Build Back Better’s risks on early childhood education are manageable and outweighed by the benefits
Elliot RegensteinThe funding system for early childhood education envisioned in Build Back Better is far superior to the one we have now. But as always in public policy, the transition from one condition to another is fraught with risks.
The best and worst metro areas for school quality may surprise you
Michael J. PetrilliFordham newest study ranks schools in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, with heavy focus on academic growth. Many of America’s “superstar cities” appear far less super when examined through this lens. Some have a right to brag—but others would be well advised to stop resting on their laurels and work harder to improve all students’ progress.
Education’s enduring love affair with “luxury beliefs”
Robert PondiscioThe proof of a powerful idea is how well it sticks. Once you hear about it “you start to see it everywhere,” as Bari Weiss puts it. She was describing “luxury beliefs,” a phrase coined by Rob Henderson, an Air Force veteran and Ph.D.
Conservatives: Let’s focus on winning policy, not just winning politics
Karen NussleThere’s been lots of jabber lately about what the upset win by Glenn Youngkin in the recent Virginia gubernatorial race means for education policy.
Learning more about the use of industry recognized credentials
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.While the ubiquitous term “college and career readiness” assumes that twelve years of compulsory education could adequately prepare a student for both postsecondary and workplace settings, we know far more about readiness for the former than the latter.
Proof that online credit recovery has been on the rise
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.Recent years have seen a move to eliminate homework and relax grading standards, and struggles by teachers and students to do their work during the pandemic have accelerated this trend. Some educators and commentators, however, fret that these new practices amount to lowering standards.
America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality
Thomas B. Fordham Institute"America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality" is the first analysis to use nationally comparative data to evaluate the effectiveness of large and mid-size metro areas on school quality. Use our interactive data tool to see how your metro area stacks up.
Education Gadfly Show #798: Which metro areas are accelerating student learning?
In defense of suspensions
Daniel BuckA student was arrested after an attempted stabbing at Montgomery Blair High School.
Education is progressive. Schools are conservative.
Robert PondiscioEditor’s note: This was first published by Newsweek.
Attacking gifted education is bad policy and bad politics
Brandon L. WrightEducation for high achievers has come under siege in blue cities and states as the national focus has shifted to racial equity in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. But such attacks, even when well-intentioned, are misguided. They target a problem’s symptom rather than its cause, and in doing so, harm students and defy parents.
Redesigning early college credit to reach underserved students
Jeff MurrayIn 2012, Tennessee lawmakers created the Statewide Dual-Credit program (SDC) to help more students earn college credit while completing high school.
The state of computer science education
Jessica PoinerIn early November, the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, the Computer Science Teachers Association, and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance teamed up to release the 2021 State of Computer Science Education.
Stop pestering education leaders to “follow the evidence.” Instead, host forecasting tournaments.
Mike GoldsteinEducation leaders—principals, superintendents, state chiefs, philanthropy heads—make lots of decisions, and we exhort them to “use evidence” when they do. But we should stop doing that for at least four reasons.
What is virtue and why does it matter?
Jennifer FreyContemporary education has become too technocratic and divorced from virtue. This is a disservice to students because it robs them of what a classical education provides: the tools students need to succeed, not just academically and professionally, but in the deep and abiding sense of being able to flourish as free and good human beings.
In almost every state, funding gaps between rich and poor schools have been closed
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.The conventional wisdom is that American students from poor families are mostly stuck in sorely underfunded public schools while more affluent families have access to well-resourced ones. For decades, this was largely true.
Education Gadfly Show #796: What Glenn Youngkin’s election says about education politics today
On this week’s show, Andrew Rotherham, cofounder and partner at Bellwether Education partners, joins Mike Pet
Communicating the “learning” in social-emotional learning
Sheldon Berman, Linda Darling-HammondEditor’s post: This post was originally published on November 8, 2021, by the Learning Policy Institute as part of its “Educating the Whole Child“ blog series.
The fall of the yellow-school-bus system requires swift modernization
Matthew Ladner“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” —Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Effectively implementing social-emotional learning means getting the terminology right
William Rost, Jeremy SmithTwo charter networks, Uplift Education and Distinctive Schools, have provided models for supporting social-emotional learning (SEL) that other schools should emulate.
How media coverage of critical race theory misses the point
Robert PondiscioIt is not a controversial statement to say that the debate over critical race theory in schools has shed more heat than light. This is not surprising. When a relatively obscure and arcane academic field suddenly becomes a high-profile political football, hotly debated on cable news shoutfests, it is almost certainly because it has been reduced to bumper-sticker simplicity.
A descriptive look at the structure of gifted programs in Washington State
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Gifted education has been a much-debated issue
Would eliminating college admissions tests really make education more equitable?
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.When the University of California began phasing-out college admissions test scores as part of a recent legal settlement, the rationale was “equity.” Lawyers for the students who brought the lawsuit said that “SAT and ACT scores are largely a proxy for a student’s socioeconomic background and race,” rather than measures of ac
Want your kids to thrive in school? Call the pediatrician.
Tim DalyThe pandemic has provided a stream of unsettling headlines reminding us that our kids are not OK. They have grappled with surges in loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
2021 election recap: How four key school board races shook out
Dale ChuWhile the gubernatorial upset in Virginia drew the brightest spotlight, Tuesday’s election featured an unusual surge in the number of school board candidates vying for thousands of seats all over the country. Four races were especially noteworthy, both for the charged political rancor leading up to November 2, as well as the potentially broader implications from the results.
Reconnecting knowledge and virtue
Jennifer FreyEditor’s note: We're happy to introduce Jennifer Frey, who will be writing regularly for the Fordham Institute over the next year. She is an associate professor at the University of South Carolina, where she focuses on virtue ethics.
Lessons on protecting viewpoint diversity in classrooms
Robert Pondiscio, Tracey SchirraA story that became a flashpoint in national conversations around the effects of “CRT bans” is reaching its denouement: This past week, a hearing officer appointed to adjudicate the case ruled that the Sullivan County, Tennessee, school board was justified in
The “big quit” is an opportunity to fix our broken education system
Bruno V. Manno, ChairCovid-19 sent a shock wave through an already changing U.S. job market, provoking “a great reassessment of work in America.”