Teachers, the Common Core, and the freedom to teach
Jessica PoinerCommon Core standards mean freedom to many teachers. Here's why.
2014 Schooling In America Survey
Jessica PoinerWe take a look at the results of a recent survey of the public's attitudes toward the state of education in America.
Vergara, Harris, and the fate of the teacher unions
The most interesting story coming out of the landmark Vergara and Harris deci
First Bell: July 7, 2014
Pamela TatzTEACHER TENUREOn Thursday, an advocacy group filed a lawsuit challenging New York City’s teacher-tenure laws. (New York Times) TEACHER EQUITY
Netflix Academy: The best streaming videos on the Civil War
Michael J. PetrilliNote: This post is part of our series, "Netflix Academy: The best educational videos available for streaming." Be sure to check out our previous Netflix Academy posts on
Why Johnny won’t learn to read
Robert PondiscioBad ideas in education are like horror movie monsters. You think you’ve killed them, but they refuse to stay dead.A generation ago, the infamous “reading wars” pitted phonics-based instruction in the early grades against “whole language,” which emphasized reading for meaning instead of spelling, grammar, and sounding words out.
A missed opportunity for Common Core
Robert PondiscioLast week, I had the privilege to speak in front of a group of education journalists convened by the Poynter Institute and the Education Writers Association about identifying strengths and weaknesses in curriculum.
The NCES, NIEER, and spinning preschool data
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The early-childhood folks didn’t much like it when I faulted NCES for relying on the Rutgers-based National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) as the source for federal data on “the state of preschool”—and for
VIDEO: On the Rocketship: Expanding the high-quality charter school movement
Richard Whitmire’s forthcoming book, On the Rocketship: How Top Charter Schools are Pushing the Envelope, is “the best account yet of what is happening with charters,” says the
Is the Nation’s Report Card ‘college and career ready’?
Michael CohenAfter nearly a decade of research, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) released in May the first outcomes of its efforts to use the results of the 2013 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to report on the academic preparedness of U.S. 12th graders for college.
Chester E. Finn, Jr. honored with award from National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
The Education GadflyBravo to Fordham’s original gadfly!The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools yesterday inducted Fordham president Chester E. Finn, Jr. into its Charter School Hall of Fame—established to honor pioneers in the development, growth, and innovation of charter schools.
First Bell 6-30-14
Pamela TatzNEWARK SCHOOL SUPENew Jersey has renewed the contract of embattled Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson, whose pro-school choice “One Newark” plan has garnered her the enmity of some union and parent activists. (Star-Ledger)
The one place where school choice and ed reform battles are already over
Jeff MurraySchool choice is a done deal in this one place, and we could learn a lot from it.
The ‘balanced literacy’ hoax
Chester E. Finn, Jr.My chief mentor, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, occasionally warned against “semantic infiltration,” which he correctly attributed to the late arms-control expert, Fred Ikle.
Will public unionism’s ‘gravest threat’ materialize?
Michael BrickmanWhile education reforms are nearly always won via legislation, rare exceptions do occur—and sometimes they’re significant. The year 2014 has already proven to be a landmark one for education reform thanks to judicial decision. Perhaps the most notable example thus far is Vergara v.
Conscious incompetence: New ed-school grads are unprepared to teach—and we seem fine with that
Robert Pondiscio“Nobody expects new surgeons to be any good. It wasn’t until my fortieth or fiftieth bypass surgery that I started feel like I knew what I was doing.” “I wish I could go back and retry those cases from my first year. If I knew then what I know now, they’d never have been convicted.”
Pie in the special-ed sky?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The Education Department has been slowly gathering itself together over the past decade to review states’ mandatory annual IDEA “performance plans” on the basis of student outcomes, in addition to bureaucratic compliance with sundry procedural and data-reporting requirements.
Lacking Leaders: The Challenges of Principal Recruitment, Selection, and Placement
Chester E. Finn, Jr., Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Yes, everybody understands that “school leaders matter,” a truism now morphing into a cliché that trips easily from the tongue but typically fails to cause movement anywhere in the worlds of education policy and practice.
New Report: Lacking Leaders: The Challenges of Principal Recruitment, Selection, and Placement
Michelle LernerSchool leaders matter enormously. But are districts doing enough to ensure that the best possible candidates end up in these positions?
First Bell: June 24, 2014
Pamela TatzTEACHER PAYA new Vanderbilt working paper finds that top Tennessee teachers are more likely to continue working in low-achieving schools when given a substantial pay increase. (Teacher Beat)
Lacking Leaders: The Challenges of Principal Recruitment, Selection, and Placement
A school’s leader matters enormously to its success and that of its students and teachers. But how well are U.S. districts identifying, recruiting, selecting, and placing the best possible candidates in principals’ offices? To what extent do their practices enable them to find and hire great school leaders? To what degree is the principal’s job itself designed to attract outstanding candidates?
Early readers need content knowledge
Aaron ChurchillResults on the spring test of third graders' reading proficiency are in; we take a look at the data and what it means for the Third Grade Reading Guarantee as a policy and for the students and schools working within its confines.
Ohio’s teacher evaluation system changes midstream
We welcome a guest contributor to take another look at recent legislative changes to Ohio's teacher evaluation protocols.