What we're reading this week: November 24, 2021
Though surveys showed that many teachers considered leaving the classroom in recent years, and some predicted nationwide teacher shortages, the data show that teachers are sticking it out. —FiveThirtyEight “Can public money go to religious schools?
Stop pestering education leaders to “follow the evidence.” Instead, host forecasting tournaments.
Mike GoldsteinEducation leaders—principals, superintendents, state chiefs, philanthropy heads—make lots of decisions, and we exhort them to “use evidence” when they do. But we should stop doing that for at least four reasons.
Teacher mental health days demonstrate districts’ priorities—and it’s not the students
Dale ChuAmerica’s children are way behind because of the pandemic. And knowing this, parents and guardians have been justifiably expecting schools to rise to the occasion this fall. Instead, districts across the country have been shuttering this month following a wave of unexpected staff shortages. This is unequivocally a bad thing, but one that may have a silver lining: It helps increase momentum for school choice.
What is virtue and why does it matter?
Jennifer FreyContemporary education has become too technocratic and divorced from virtue. This is a disservice to students because it robs them of what a classical education provides: the tools students need to succeed, not just academically and professionally, but in the deep and abiding sense of being able to flourish as free and good human beings.
In almost every state, funding gaps between rich and poor schools have been closed
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.The conventional wisdom is that American students from poor families are mostly stuck in sorely underfunded public schools while more affluent families have access to well-resourced ones. For decades, this was largely true.
What we're reading this week: November 18, 2021
The Education GadflyEducation reporting needs to cast off the scarcity mindset and misleading headlines about school finance. —Chad Aldeman Religious groups are lobbying to change Biden’s childcare bill, as it might disqualify faith-based care providers from accessing funds.
Communicating the “learning” in social-emotional learning
Sheldon Berman, Linda Darling-HammondEditor’s post: This post was originally published on November 8, 2021, by the Learning Policy Institute as part of its “Educating the Whole Child“ blog series.
The fall of the yellow-school-bus system requires swift modernization
Matthew Ladner“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” —Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Effectively implementing social-emotional learning means getting the terminology right
William Rost, Jeremy SmithTwo charter networks, Uplift Education and Distinctive Schools, have provided models for supporting social-emotional learning (SEL) that other schools should emulate.
Now it’s the GOP’s turn to mess up the critical race theory issue
Michael J. PetrilliLast week’s elections were a turning point in the fraught debate over how race and racism are taught in America’s schools. Democrats failed a major test in contending that CRT is absent from our public schools, rather than listening to parents’ concerns. Yet they may take hope from Republicans already messing up this issue in the form of blatant overreach.
A parents’ education bill of rights is a fine thing—within limits
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Terry McAuliffe surely blundered when he declared—out of context though it was taken—that “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” thereby handing Glenn Youngkin a perfectly-timed campaign issue.
How media coverage of critical race theory misses the point
Robert PondiscioIt is not a controversial statement to say that the debate over critical race theory in schools has shed more heat than light. This is not surprising. When a relatively obscure and arcane academic field suddenly becomes a high-profile political football, hotly debated on cable news shoutfests, it is almost certainly because it has been reduced to bumper-sticker simplicity.
A descriptive look at the structure of gifted programs in Washington State
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Gifted education has been a much-debated issue
Would eliminating college admissions tests really make education more equitable?
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.When the University of California began phasing-out college admissions test scores as part of a recent legal settlement, the rationale was “equity.” Lawyers for the students who brought the lawsuit said that “SAT and ACT scores are largely a proxy for a student’s socioeconomic background and race,” rather than measures of ac
What we're reading this week: November 11, 2021
The Education Gadfly“Education finance guru Marguerite Roza on how schools can best spend Covid aid.” —Education Week With recent elections elevating the voice of suburban parents and the conversation on critical race theory, what will the future of education p
Want your kids to thrive in school? Call the pediatrician.
Tim DalyThe pandemic has provided a stream of unsettling headlines reminding us that our kids are not OK. They have grappled with surges in loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
2021 election recap: How four key school board races shook out
Dale ChuWhile the gubernatorial upset in Virginia drew the brightest spotlight, Tuesday’s election featured an unusual surge in the number of school board candidates vying for thousands of seats all over the country. Four races were especially noteworthy, both for the charged political rancor leading up to November 2, as well as the potentially broader implications from the results.
Reconnecting knowledge and virtue
Jennifer FreyEditor’s note: We're happy to introduce Jennifer Frey, who will be writing regularly for the Fordham Institute over the next year. She is an associate professor at the University of South Carolina, where she focuses on virtue ethics.
Lessons on protecting viewpoint diversity in classrooms
Robert Pondiscio, Tracey SchirraA story that became a flashpoint in national conversations around the effects of “CRT bans” is reaching its denouement: This past week, a hearing officer appointed to adjudicate the case ruled that the Sullivan County, Tennessee, school board was justified in
The complexities of accountability and private school choice
Jessica PoinerAmong its many educational impacts, the pandemic has reenergized efforts to expand private school choice. States like Ohio, where it already existed, have expanded eligibility and increased funding.
What we're reading this week: November 4, 2021
The Education GadflyCongress is inching closer to making universal pre-K, expanded free school meals, and cash benefits for working-class families a reality.