What to do about the Covid kindergarten cohort?
Michael J. PetrilliEditor’s note: This is the third in a series of posts about envelope-pushing strategies that schools might embrace to address students’ learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.
Don’t let bad habits become the “new normal”
Robert Pondiscio, Julie FitzFrom the start of the pandemic, I’ve resisted talk of the “new normal” in education for two reasons. First and most importantly, there’s an unquenchable thirst for the old normal, and increasingly so as disruptions to traditional patterns of schooling approach the twelve-month mark.
Career and technical education and the soft bigotry of low expectations
Tamar JacobyBeware the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” President George W. Bush’s trenchant warning resonated across the political spectrum when he voiced it to the NAACP in 2000, and it has more or less driven federal education policy ever since. For many, educators and noneducators alike, it remains a touchstone of how to think about racial equity.
Merit aid and college outcomes
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.For many years, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) in Nebraska has provided full-ride college scholarships to eligible high school graduates in the state. This randomized study examines how such largesse affects higher education enrollment and degree completion.
3 ways instructional materials help to address unfinished learning in math
Tim TruittA few months ago, I wrote an article about Covid-19 learning loss and t
Advice to the Biden administration on improving special education. More money isn’t enough—or most important.
Nathan LevensonAmong the many reasons equity advocates are celebrating new leadership in Washington is the hope that President Biden and Secretary of Education-designate Cardona will do more to help students with disabilities. These kids struggled mightily in school before the pandemic, and no group of students has suffered more from remote and hybrid learning.
The Education Gadfly Show: The education issues facing state legislatures in 2021
Eight recommendations for the Biden administration
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Besides pumping tons more recovery dollars into schools, getting more teachers vaccinated, and trying to get many more kids back into classrooms, what might the Biden-Cardona team do in K–12 education that would actually be worthwhile?
What the Capitol riot means for civics education
Dale ChuStill reeling from the assault on the Capitol and the subsequent impeachment effort against Former President Trump, the education sphere’s attention has understandably returned to the need to resuscitate the teaching of civics and history. If schools did a better job of grounding our students in the principles of a free society and a basic understanding of U.S.
One option for giving children their pandemic year back: Add an extra year to elementary school, forever
Michael J. PetrilliEditor’s note: This is the second in a series of posts about envelope-pushing strategies schools might embrace to address students’ learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.
The pandemic dims a beacon of school improvement
Josh BootsFor the past decade, Washington, D.C., schools have shone as a success story, with achievement for all students rising steadily in elementary and middle schools and more quickly than the national average.
The civics and history lesson our children need right now
Robert PondiscioHistory, well taught, equips students with the ability to see through current crises. Civics, well taught, fosters in every heart an investment in democratic processes and a respect bordering on reverence for the rule of law.
Without tests in 2021, we’ll never know which schools met the Covid-19 challenge
Michael J. PetrilliThe Covid-19 pandemic has run roughshod over so much of our education system, closing schools, sending students home to try to learn remotely, and obliterating last year’s summative state tests.
Charter schools are a Band-Aid when a heart transplant is needed
Marc TuckerThis post is adapted from an email conversation between Marc Tucker and Fordham’s Michael J. Petrilli, in which Marc was responding to Mike’s recent article, “The case for urban charter schools.” It also appeared in Fordham’s Flypaper newsletter.
Eyes on the street: Reducing crime and boosting school attendance
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Reducing student absenteeism is a key goal in many schools’ efforts to improve academic outcomes. The reasons that students skip are myriad—indifference to school, illness, jobs, caring for siblings, and more—which means that there is no one solution.
Dan McKee, poised to be Rhode Island’s next governor, is a model of how to improve schools for all children
Erika SanziRhode Islanders just saw their governor, Gina Raimondo, tapped to become President-elect Biden’s Secretary of Commerce.
Give disadvantaged children their pandemic year back
Michael J. PetrilliAs the world struggles through some of the darkest days of the pandemic, and more schools shift back to remote learning, we at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute are spending most of our time thinking about what comes next: educational recovery.
Explicit teaching vs. constructivism: The misadventures of Bean Dad
Robert PondiscioNearly every day, social media plucks some poor, anonymous face in the crowd from obscurity and makes him famous. If you’re making New Year’s Resolutions this year, one should be never to be that guy.
Covid-19 facts and figures will not build trust with terrified parents
Erika SanziIt is becoming increasingly clear that pundits and well-meaning education advocates fail to fully grasp the deep distrust that some parents have long had for their children’s schools.