Supporting low birth weight babies helps long after infancy
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.A recent working paper from NBER takes the notion of “early intervention” f
Resources for learning from home during Covid-19 school closures
Michael J. PetrilliWith more than half of states closing their schools due to the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of parents, grandparents, and other caregivers have become de facto “home schoolers” practically overnight. Students in this situation will likely be spending a fair amount of time on screens—as a lifeline, respite, or both. We have compiled some excellent suggestions—updated several times since initial publication—for making at least some of that time educational.
With the coronavirus bearing down on schools, educational content providers have a chance to shine
Michael J. PetrilliIf there were any doubt that the coronavirus pandemic would be disruptive to schools and families, the last few days have put that to rest.
America’s schools and the formation of human beings
Chester E. Finn, Jr.In addition to Bill Damon’s profound essay on “purpose,” Mike’s and my new book, How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow’s Schools
Social justice and K–12 education reform
Andy Smarick, Bruno V. MannoTwo views of social justice underly many debates in K–12 reform, and the differences between them lead to tensions and conflicts in discussions about policy and practice. One is invoked by progressives and geared toward activism and uniformity. The other is invoked by conservatives and—while also encouraging activism—is different in what it aims to accomplish.
When more students are mentored by organizations in their communities, what happens?
Jessica PoinerMentoring programs connect young people with caring adults who can offer support, guidance, and even tutoring. Research indicates that such programs can be valuable for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Who am I to judge? The case for classical liberal education
Clare BasilThe New York Times is no stranger to initiating debates over curricular content, as the release of the “1619 Project” by the New York Times Magazine last year demonstrates.
Back to basics for conservative education reform
Yuval LevinThis major essay comprises one of the concluding chapters of our new book, "How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow's Schools." Levin brilliantly—and soberingly—explains what conservatives have forfeited in the quest for bipartisan education reform. He contends that future efforts by conservatives to revitalize American education must emphasize “the formation of students as human beings and citizens,” including “habituation in virtue, inculcation in tradition, [and] veneration of the high and noble.”
Saving the science of reading from becoming the next edu-fad
Robert Pondiscio“When the Gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.” —Oscar Wilde
Five lessons for early literacy efforts from other reform successes and failures
Dale ChuEverywhere you look, the science of reading is the toast of the town.
Conservatives: It’s time to re-engage on education
Michael J. Petrilli, Chester E. Finn, Jr.Bipartisanship is in tatters, and that’s a big problem for education. Yet it’s also an opportunity for conservatives to recognize that the gains made with bipartisanship’s help meant suppressing some important differences and neglecting some vital elements of schooling. It’s time to lean into those differences, understand what’s been neglected or distorted, address some troubling voids, and see if we can renegotiate terms.
Reforming education the American Way: State by state, community by community
Lamar AlexanderEditor’s note: What follows is a reprinting of the preface to an important new book, How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow’s Schools, edited by Fordham’s Michael J. Petrilli and Chester E.
WEBINAR: How to Educate an American—A conversation with Michael J. Petrilli and Chester E. Finn Jr.
America’s schools have ceded significant ground to trendy nostrums and policy cure-alls that do little to adequately teach young people the skills and knowledge required to realize their full potential and emerge from school as fully-functioning citizens. The latest round of dire NAEP civics and U.S. history scores underscore our continuing failure on the citizenship front.
How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow's Schools
Michael J. Petrilli, Chester E. Finn, Jr.Featuring essays by twenty leading conservative thinkers, and anchored in tradition yet looking towards tomorrow, this book should be read by anyone concerned with teaching future generations to preserve the country’s heritage, embody its universal ethic, and pursue its founding ideals.
Five reasons Congress should not block-grant the federal Charter Schools Program
Michael J. PetrilliAs a center-right think tank, we whole-heartedly support turning prescriptive federal programs into block grants. Among other things, they reduce bureaucratic inefficiency and trust states to decide what’s best for their unique circumstances. But there are exceptions to our adoration, and one of them is the Trump Administration’s proposal to include the federal Charter Schools Program in a new mega-block-grant.
The elite eight: The remaining Democratic presidential candidates and their views on education reform
Dale ChuWith Iowa and New Hampshire in the rearview mirror, the original field of nearly thirty Democratic presidential candidates has now been winnowed down to eight. Six of them will face off on the debate stage this evening in Las Vegas.
Has Trump turned against charter schools?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The Trump administration’s proposed budget takes the Education Department’s $440 million program of financial assistance for charters and melds it with twenty-eight other programs into a big new K–12 block grant. Although there’s scant political likelihood that Congress will adopt the plan, the proposal itself will be interpreted and welcomed by charter foes as a sign that even Trump and his allies and supporters have lost their enthusiasm for these independent public schools of choice.
Training teachers to fail
Jasmine Lane, Jon GustafsonThere’s been a lot of talk recently about the reading crisis in U.S. schools.
The harm of special education enrollment caps
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.A couple years ago, a high-profile dispute played out between the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the federal Department of Education, with a January 2019 New York Times headline pronouncing,
Beware the Democrats’ new teachers-union-loyalty test
Derrell BradfordIn The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes of a rally held for communist leader Josef Stalin. At the event’s end, a tribute to Stalin was called for. As Solzhenitsyn writes, “Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference at every mention of his name)....
Lamar Alexander’s education legacy
Dale ChuNo sooner had Senator Lamar Alexander released his statement last Thursday on the impeachment witness vote than the handwringing began.
Hiding in plain sight: Advancing SEL by tackling today’s urgent problems
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Partisans of social-emotional learning are wont to make their case in utopian terms: Create better learning environments and good things will happen to kids, to academic achievement, to the society in which we live, etc. From the home page of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL):
Espinoza and the myth of values-neutral schooling
Dale ChuThe education world was slow on the uptake, but oral argument this week in the case of Espinoza v.
School Improvement Grants worked well—at least in these four locales
Jessica PoinerThe American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 marked a massive federal investment in our schools, with more than $100 billion to shore up school systems in the face of the Great Recession. Along with that largesse came two grant programs meant to encourage reform with all of those resources: Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants (SIGs).
The real history of school desegregation, from 1954 to the present
R. Shep MelnickOne of the oddest features of the 2019–20 Democratic primary season has been the return of the busing issue. Half a century ago, it nearly tore the party apart. Judicially mandated reassignment of students to achieve racial balance proved to be the most unpopular policy since Prohibition, opposed by overwhelming majorities of white voters.
The top 10 EconTalk episodes on education
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.A few years ago, as I was wrapping up grad school (where my dissertation was about migrant workers in China, of all things), I came across a bunch of fascinating podcast episodes about education policy and school reform.
Weak board governance weakens K–12 performance
Tom CoyneAfter spending most of my forty-year career working on organizational performance improvement, I have learned that some of the most important causes of poor performance are often the least visible.
The Education Gadfly Show: The 2020 election and education reform
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Robert Pondiscio, and David Griffith discuss the latest news from the 2020 election debate and what it p
Fresh fuel for the charter school debate
Robert PondiscioA mere 6 percent of students are enrolled in charter schools nationwide, but there are sixteen cities in which at least one-third of public school students attend charters. Newark, New Jersey, is one of them.