Go for growth: How Ohio lawmakers can fix the school grading system
In its version of the state budget bill, the Ohio House included language that would place more weight on student growth measures when calculating charter sponsor ratings.
In its version of the state budget bill, the Ohio House included language that would place more weight on student growth measures when calculating charter sponsor ratings.
On this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli, Ian Rowe, and Alyssa Schwenk discuss whether and how schools should teach the “success sequence.” During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the cross-subject effects of English language arts instruction.
Note: This blog originally appeared in a slightly different form as a guest commentary in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
By Tom Gunlock
Although it’s been almost seven years since many states took the important step of elevating their academic standards by adopting the Common Core, teachers and administrators across the country still bemoan the lack of reliable information about which instructional materials are high-quality and best aligned to the new standards.
On this week's podcast, Checker Finn, Alyssa Schwenk, and Brandon Wright discuss the ongoing debate about whether school accountability is best done via the parent marketplace or state assessments. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether struggling students are more likely to leave charter schools than traditional public schools.
NOTE: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
Countless studies have demonstrated that teacher quality is the most important school-based determinant of student learning, and that removing ineffective teachers from the classroom could greatly benefit students.
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn, Robert Pondiscio, and Alyssa Schwenk discuss America’s performance on two recent international assessments, TIMSS and PISA. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a U.S. Department of Education guide on how to teach writing.
Eleven weeks ago, in High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability in the Age of ESSA, the Fordham Institute reported that current K–8 accountability systems in most states give teachers scant reason to attend to the learning of high-achieving youngsters.
By Andrew Scanlan
By Victoria Sears
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Alyssa Schwenk, and Robert Pondiscio discuss states’ neglect of high achievers and how ESSA might prompt them to do better. During the research minute, Amber Northern reports on the good news about narrowing socioeconomic gaps in kindergarten readiness.
No Child Left Behind meant well, but it had a pernicious flaw: It created strong incentives for schools to focus all their energy on helping low-performing students get over a modest “proficiency” bar. Meanwhile, it ignored the educational needs of high achievers, who were likely to pass state reading and math tests regardless of what happened in the classroom.
By Chester E. Finn, Jr.
After almost eighteen years in the field of education, I have become convinced of the need to transform the way our children learn so that they can confront the unknowable challenges of the twenty-first century.
This Fordham study, conducted by learning technology researcher June Ahn from NYU, dives into one of the most promising—and contentious—issues in education today: virtual schools. What type of students choose them? Which online courses do students take? Do virtual schools lead to improved outcomes for kids?
By Frank C. Worrell and Rena F. Subotnik
By Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
Darius Brown’s educational biography,
By Robert Pondiscio
In Common Core Math in the K-8 Classroom: Results from a National Teacher Survey, Jennifer Bay Williams, Ann Duffett, and David Griffith take a close look at how educators are implementing the Common Core math standards in classrooms across the nation.
If there were just one thing I could say to fans of open educational resources (OER) and personalized learning, it would be this: “Atomized units of knowledge don’t build anything.” That quote comes from an education reformer who used to teach in a high-powered classical school.
By Michael J. Petrilli
By Darien Wynn
Harriet Tubman will grace the front of our $20 bill—a long-overdue tribute to a woman who lived up to the best of American values. But do most Americans know who she was?
By Robert Pondiscio