Displaying 1-21 of 21 results
Commentary
10.31.2019
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

2019 WONKATHON WINNER: Beyond the binary: We can foster equity in both opportunity and outcomes

Abby Javurek

Editor’s note: This was the first-place submission, out of nineteen, to Fordham’s 2019 Wonkathon, in which we asked participants to answer the question: “What’s the best way to help students who are several grade levels behind?”

Commentary
10.30.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Standards

On NAEP, bright spots amidst the gloom

Michael J. Petrilli

This year’s NAEP results are bleak. But they were foreseeable, with the Great Recession's effects still impeding progress. Demography need not be destiny though: A few jurisdictions bucked the overall trends and showed improvement. D.C. deserves much of the praise, given its ability to demonstrate sustained and significant progress over time, and its decade-plus commitment to fundamental reform. As does Mississippi, which has been on an upward trajectory for the last decade, especially in reading. Despite the dismal results, there’s hope if we can follow the lead of these notable locales.

Commentary
10.30.2019
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

Classroom content: A conservative conundrum

Robert Pondiscio

The content of K–12 education is a minefield for conservatives. Over the past thirty years, education reformers who wanted parents to have choices for their children have tended to focus more on the creation of new public charter schools, or on private school scholarships, than on curriculum and classroom content.

Commentary
10.30.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

The zombie pedagogical debate

Dale Chu

With Wonkathon season kicking into high gear, asking participants what’s the best way to help students who are several grade levels behind, it occurred to me that this year’s question, as fundamental and challenging as it may be, is a withering indictment o

Commentary
10.30.2019
Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction

Opening STEM opportunities in Appalachia

Aaron Churchill

With the backing of Chevron and local philanthropy, the Appalachia Partnership Initiative (API) was launched five years ago.

Podcast
10.30.2019
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

The Education Gadfly Show: On education, Warren’s got a pander for that

On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk to Checker Finn about Senator Warren’s flawed education proposal. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines improvements to the student teaching experience that can help candidates feel more prepared for success in the classroom.

Podcast
10.23.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Standards

The Education Gadfly Show: Early warning: Kindergarten readiness skills are trending downward

On this week’s podcast, Megan Kuhfeld, a research scientist at NWEA, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss her recent, sobering findings about the reading and math skills of children entering kindergarten. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how “stereotype threat” affects the results of cognitive ability tests.

Commentary
10.23.2019
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

Why struggling students remain below grade level, and how to help them

Mike Goldstein

Editor’s note: This is a submission to Fordham’s 2019 Wonkathon, in which we ask participants to answer the question: “What’s the best way to help students who are several grade levels behind?” This entry does so via answers to hypothe

Commentary
10.18.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

NewSchools isn't overselling SEL: A response to Checker Finn

Stacey Childress

Our team at NewSchools recently released a report titled, Using Expanded Measures of Student Success for School Improvement. In it, we share some on-the-ground lessons from innovative public schools in our portfolio.

Commentary
10.15.2019
Charter Schools, Private School Choice

The real story: School choice is working

Benjamin J. Lindquist

On September 25th, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) issued a report titled “School Choice in the United States: 2019,” which sorely misrepresents the prevalence, value, and impact of school choice over the last twenty years.

Commentary
10.11.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Everything we know about teacher effectiveness

Andrew Scanlan

On Wednesday, we sat down with Dan Goldhaber, director of the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), on our Education Gadfly Show podcast for thirty minutes of engaging discussion.

Commentary
10.9.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

AP: Great for gifted high schoolers

Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew Scanlan

When considering the available options for gifted high-school kids, the Advanced Placement (AP) program may not be the first thing that comes to mind. That’s too bad because AP might be America’s most effective large-scale “gifted and talented” program at the high school level.

Commentary
10.9.2019
Curriculum & Instruction

Does access to advanced high school math and science courses boost college STEM outcomes?

Tran Le

A new report published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis investigates how access to advanced high school math and science courses affects postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) enrollment and degree attainment, and how this relationship between the two differs by race and gender.

Event
10.9.2019
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

A Moonshot for Kids

What would happen if we invested $1 billion or more in bold education R & D initiatives designed to generate fresh, evidence-backed solutions to some of education’s toughest challenges? On November 5, at 4:00 p.m. ET, online and in Washington, D.C., the Center for American Progress and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute held a a “Shark-Tank” style competition. Ten early-round finalists presented their “billion-dollar Moonshot ideas” to a panel of tough judges, all for a chance to win $10,000 and have their idea propelled to widespread attention and potential major investment.

Commentary
10.8.2019
Curriculum & Instruction, Personalized Learning, Standards

Access, equity, and quality in dual enrollment

Lexi Barrett, Ryan Reyna

Programs that allow high school students the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school are growing fast. In addition to familiar options like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and early college high school—otherwise known as college in high school programs–are increasingly popular models in states.

Commentary
10.2.2019
Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education, Personalized Learning

Advanced coursework gets a needed boost

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Last week in Austin, at the annual “summit” sponsored by the PIE (“Policy Innovators in Education”) Network, prizes were conferred on a handful of state-based education-reform groups that had accomplished remarkable feats in the previous year, this despite the reform-averse mood that chills much of the nation.

Commentary
10.2.2019
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The metric that matters most: Ask kids, “Are you in?”

Robert Pondiscio

Editor’s note: At last week’s PIE Network Summit in Austin, Texas, Fordham senior fellow Robert Pondiscio was asked to participate in a panel discussion on “What is the purpose of education?” His answer to the question consisted of the following remarks.