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.
Bridging the Covid Divide: How States Can Measure Student Achievement Growth in the Absence of 2020 Test Scores
Ishtiaque Fazlul, Cory Koedel, Eric Parsons, Cheng QianWhen the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. last spring, schools nationwide shut their doors and states cancelled annual standardized tests. Now federal and state policymakers are debating whether to cancel testing again in 2021. One factor they should consider is whether a two-year gap in testing will make it impossible to measure student-level achievement growth during this historic period.
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.