How any school can personalize learning, part II
Beth RabbittIn part I of this two-part series, I wrote about three of the most common practices teachers implement in elementary schools that successfully personalize learning: giving each child a learning plan, organizing instruction around class-level and individual mastery, and using grouping an
Best- and worst-case scenarios for how school stimulus dollars will be spent
Chad AldemanIn the last year, Congress has now invested nearly $200 billion to support K–12 education. It’s an unprecedented federal infusion of money, but will it lead to an unprecedented recovery effort? It’s worth taking a moment to pause and consider the range of possibilities. Best case
Our full rebuttal to a flawed critique of “Robbers or Victims? Charter Schools and District Finances”
Earlier this month on her “Answer Sheet” blog in the Washington Post, Valerie Strauss ran a lengthy rebuttal written by Carol Burris about a study that we recently published. Robbers or Victims?
How districts and charter networks can best address unfinished learning
Michael J. PetrilliFordham’s new resource, “The Acceleration Imperative,” aims to give the nation’s chief academic officers a head start on planning for America’s educational recovery, with a focus on high-poverty elementary schools. It’s intentionally a work in progress, and already the product of thoughtful advice from more than three dozen experts. The intention is for it to continue evolving and improving with readers’ help, via a “crowdsourced” initiative on a new wiki site.
The stimulus package won’t fix schools’ employee-benefit problem
Brandon L. WrightEditor’s note: This is the second post in a series that puts the themes of 2020’s Getting the Most Bang for the Education Buck into today’s context, with particular attention to the effects of the pandemic and federal relief dollars.
CDC school guidelines, acceleration, stimulus, and other goings-on
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The CDC’s revised guidelines for pupil spacing in school—three feet under most circumstances rather than six—opened a floodgate of gratitude from superintendents and parents.
The role of out-of-school supports in boosting academic outcomes
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Jeff MurrayStructured activities and services provided outside of the regular school day were increasingly the focus of public investment in the U.S. prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
What we're reading this week: March 25, 2021
The Education GadflyRemote learning has taken a toll, but increased flexibility and family time should be preserved as we move into a post-pandemic era. —The Atlantic While hard to define, “character education” is always happening in schools.
The Acceleration Imperative: A Plan to Address Elementary Students’ Unfinished Learning in the Wake of Covid-19
In school districts and charter school networks nationwide, instructional leaders are developing plans to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year. To help kick-start their planning process, we are proud to present The Acceleration Imperative, an open-source, evidence-based document created with input from dozens of current and former chief academic officers, scholars, and others with deep expertise and experience in high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools.
How any school can personalize learning, part I
Beth RabbittIn a previous Flypaper post, Mike Petrilli described the challenge of personalizing instruction for our youngest learners as the “Mount Everest” of education.
School choice proves no match for wokeness
Robert PondiscioSchool choice proponents argue that when parents vote with their feet—and dollars—schools listen. But choice is no match for the pandemic of wokeness that has seized K–12 education. The most advantaged, privileged, and powerful parents in America have been cowed into submissive silence when elite schools of choice adopt neoracist practices masquerading as “anti-racism.”
A challenging funding future for schools—made worse by the pandemic
Brandon L. WrightEditor’s note: This is the first post in a series that puts the themes of 2020’s Getting the Most Bang for the Education Buck into today’s context, with particular attention to the effects of the pandemic and federal relief dollars.
Beware the calls for post-Covid innovation
Dale ChuNow that Uncle Sam’s check is in the mail, one of the biggest hopes for schools is that they will be able to leverage the massive infusion of cash to be more creative, imaginative, and innovative.
What will draw more teachers to low-performing schools?
Melissa GutweinA substantial research literature supports what many of us know intuitively: Teachers matter, perhaps more than any
What we're reading this week: March 18, 2021
The Education GadflyHigh-dosage tutoring can do more than help recover learning loss. It can build human connections.
Power to the people: Further reflections
Bruno V. MannoThe Fordham Institute has published a two-part piece by Checker Finn on giving “power to the people,” as well as
What “building back better” might mean for education and job training in the United States
Marc TuckerTwo Americas are emerging from the pandemic. One features well-paid, highly educated, technically adept workers who can do much of their work sitting at a computer at home. The virus forced these people out of their offices and into their homes, but they went right on working and collecting their paychecks.
How elementary schools can address unfinished learning through personalization
Michael J. PetrilliEditor’s note: This is the fifth and final installment in a series of posts about envelope-pushing strategies that schools might embrace to address students’ learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.
Addressing learning loss in one easy lesson
Robert PondiscioOne of the best-selling education books of the Covid era is one you’ve probably never read and maybe never even heard of. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons was written nearly forty years ago by Siegfried Engelmann, who passed away in 2019.
Working with communities is hard and complex—and vital
M. Karega RauschCentering the work of charter schooling and authorizing in communities means listening to the aspirations and needs they have for students—especially communities that have been overlooked and not prioritized, like communities of color, those from lower-income tax brackets, and those with disabilities—and delivering with, not to, them.
The principal effect: How school leaders affect students and schools
Victoria McDougaldResearch and common sense suggest that teachers are the biggest school-based factor influencing student learning.
What we're reading this week: March 11, 2021
The Education Gadfly“Thomas Jefferson High School students and parents are fighting changes to admissions standards.
The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring
Mike Goldstein, Bowen PaulleHigh-dosage tutoring is receiving a lot of buzz as a promising tool to address learning loss in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But unlike vaccines, successful tutoring programs are challenging to scale with fidelity. In this paper, long-time educators Michael Goldstein and Bowen Paulle explain how leaders can smartly scale promising tutoring programs that can boost student outcomes.
Personalized learning for the wee ones in the wake of the pandemic, Part I
Michael J. PetrilliEditor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of posts about envelope-pushing strategies that schools might embrace to address students’ learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.
Cautious hope for a new history-and-civics roadmap
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Bullish but far from sanguine is how I view the ambitious history-and-civics “roadmap” unveiled
Lessons for standardized testing from the cancellation of the NFL scouting combine
Dale ChuDespite last week’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Education that it won’t grant blanket testing waivers this year, a number of states have decided to push for one anyway.