National School Choice Week: A time to recognize outstanding choices

We recognize 25 of the best charter schools in Ohio.

Charter lessons for school choice, including accountability via authorizers

Yesterday at AEI’s terrific conference on “encouraging new and better schools” via school-choice programs, I presented a paper on

The Ticket

At less than an hour, this documentary, directed by Choice Media founder Bob Bowdon, provides a digestible overview of school choice and how it impacts families. The film’s slightly hokey structure is a transcontinental exploration of school choice by train.

Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws

A state’s laws and policies set the conditions for a thriving charter-school environment. Good policy can ensure that public charters have access to the resources they need and the freedom to innovate, while also ensuring accountability for academic outcomes. But not all state charter laws are created equal.

Replicating Quality: Policy Recommendations to Support the Replication and Growth of High-Performing Charter Schools and Networks

We take a look at Public Impact's recent publication of ten policy recommendations to foster growth of successful charters.

Utilizing charter schooling strengthens rural education

Today, Bellwether released a new report on the promise of charter schooling in rural America—and the very real challenges facing it.

Flipping Out: Controlled choice restricts options

Mike Petrilli and Rick Kahlenberg are among my favorite people (I don’t know Sam Chaltain, although I might like him, too), but their piece in Sunday’s Washington Post smacks of nanny-statism rather than school choice and educationa

Re: Flipping Out

Checker thinks that Sam Chaltain, Rick Kahlenberg, and I are engaging in “nanny-statism” when we propose a form of “controlled choice” in strategic locations of Washington, D.C., which he likens to “forced busing&rdqu

Executive action I can support: weighted lotteries for charter schools

Last night, President Obama promised to use the stroke of his pen to push forward initiatives upon which Congress refuses to act. In the education realm, this is nothing new (see: conditional ESEA waivers) and generally nothing to cheer. But just this morning, the U.S.

School choice and the beginnings of a conservative agenda for economic opportunity

President Obama is leaving us on the edge of our seats as to whether he will discuss certain topics in tonight's State of the Union address.

The great Fordham toolkit debate

The American Federation for Children applauds the folks over at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute for stirring up debate about academic accountability within private-school-choice programs via the release of their policy “toolkit” last week.

Jay and Rick: Get real about voucher-school accountability

It’s no fun to argue with friends—at least not about serious matters—and worse to find respected colleagues slipping into error or avoiding reality.

The case for holding Ohio’s voucher schools accountable for results

We take a look at the hubbub over Fordham's recent voucher toolkit with an Ohio insider's view.

The problem with 'Bad voucher schools aren’t a problem'

This week, we at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a “toolkit” for policymakers working to create or expand private-school-choice programs.

Public accountability & private-school choice

As voucher and tax-credit-scholarship programs have expand­ed in recent years, another promising development has been the incorporation into such programs of provisions that hold participating private schools to account for their students’ performance.

Weekend reading

There were many important releases and developments this week—invaluable new SIG information from IES, Race to the Top audits, new Brookings “choice index”—and I couldn’t keep up! Those subjects and others will get fuller treatments from me next week. But until then, here are some worthwhile things to read over the weekend.

School Choice Signals: Research Review and Survey Experiments

What rhymes with 'self-serving'?

Earlier this week, AFT president Randi Weingarten came out against the use of value-added measures in teacher evaluations, citing recent VAM shortcomings in D.C. and Pittsburgh and launching the catchy slogan, “VAM is a sham.” VAM certainly is not perfect.

Resolve to be resolute

We’ve passed the time for standing by and patiently hoping that Ohio’s lowest-performing charter schools will improve on their own. Or that the authorizers of such charters will solve this problem on their own.

Welcome to Choice Words 2.0

Readers of this blog have come to expect news from around the country, analysis, cogent commentary, and best-practice policy recommendations. All of that has been in large part due to the efforts of Adam Emerson.

Save the date - January 30, 2014

Fordham invites you to what promises to be a fascinating panel discussion: Private Schools and Public Vouchers.

Dis-location: School choice, residential segregation and educational inequality

Attorney General Eric Holder’s claim that Louisiana’s voucher program contradicts federal des