Displaying 1-27 of 27 results
Report
12.11.2012
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Strategies for Smarter Budgets and Smarter Schools

Nathan Levenson

This new policy brief by Nathan Levenson, Managing Director at the District Management Council and former superintendent of Arlington (MA) Public Schools, offers informed advice to school districts seeking to provide a well-rounded, quality education to all children in a time of strained budgets. Levenson recommends three strategies: prioritize both achievement and cost-efficiency; make staffing decisions based on student needs, not student preferences; and manage special-education spending for better outcomes and greater cost-effectiveness.

Commentary
12.3.2012
Curriculum & Instruction

Solipsism generation

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

It isn't going to be easy for David Coleman and his fellow authors of the Common Core English/Language Arts standards to wean U.S. students off writing about themselves.

Commentary
11.20.2012
Curriculum & Instruction

Social studies follies

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The cumbersome, inscrutable title is the first clue that something is not right: “Vision for the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3): Framework for Inquiry in Social Studies State Standards.”

Commentary
11.12.2012
Curriculum & Instruction

A closer look at union strength

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute's recent study of teacher-union strength is an example of the institute's willingness to "get into the weeds" of standards

Book
9.28.2012
Curriculum & Instruction

The Diverse Schools Dilemma

Michael J. Petrilli

Lots of parents favor sending their sons and daughters to diverse schools with children from a variety of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. But can such schools successfully meet the educational needs of all those different kids? How do middle class children fare in these environments? Is there enough challenge and stimulation in schools that also struggle to help poor and immigrant children reach basic standards? Is there too much focus on test scores? And why is it so hard to find diverse public schools with a progressive, child-centered approach to education? These quandaries and more are addressed in this groundbreaking book by Michael J. Petrilli.

Commentary
8.29.2012
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction

Vouchers − Darwin= ??

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Let there be controversy

Report
7.31.2012
Advanced Education

Exam Schools: Inside America's Most Selective Public High Schools

Chester E. Finn, Jr., Jessica Hockett

What is the best education for exceptionally able and high-achieving youngsters? There are no easy answers but, as Chester Finn and Jessica Hockett show, for more than 100,000 students each year, the solution is to enroll in an academically selective public high school. Exam Schools is the first-ever close-up look at this small, sometimes controversial, yet crucial segment of American public education.

Report
7.20.2012
School Finance, Governance

How Americans Would Slim Down Public Education

Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett

Education budgets are tight and state and district leaders must make tough decisions about where to save. But is the public willing to accept cuts? If so, where? According to the results of this new survey, many Americans are open—selectively open—to dramatic changes in how school districts do business.

Report
5.24.2012
School Finance, Governance

Putting a Price Tag on the Common Core: How Much Will Smart Implementation Cost?

Patrick J. Murphy, Elliot Regenstein

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and mathematics represent a sea change in standards-based reform and their implementation is the movement’s next—and greatest—challenge. Yet, while most states have now set forth implementation plans, these tomes seldom address the crucial matter of cost. This report estimates the implementation cost for each of the forty-five states (and the District of Columbia) that have adopted the Common Core State Standards and shows that costs naturally depend on how states approach implementation.

Report
4.11.2012
School Finance, Governance

How School Districts Can Stretch the School Dollar

Michael J. Petrilli

The "new normal" of tougher budget times is here to stay for American K-12 education. So how can local officials cope? This policy brief, by Mike Petrilli, provides a useful tool for navigating the financial challenges of the current school-funding climate, complete with clear dos and don'ts for anyone involved in or concerned with local education budgets.

Report
1.9.2012
School Finance

The Costs of Online Learning

The latest installment of Fordham's Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series investigates one of the more controversial aspects of digital learning: How much does it cost? In this paper, the Parthenon Group uses interviews with more than fifty vendors and online-schooling experts to estimate today's average per-pupil cost for a variety of schooling models, traditional and online, and presents a nuanced analysis of the important variance in cost between different school designs.