Why reading growth flatlines, and what to do about it
Gene KernsDiscussions about the power of literacy are ceaseless.
The growth and diversification of charter school facilities funding
Jeff MurrayOne of the starkest differences between charter and traditional district schools is in the area of facilities funding.
With its next stimulus bill, Congress should return federal education aid to its roots
Michael J. PetrilliSenate Republicans released their relief bill this week, the HEALS act, which proposes to steer the bulk of education aid to schools that open for in-person instruction. This is triggering angry reactions from most of the education establishment. Here's a less controversial and more constructive suggestion: Return federal education policy to its roots and require schools to provide “targeted assistance” to their disadvantaged, low-achieving students.
How states have responded to school finance reforms
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.School funding mechanisms are the largest and perhaps most obvious levers for policymakers to pull when attempting to reform how education dollars are distributed. To wit, a new research report from a trio of scholars tells us that there were a whopping sixty-seven major school finance reforms (SFRs) across twenty-seven states between 1990 and 2014.
Federal relief funding should be used to help schools reopen
Aaron ChurchillWith Covid-19 cases on the rise and state budgets in crisis, federal lawmakers seem poised to pass another round of stimulus. It appears that K–12 education will receive a decent portion of the emergency aid, likely exceeding the $13.5 billion-plus provided to U.S.
Will NAEP wreck its reading assessment?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The National Assessment Governing Board is in the middle of an enormous effort to revamp its framework for assessing reading, a central element of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Frameworks set forth what is to be assessed and how that’s to be done. Changing them is harder than moving a cemetery, requiring years of lead time, costing much money, and entailing endless palaver among people with divergent views of the subject. Unfortunately, in the proposed set of revisions, the bad outweighs the good by a considerable margin
The Education Gadfly Show: NAEP’s flawed reading revamp
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn and David Griffith discuss the flawed effort to revamp NAEP’s reading framework.
Dueling Florida standards reviews
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Last month, Fordham released a detailed review of Florida’s latest K–12 academic standards for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.
Why Secretary DeVos should reject Michigan’s testing waiver request
Dale ChuToday, Michigan became the first state to formally seek federal permission to suspend standardized testing in 2021 because of learning disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
The Education Gadfly Show: How assessment data can drive instruction this fall
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Tran Le, Amber Northern, and David Griffith discuss Fordham’s new