Wrong, wrong, wrong, Mr. President
Chester E. Finn, Jr.We are obligated to respect the office of President of the United States but nobody needs to agree with what the occupant of that office says. And Barack Obama could not have been more wrong in his remarks yesterday to the nation's governors on the subject of school teachers.
Required reading for ESEA reauthorization
Tyson EberhardtWith the House Education and the Workforce Committee marking up two bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (a.k.a. No Child Left Behind) today, look back at Mike Petrilli's analysis of where Congress disagrees and what a compromise could look like.
American education can't win if it doesn't play the game
Marc TuckerGuest blogger Marc Tucker explains that the U.S. is not only not in the game of learning from other countries' education systems, it does not even know the game is being played.
The "teacher effectiveness gap" was just a myth: 3 implications
Michael J. PetrilliThe finding that really good, and really bad, teachers are evenly distributed around New York City upends everything we thought we knew about teacher quality.
Rethinking LRE
Daniela FairchildWhy it just doesn't make sense for every school to be required to handle every type of learning disability.
The Gadfly Daily’s week in review
The Education GadflyA look back at commentary and analysis from the Fordham Institute’s blogs for the week of February 20.
Georgia House passes measure to test the “134-year-old status quo”
Adam EmersonThe Georgia House this week took another step toward exiling last spring’s state Supreme Court decision prohibiting the state approval of charter schools to the history books, where it belongs.
Memo to the world: America’s secret sauce isn’t made in our classrooms
Michael J. PetrilliIt's what American kids are doing after school and on the weekends that sparks innovation.
It SHOULD be hard to pull the parent trigger
Adam EmersonThe recent failure to enact a parent trigger in a California community is an example of how the system should work.
Republicans for Education Reform
Michael J. Petrilli, Tyson EberhardtRace to the Top deserves some credit, but GOP victories deserve more.
Santorum lends extremes to a movement that should find a center
Adam EmersonThe spotlight shining on the GOP candidate's educational philosophy is both a blessing and a curse for home-schooling parents and their advocates.
The Gadfly Daily’s week in review
The Education GadflyA look back at Fordham's blog posts from the week of 2-13-12
A price tag on misbehavior? An embattled Chicago charter network isn’t alone
Adam EmersonA charter network's practice of charging fees for misbehavior has precedence in some Catholic school codes of conduct.
Obama’s education record
Michael J. PetrilliA new EdNext article looks at Obama's education record after four years in the White House.
Big-government business leaders?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.If the 2012 election were to be decided on the basis of federal education policy, chalk up another significant gain for President Obama, as the titans of American business come down foursquare for yesterday's reform agenda.
10 steps to removing governance obstacles to K-12 online learning
Tyson EberhardtThe latest paper in Fordham's Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series examines the challenges our education governance system poses to reaching online learning's potential.
ESEA waivers: Are they worth the trouble?
Michael J. PetrilliWith the deadline for the next round of ESEA "Waiverpalooza" looming, states may be better off scrapping their applications.
The Gadfly Daily’s week in review
The Education GadflyCatching up on Fordham’s blogs from the week of 2-6-12
The Gadfly Daily’s week in review
The Education GadflyCatching up on Fordham’s blogs for the week of 2-6-12
America’s reform challenge
Michael J. PetrilliIt’s not that the wrong people are in charge. It’s that nobody’s in charge.
Obama’s coming "flexibility" debacle
Michael J. Petrilli4 predictions on the President and his education secretary's plans renege on their promise of “flexibility” for the states.
Jack Jennings and a half-century of school reform
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Federal programs then, now and forever.
The sorry state of state science standards
Chester E. Finn, Jr., Kathleen Porter-MageeAre we serious about our STEM challenges or not?