Commentary
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Uncle Sam goes soft on state tests
Things are getting messy in the world of assessment.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Mentors’ effect on middle school attendance
More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, lost instructional time is top of mind for anyone connected to education.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance
The high cost and low performance of online charter schools in California
Full-time virtual charter schools received a great deal of attention as schools scrambled to transition classes online back in the Spring of 2020, and have experienced booming enrollments over the past year.
Podcast
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: April 15, 2021
A San Clemente, California, elementary teacher, Kristine Hostetter, marched to the capitol in the January 6 Trump rally that preceded the riot. Her school split over whether to suspend her. —New York Times U.S.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
A different K–12 world: Teens and parents on Covid-19 shock and schools
In the song “Ballad of a Thin Man,” Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan penned an iconic refrain that asks: “But something is happening/And ya’ don’t know what it is/Do you, Mister Jones?” That refrain seems an apt way to describe what K–12 education stakeholders are sensing as they reel in response to Covid-19 shock.
Commentary
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
How schools can return from the pandemic with strong mental health supports in place
This fall, most students will be returning to full-time, in-person instruction after one of the most disrupted years of their lives. All students will be coming back with varying degrees of adverse experiences. Some may have lost loved ones, had a parent lose their job, seen a parent go through illness, or even been sick themselves.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
Family engagement is critical to student success—especially now
Editor’s note: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently launched “The Acceleration Imperative,” an open-source, evidence-based resource designed to aid instructional leaders’ efforts to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
The unanticipated benefit of the “Colorado Compromise”: Time to address learning loss
The Biden administration recently approved Colorado’s request to ease the burden of administering state assessments because of the pandemic.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
High-quality curriculum doesn't teach itself
A new initiative is reviewing and rating major providers of teacher training with the ambition of becoming the EdReports of professional learning. Rivet Education’s “Professional Learning Partner Guide” is the product of two veterans of Louisiana’s celebrated effort to place high quality curriculum at the center of school improvement efforts.
Commentary
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Reduce class sizes, lengthen the school year, provide tutoring—or let principals decide?
District leaders may be celebrating the $122 billion in stimulus relief Congress approved for K–12 schools last month.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Children learn best when they feel safe and valued
Editor’s note: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently launched “The Acceleration Imperative,” an open-source, evidence-based resource designed to aid instructional leaders’ efforts to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year.
Commentary
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Proceed with caution: School reopening and Covid case rate data
School reopenings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic are an ongoing, imperfect work in progress, and the science that school leaders and parents are being encouraged to follow is evolving.
Commentary
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
A long overdue look at interdistrict open enrollment in Texas
Interdistrict open enrollment (OE) is something of an enigma in Texas. It’s up to districts whether to open their borders or to keep them closed to non-resident students.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: April 8, 2021
Districts and educators define curriculum quality differently than experts—and that’s OK. —Michael B.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
For maximum impact, align professional learning with high-quality instructional materials
Editor’s note: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently launched “The Acceleration Imperative,” an open-source, evidence-based resource designed to aid instructional leaders’ efforts to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Lessons from Race to the Top
I have been thinking a lot about the early years of Race to the Top recently. I moved to Nashville in 2011 to work at the Tennessee Department of Education. Tennessee had won one of the first two Race to the Top grants with bipartisan legislation and an ambitious plan, and the state had $500 million to invest in innovative support to advance student learning.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
High expectations drive student success
Editor’s note: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently launched “The Acceleration Imperative,” an open-source, evidence-based resource designed to aid instructional leaders’ efforts to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Drawing a line in the sand on state testing
The Biden team has issued its first responses to state requests to waive federal testing requirements because of the pandemic. Dale Chu reads the tea leaves, and concludes that the new Administration is trying to eat its cake and have it too.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
The sorry history of “what works” in school
My friend and colleague Mike Petrilli is understandably proud of Fordham’s spanking new Acceleration Imperative: A Plan to Address Elementary Students’ Unfinished Learning in the Wake of Covid-19.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
How to instill positive school culture
Editor’s note: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently launched “The Acceleration Imperative,” an open-source, evidence-based resource designed to aid instructional leaders’ efforts to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
More wheat, less chaff: The availability and use of high-quality instructional materials today
The past grim, difficult year challenged our nation and schools like few others, so it’s important to take the time to appreciate good news when we hear it. New research from EdReports provides just such an opportunity.
Podcast
Commentary
Accountability & Testing
What we're reading this week: April 1, 2021
How can we do more to prevent teen suicides? —New York Times Pandemic pods are less sustainable and are harder to run than many parents thought.
Commentary
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Personalized Learning, Teachers & School Leaders
How any school can personalize learning, part II
In 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
Commentary
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Best- and worst-case scenarios for how school stimulus dollars will be spent
In 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
