help middle school math teachers personalize their lessons.

Recommended content: 

  • Erik Robelen, “The Full Measure of a School,” Education Next (Spring 2025).
  • Erik Robelen, “England’s School Inspections Get a Makeover,” Education Next (Spring 2025).
  • Maryland State Department of Education, Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: Expert Review Team 
  • Colorado Department of Education, State Review Panel: School Review Protocol, SchoolWorks LLC (2024).
  • Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Charter School Site Visit Protocol, (2024) 
  • Rizwaan Malik, Dorna Abdi, Rose E. Wang, and Dorottya Demszky, Scaffolding Middle-School Mathematics Curricula With Large Language Models, EdWorking Papers (April 2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].  

Policy Priority:
High Expectations

Erik W. Robelen is an education writer based in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Formerly, he worked as a reporter and editor at Education Week and as deputy director of the Education Writers Association. Robelen also provides communications services and assistance to nonprofits, foundations, and other education-focused organizations.

President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Michael J. Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, executive editor of Education Next, editor in chief of the Education Gadfly Weekly, host of the…

View Full Bio

Amber Northern is senior vice president for research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where she supervises the Institute’s robust research portfolio and…

View Full Bio

David Griffith is the National Research Director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he manages or authors reports on various subjects including charter schools, …

View Full Bio

Related Resources

view Gadfly Bites logo
School Funding

Gadfly Bites 9/28/26—Ticked

Jeff Murray 9.28.2026
OhioBlog
view School paper grade
High Expectations

It’s not AI vs. human grading. It’s which design choices you make.

Sidhi Baweja 9.28.2026
NationalBlog
view Teacher and student with a laptop
High Expectations

Bans aren’t the answer

Emily Freitag 9.28.2026
NationalBlog
Fordham Logo

© 2026 The Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Privacy Policy
Usage Agreement

National

P.O. Box 110
Burke, VA 22009

202.223.5452

[email protected]

Ohio

P.O. Box 82291
Columbus, OH 43202

614.223.1580

[email protected]

Sponsorship

130 West Second Street, Suite 410
Dayton, Ohio 45402

937.227.3368

[email protected]