Spending time with nieces and nephews this holiday season—teenagers who are making decisions about where to go to college, what to study, and which vocations to pursue—has reminded me of just how lucky I am to have one of the best jobs in the world.
This year has been one of the most consequential for education reform in quite some time.
Fourteen states have seen positive policy changes since NACSA’s inaugural report last year. By Jamie Davies O’Leary
In time for Christmas, a how-to book for philanthropists who want to bring new life to Catholic schools. By Kate Stringer
The importance of making history an academic priority once again. By Robert Pondisico
The best compliment I can pay a fellow education blogger is to confess professional jealousy. By Robert Pondiscio
Celebrate National School Choice Week in Columbus on January 27
The Apple App Store and Google Play are chocked-full of educational apps for your kids, some excellent and some schlock. Separating the wheat from the chaff is no small task; thankfully Graphite (a spin-off from Common Sense Media) does an excellent job highlighting and reviewing the better ones.
The bill is signed, the law is enacted, the debates are a fading memory. Now a new phase of the fight begins. Join Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B.
With almost half of its students attending charter schools, Washington, D.C. is one the leading school-choice cities in the nation.
Clear-eyed about the challenges. Constructive and hopeful about workable solutions. Robert Pondiscio
In most states, a surprising amount of progress in a short amount of time. Robert Pondiscio
ESSA’s presidential signature, the opt-out movement’s rural footprint, the economic benefit of NAEP proficiency, and TFA’s second-generation teachers.
That excuse turns out to be a crutch that’s unsupported by the evidence. Michael J. Petrilli and Brandon L. Wright
There is a fast track in American education. And we’re getting far too few African American students onto it. By Brandon L. Wright and Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. But if you’re pressed for time and want to end all intelligent life quickly, nothing beats a task force.
Rankings against policy recommendations
Here at Fordham, you can usually find us gleefully dinging New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on his education policies. When he was first pushing his universal pre-K initiative a few years back, we argued that he should have tailored the program more narrowly to the kids who needed it most.
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting Success Academy Harlem 1 and hearing from Eva Moskowitz and the SA staff about their model. I’m not going to venture into the thorny stuff about SA here. What I will say is that their results on state tests are clearly impressive, and I doubt that they’re fully (or even largely) explained by the practices that cause controversy.
It’s difficult to get your arms around the idea of suspending a three- or four-year-old from preschool. For most of us (if we’re even able to remember back that far), pre-K discipline basically meant quiet time in the corner, miserably sulking while our friends laughed and colored.
Value-added does not need replacing
Attending a religious school might reduce bigotry. Kevin Mahnken
More myth-busting evidence about serving kids with special needs. Jamie Davies O'Leary
Individual authority has decreased slightly, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Robert Pondiscio
The creation of Brooklyn Ascend charter school, textbooks in Texas, and substitute teachers in impoverished schools.
For school choice advocates, victory is inevitable. David Griffith
As states have implemented college and career readiness standards, it has sometimes been assumed that most of the work and attention has occurred at the elementary grades. In truth, many states have been working for some time to ensure that grade twelve prepares all students for post-secondary success.
More than twelve million American students exercise some form of school choice by going to a charter, magnet, or private school——instead of attending a traditional public school.
