What we're reading this week: August 10, 2023
The Education GadflyGeorgia withdrew from a testing pilot program after federal regulations stymied their ability to innovate effectively.
#882: Defending Mississippi’s literacy gains, with Rachel Canter
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rachel Canter, the executive director of Mississippi First, joins Mike to debu
Screen time during the pandemic and twice-exceptional children: What parents should know
Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D.The use of screens increased substantially during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the twice exceptional population—those identified as gifted with coexistent learning differences like ADHD, dyslexia, Autism, or processing disorders—this “epidemic within the pandemic” resulted in deeper isolation and greater parent frustration.
Fair funding finally flows to charters—but the window won’t stay open forever
Michael J. PetrilliA remarkable increase in charter school funding across a number of states—and not just red—is finally addressing some of the deepest spending inequities in American education. But with Covid money drying up, declining student enrollment, and an aging population, tougher times lie ahead.
Virginia leads the way on conservative education reform
Daniel BuckNot since former Governor Scott Walker bludgeoned the unions in my home state of Wisconsin has there been such national outrage over state-level education policies. Historically, state-scale education has been a secondary affair, rarely topping the list of people’s substantive or political priorities, and most decisions have been left to local decision-making.
Mississippi didn’t cheat. Its reading gains are real.
Todd CollinsIs Mississippi a cheater? Los Angeles Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik seems sure of it. Last month, the Pulitzer Prize–winning opinion writer published a column saying that Mississippi’s widely acclaimed reading improvement was just a mirage.
Impacts of school restarts and closures on students
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.School closure is among the most heavy-handed interventions for turning around chronically underperforming schools.
Assessing the operations and impacts of Teach For America in Indianapolis
Jeff MurrayThe Indianapolis branch of Teach For America (TFA Indy) was established in 2008, expanding the national organization’s mission—to build and deploy a corps of high-quality education leaders to support high-needs students—into the Hoosier State.
Cheers and Jeers: August 3, 2023
The Education GadflyCheers The College Board held its first annual AP conference since the pandemic and shared strategies for how to make Advanced Placement courses accessible to all. —Ed Week Jeers
What we're reading this week: August 3, 2023
The Education GadflyContrary to popular belief, the SAT is indeed a good predictor of college success, but bad statistical analysis perpetuates the myth that it doesn’t.
#881: School choice, the science of reading, and other wins in Ohio, with Aaron Churchill
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Aaron Churchill, Fordham’s Ohio research director, joins
The college-going rate is down. Here’s hoping it falls even further.
Michael J. PetrilliOne of the biggest shifts in education in recent years has been a gradual move away from the “college for all” mantra, and hard numbers show a concurrent decline in the proportion of high school students matriculating directly to college. Far from something to deplore, this trend is a positive development—but only so long as the right teenagers are choosing to enter the labor market rather than pursue college.
It’s time to dump Reading Recovery
Aaron ChurchillThis month, Ohio joined a growing list of states and school systems that require schools to use high-quality instructional materials aligned to the science of reading, an approach to reading instruction that emphasizes
Open enrollment might save suburban schools, not destroy them
Garion FrankelStand Up Blue Valley is a pro-public-education parents’ association in Overland Park, Kansas (a large suburb of Kansas City) with a reputation for milquetoast advocacy promoting local control, informed voting, and opposition to school choice.
What we're reading this week: July 27, 2023
The Education GadflyRick Hess interviews Virginia school board member Andrew Rotherham on the state’s adoption of new social studies and history standards.
#880: Everything wrong with California’s math framework, with Tom Loveless
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Loveless, a former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, j
How to ensure twice-exceptional students don't slip through the cracks
Adam Laningham, Sarah HolmanImagine the course of history if some of the most brilliant minds were held back by learning disabilities. Albert Einstein was dyslexic and didn’t talk until he was six. His teachers said nothing good would come of him.
Building diverse college campuses starts in kindergarten
Michael J. PetrilliRather than wait until kids are leaving high school to try to even the playing field, we must start in kindergarten to identify the most academically talented students of all races and backgrounds and give them the support they need to excel.
Exit interview: James Peyser in defense of education reform
Robert PondiscioIn the latest issue of Education Next, James Peyser argues that “overpromising” undercut the ed reform movement, in which he played a prominent role for three decades in a series of roles—from education advisor to two governors to chairman of the State Board of Education
Is ed tech contributing to chronic absenteeism?
Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.Nearly two years after federal data indicated that 99 percent of students had returned to in-person learning full-time, as many as one out of three students still haven’t really returned fu
The path to four million apprentices
Jeff MurrayFor folks who question the value of a traditional four-year college degree—whether they have done so for ages or have only recently lost faith—apprenticeships seem like a promising alternative for young people leaving
What we're reading this week: July 20, 2023
The Education GadflyContrary to many media narratives claiming that Asian Americans were stalking horses for whites, elite colleges really did discriminate against them.
#879: Chatting about evidence-based chatbots, with Perpetual Baffour
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Perpetual Baffour, the research director at the Learning Agency Lab, joins
Low- and high-income schools now receive equal funding
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.State-level school finance reforms and, to a lesser extent, increases in federal funding for schools have worked: America’s shamefully persistent inequities in school funding are finally a thing of the past. School funding is now generally progressive, meaning that students from poor families typically attend better-funded schools than students from wealthier families in the same state.
The accountability conundrum
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Editor's note: Read more about this topic in Finn's essay in National Affairs, "The Accountability Challenge."
Stop calling them book bans
Daniel BuckYou may have heard that conservative parent groups are banning books. From the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel Maus, to seemingly anything that addresses LGBT themes, such groups are challenging their inclusion in libraries and on curricula.
Can great high schools really make a difference for low-income students?
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.How well do our public high schools prepare students—especially low-income students—for future success? A working paper from analysts at Brown and Harvard addresses that question, focusing on a number of consequential middle- and longer-term outcomes.