What we're reading this week: July 13, 2023
The Education GadflyIvy League colleges remain the domain of an elite, privileged few and so the strike-down of affirmative action will have little effect on the other 99.8 percent of the populace.
Who loses when we abolish entrance exams
Daniel BuckIn the wake of last week’s affirmative action decision, most analysts expect the recent enthusiasm for test-optional admissions policies to continue—if for no other reason than to make schools’ racial gerrymandering less transparent. Yet the students who will lose most in the process are the very students that these measures ostensibly seek to help: high performing, underprivileged students.
Considering a new approach to classic literature isn’t “doing it wrong”
Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.With the liberal arts seemingly in a perpetual budgetary and identity
Giving marginalized students better access to customized learning opportunities
Katrina BooneRecent policy innovations such as education savings accounts, microgrants, and tax credits address some of the financial barriers that prevent families from accessing flexible education opportunities.
Piloting an advanced learning curriculum for typically underserved students
Jeff MurrayIn many schools, being identified as advanced or gifted doesn’t guarantee that students will receive “gifted services.” For low-income students, Black and Brown students, rural students, and many others, the odds of being identified as gifted and having access to advanced coursework are even lower than for their higher-income and White or Asian peers.
What we're reading this week: July 6, 2023
The Education GadflyHow might the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action in higher education also affect K–12 policy? —Education Next A college professor reflects on “racial gamification,” the byproduct of affirmative action.
Why conservatives should embrace open enrollment
Aaron Garth Smith, Jude SchwalbachAmerica’s school choice moment has finally arrived, but the vast majority of students nationwide still attend traditional public schools—and will for the foreseeable future. Conservatives would be wise to support policies that give families choices within the public education system. Cross-district open enrollment does precisely that, and it has strong bipartisan support.
Three terrifying findings in the latest NAEP results
Vladimir KoganParents and policymakers inured to years of depressing headlines about learning disruptions in the wake of the pandemic might be tempted to shrug at the latest federal test data on the achievement of thirteen-year-olds as more of the same.
What we're reading this week: June 29, 2023
The Education GadflyOn Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case about a North Carolina charter school’s dress code. In doing so, SCOTUS also declined the opportunity to declare charter schools public—or not.
More NAEP losses for high achievers—and how to reverse them
Brandon L. WrightEditor’s note: This is an edition of “Advance,” a newsletter from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute written by Brandon Wright, our Editorial Director, and published every other week. Its purpose is to monitor the progress of gifted education in America, including legal and legislative developments, policy and leadership changes, emerging research, grassroots efforts, and more.
Richmond nixes year-round schools as NAEP scores plummet: “If everyone was out of school, and everyone had learning loss, then aren’t we all equal?”
Chester E. Finn, Jr.You might think the latest headlines proclaiming
Do tests predict later success?
Dan Goldhaber, Michael DeArmondStandardized tests and test-based accountability have come under serious criticism in recent years. One of the most important questions is whether improving student learning, as measured by test scores, helps improve students’ opportunities later in life. It’s a tough issue to study, but the weight of the evidence says: yes.
School choice battles continue across the country
Terry RyanWhile national school-choice advocates crow about recent legislative victories in states like Iowa, Utah, South Carolina, and West Virginia, setbacks and struggles simmer in Illinois, Montana, and Idaho.
New York City’s selective high schools work
Wai Wah ChinThis month, New York City students received their offers to the city’s eight specialized high schools. As has been the case in recent years, Asian students form over half of the admittees, followed by White, Hispanic, and Black students.
More evidence that all charter schools shouldn’t be lumped together
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.It should be common knowledge by now that all charter schools—like all district schools and, for that matter, all private schools—are not created equal. Nor do they produce equal outcomes.
What we're reading this week: June 22, 2023
The Education GadflyTo sell their movement, education reformers overpromised in the 1990s and early 2000s. Now reformers need a more pragmatic narrative. —James Peyser To help students recover from pandemic learning losses, Richmond, Virginia, proposed a year-round school calendar.
How not to read a book with students: A rebuttal to NCTE
Daniel BuckAn academic trifle to most, literary theory is a deceptively consequential issue in American education. In English classrooms, students are supposed to encounter great works of literature, sharpening and honing their own view of the world. And so it matters not just what books we choose to read with students, but how we read them.
What we're reading this week: June 15, 2023
The Education GadflyCentrists can reboot education reform. —Liam Kerr Passing legislation is only the start of the challenges to implementing universal ESAs successfully.
How school systems can balance equity and excellence in their advanced education initiatives
Michael J. PetrilliOne of the most important efforts in America today is making sure we have as large and diverse a group of academic high achievers as possible in order to meet tomorrow’s challenges. A new report released this week—Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners—offers three-dozen recommendations to education leaders and policymakers at all levels on how to accomplish this.
Summertime isn’t quite so easy
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Kids are now about to finish school for the year—in some places already have—and parents face difficult challenges, even as their daughters and sons kick up their heels in blissful freedom. Some of those challenges have been around forever, such as how to keep them occupied and out of trouble without completely disrupting parents’ lives and work. But others, like offsetting the immense learning loss caused by the pandemic, are still new.
Classical charter school enrollment skyrockets in Texas
Cassidy Syftestad, Albert ChengRecent shifts in enrollment patterns across Texas school sectors have gone in one direction—out of traditional public schools. Within those shifts, a disproportionately large swath of students has left for classical charter schools. These trends reflect a wider renaissance of classical schooling across the United States.
The charter school landscape for English learners: An interview with two Texas experts
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Texas is home to a fifth of the country’s English learners, as well as the state where the number of them has quintupled over the past decade.
“Hold harmless” grading policies are anything but
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Arguments for and against “no zeroes” and other types of “hold harmless” grading
What we're reading this week: June 8, 2023
The Education Gadfly“There is no such thing as a morally neutral education, in public schools or anywhere else.” —American Conservative Schools should be phone-free zones, as a growing body of research shows that they inhibit academic, cognitive, and social development.