Commentary
Chartering is Succeeding, Even as Some Chartered Schools Fail
Ted Kolderie, Education EvolvingJanuary 2005
Topics
Commentary
A Narrower, Nambier-Pambier Approach to Education
The Narrow, Namby-Pamby Approach ProjectEconomic Misery InstituteApril 1, 2009
Commentary
A Whole Lot of Nothing: South Dakota's Charter School Landscape
Todd Zeeball Regressive Policy InstituteMarch 2006
Commentary
Commentary
Teacher Turnover, Tenure Policies, and the Distribution of Teacher Quality: Can High-Poverty Schools Catch a Break?
Raegen Miller and Robin ChaitCenter for American ProgressDecember 2008
Commentary
Bitter Pill, Better Formula: To a Single, Fair and Equitable Formula for ESEA Title I, Part A; Spoonful of Sugar: An Equity Fund to Facilitate a Single, Fair and Equitable ESEA Title I-A
Raegen T. Miller and Cynthia G. BrownCenter for American ProgressFebruary 2010
Commentary
Writing Implements Matter: A Meta-analysis of Research into the Cognitive Effects of Graphite Density
Randy Dixon and Shirlee Ticonderoga April 1, 2004
Commentary
Hispanic Youth Dropping Out of U.S. Schools: Measuring the Challenge
Richard Fry, Pew Hispanic CenterJune 2003
Commentary
WWOD? Now we know.
Liam Julian"The Wall Street Journal's Bill McGurn (and lots of others) wonders: What will Obama do on school choice? Now we know...." Read it here.
Commentary
Commentary
Policy & Guidance: Overview of American Economic Recovery Act: Spending your education stimulus dollars quickly and appropriately
United States Department of EducationApril 1, 2009
Commentary
Reading Last: Results of a two-year one-part-of-six study of reading underachievement
Weera Flotindough et al.Apt AssociatesNovember 2008
Commentary
Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools
Jerry P. Gollub, et al.National Academy of Science, Committee on Programs for Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in American High SchoolsFebruary 2002
Commentary
Teacher Quality in Educational Production: Tracking, Decay, and Student Achievement
Jesse RothsteinPrinceton University and National Bureau of Economic ResearchFebruary 2010 (anticipated)
Commentary
Standards and Spending: Dispelling the Spending Orthodoxy
John Marks, Centre for Policy StudiesJanuary 2002
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
K12 Inc. CEO Ron Packard responds to NYTimes' criticism
The head of the nation's largest online learning company defends his organization's record.
Commentary
Advanced Education
Closing the achievement gap, but at gifted students' expense
Mike Petrilli and AEI's Rick Hess examine the consequences of the America's focus on achievement gaps in a Washington Post Op-Ed.
Commentary
The Accountability Plateau
Fordham's latest publication examines NAEP scores from Texas and nationwide.
Commentary
The good, the bad, the ugly: school turnarounds and profiteers
Guest blogger Van Schoales offers a critical assessment of how SIG dollars are being spent in Colorado.
Commentary
In praise of performance pay--for online learning companies
Maybe it's online schools, rather than teachers, that would benefit most from performance pay.
Report
Governance
Rethinking Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century
School reforms abound today, yet even the boldest and most imaginative among them have produced—at best—marginal gains in student achievement. What America needs in the twenty-first century is a far more profound version of education reform. Instead of shoveling yet more policies, programs, and practices into our current system, we must deepen our understanding of the obstacles to reform that are posed by existing structures, governance arrangements, and power relationships. Yet few education reformers—or public officials—have been willing to delve into this touchy territory.
Video
Education Reform Idol: The Reformiest State 2011
Leaders from five cutting-edge states battled for the honor of "Reformiest State 2011." This Fordham Institute panel pitted Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin against one another. The winner, Indiana, was determined by a vote of the in-person and online audience.
Video
When Reform Touches Teachers
There has been much heated debate this year over bold changes that affect teachers, including dialing back pensions and union rights. These matters were candidly discussed by two high-visibility national education leaders who don't always agree: Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and Frederick M. Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Which issues do we actually disagree about? Can we do so in ways that illumine rather than obscure? Our two panelists will prove that it's possible. Watch this lively conversation, moderated by Fordham's ever-lively Michael Petrilli.
Video
Checker Finn on patriotism, democracy, and teaching about 9/11
On the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11, teachers are looking for advice on how to teach about the attacks. Unfortunately, much of the curricular content available focuses on the wrong things. Checker Finn discusses what teachers should be teaching based on Fordham's new report, Teaching about 9/11 in 2011: What Children Need to Know.
Video
Working Smarter Together
Presented by the Nord Family Foundation, Ohio Grantmakers Forum, and Thomas B. Fordham Institute, with the ESC of Central Ohio and Public Performance Partners, this is a free, non-partisan event to help local government administrators -- from county commissioners and city managers to school district superintendents -- think differently about how they operate, and learn tangible strategies for sharing services and saving money.
Video
The Other Achievement Gap
A trio of recent studies and articles raises troubling questions about America's "Achievement-Gap Mania." Are we leaving our highest performing students behind in the quest to raise the test scores of students at the bottom? If so, what will this mean for our future international competitiveness? Learn about the recent studies--Fordham's Do High Flyers Maintain their Altitude? and the George W. Bush Institute's Global Report Card?as well as Frederick M. Hess's new National Affairs essay, "Our Achievement-Gap Mania." And join a conversation about whether our focus on raising the bottom is blinding us to trouble at the top. View the event page for more details.
Video
Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?
Fordham's study, "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," is the first to examine the performance of America's highest-achieving children over time at the individual-student level. Produced in partnership with the Northwest Evaluation Association, it finds that many high-achieving students struggle to maintain their elite performance over the years and often fail to improve their reading ability at the same rate as their average and below-average classmates. The study raises troubling questions: Is our obsession with closing achievement gaps and "leaving no child behind" coming at the expense of our "talented tenth"?and America's future international competitiveness?
Video
Reform School: Mike Miles
Mike Miles talks about student achievement and the pay for performance process he has implemented at the Harrison School Disctrict 2 in Colorado Springs, CO.