This groundbreaking study finds that nearly all parents seek schools with a solid core curriculum in reading and math, an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and the development in students of good study habits, strong critical thinking skills, and excellent verbal and written communication skills.
The Justice Department may be the last major American institution that values racial integration for the sake of integration. Its lawyers have worked to encase aging federal school-desegregation orders in cast iron while families—both white and black—have sought more flexibility, quality schools, and choices as to where their children will attend.
The Walton Family Foundation is on the lookout for a skilled, highly motivated, and entrepreneurial individual to be a Denver-based program officer for the foundation’s Systemic K–12 Education Reform Team. To learn more, visit its website.
Count me among the fans of school choice who looked favorably upon this year’s results of the Phi Delta Kappa (PDK)/Gallup poll.
“No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources.” This is carved into a massive stone wall on the FDR memorial in Washington, but it could have been the preface to this slender, timely, punchy book by Eric Hanushek, Paul Peterson, and Ludger Woessmann. These authors make a persuasive case for improving the academic achievement of U.S.
Can you spell “C” as in “chemistry”?
Triangulating a trifecta of survey results
Thirteen months ago, I wrote about the hostility charter-school athletic teams faced across the nation as they sought an equal opportunity to compete against their peers.
The exchanges stemming from Mike Petrilli's recent op-ed and concerns about school-grading systems appear to reflect some confusion about poverty, performance, proficiency, and growth. Much of the prevailing discourse seems more focused on finding someone (or something
This is the first post by Michael Brickman, Fordham’s new national policy director. Until last week he was Governor Scott Walker’s education policy advisor. Follow him on Twitter at @BrickM or email him at [email protected].
Today we kept both promises by issuing a pair of additional analyses related to NGSS.
Among the shortcomings of the NGSS is its acute dearth of math content, even in situations where math is essential to the study and proper understanding of the science that students are being asked to master. Also problematic is the alignment of NGSS math with the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Appendix L of the NGSS seeks to explain the alignment and apply math more thoroughly to NGSS science. This commentary by Johns Hopkins mathematician appraises that appendix. Download Commentary on Appendix L: Alignment of the Next Generation Science Standards with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to read the appraisal.
With states weighing whether to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a new analysis from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute compares the existing science standards of thirty-eight states with the NGSS and with exemplary standards from three other states. (The thirty-eight are those states with standards that are either “clearly inferior” to the NGSS or “too close to call,” based on our Final Evaluation of the Next Generation Science Standards and The State of Science Standards 2012.)
Mike Petrilli has valid reasons for wanting to abandon proficiency—but not reason enough, at least so long as it matters greatly in the real world
Andy Smarick interviews Emily Barton, assistant commissioner for curriculum and instruction at the Tennessee Department of Education
Andy Smarick interviews Neerav Kingsland, CEO of New Schools for New Orleans
What Samuelson called “a prolonged squeeze” from retirement commitments to public employees, we called “the big squeeze” from retirement costs of teachers
Shout it from the rooftops, tell all your friends: The Common Core era signals a return of history, civics, literature, science, and the fine arts to the elementary school curriculum
A first look at today's education news: The A-F school-grading system is under scrutiny, there should be more debate over whether to "mainstream" special-ed students, and more
Mike, a strong supporter of standards-based reform and accountability in education, makes the case for an accountability opt-out for some schools
Growing numbers of parents, educators, and school administrators are calling for a local "opt-out" from state tests and accountability systems. Is this opt-out a cop-out? Or would students benefit from a system that their own teachers and principals devised? Should all schools be offered an opt-out alternative, one in which they propose to be held accountable to a different set of measures? What about opt-outs for high-achieving schools or schools with good reason to be different? Would such a system move us toward or away from the goals of the Common Core? As for charter schools, must they continue to be tethered to uniform statewide accountability systems? Or should we rekindle the concept of customizing each school's charter and performance expectations?
A first look at today's education news: Tony Bennett to resign as Florida state superintendent after "grading-gate," Congress passes the student-loan compromise easily, and more
Andy Smarick interviews Derrell Bradford, executive director of Better Education for Kids
I don’t know what really went on inside the Indiana Department of Education—and neither do you
In its modern form, MOE simply can’t do what its advocates say it will do—i.e., maintain a consistent level of state and local investment in education
A recap of our recent event, cohosted by DFER, on "new" accountability systems
A first look at today's education news: The Senate reaches and approves a compromise on student-loan interest rates, a study finds that the well being of immigrant students varies greatly by economic status, and more
