Displaying 181-210 of 244 results
Commentary
4.7.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Biden goes all in on the teachers unions’ agenda

Dale Chu

With Democrats facing trouble in the midterm elections, the Biden administration has inexplicably decided to try to stave off disaster by doubling down on the teachers unions’ hoary anti-reform agenda. One example is its not-so-sneak attack on charter schools in the form of execrable regulations that could bring charter growth to a standstill. But it’s not the only one.

Commentary
4.7.2022
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Denver doesn’t spell doom for portfolio-style reform

Paul T. Hill

Last week, Chester Finn used a recent vote of Denver’s anti-reform school board to make three points: first, that the “portfolio” reform there—based on school autonomy, family choice, and chartering out schools where kids aren’t learning—is finished; second, that Denver’s reversal predicts doom elsewhere for complex reform initiatives meant to transform the ways whole public systems operate; an

Commentary
4.7.2022
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

More reform lessons from Denver

Susan Miller, Tom Coyne

After living through the transformation of K–12 education in Alberta, Canada, we moved from Calgary to Colorado in 2010. Since then, we have watched the Denver Public Schools story unfold from next door in Jefferson County.

Commentary
4.7.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How a summer job may help improve school outcomes

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

The influence of out-of-school activities such as sports and clubs on school outcomes has been an enduring

Commentary
3.31.2022
Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The college readiness battle is won or lost in elementary school

Michael J. Petrilli

Earlier this year, I took to the pages of Education Next to make the case for NAEP to test starting in kindergarten, stating that, “The rationale for testing academic skills in the early elementary grades is powerful.” Therefore, “Starting NAEP in 4th grade is much too late.” I was wrong, and I’m sorry. Kindergarten is much too late. We must begin a program of NAEP testing for newborns.

Commentary
3.31.2022
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Denver’s cautionary tale for the “charter-lite” strategy

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

It’s no secret that Denver’s latest school board is wreaking havoc on the suite of bold education reforms that the Mile High City was known for over the past two decades.

Commentary
3.31.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Evaluating how well ELA curricula deliver content knowledge

Nathaniel Grossman

What makes an effective English language arts curriculum? Is it the books and other readings that it includes? The skills that it imparts to students? Something else?

Commentary
3.24.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Why we should follow the science—to school

Michael J. Petrilli

A new edited volume, “Follow the Science to School,” aims to identify what science tells us about evidence-based practices in elementary schools, and describes what they look like in the real world of classrooms. Following the science into its application in this way—and sharing how it works on the ground—enables us to suggest workable answers to key questions rather than challenging every teacher, school, or district, to figure out those answers on their own.

Commentary
3.24.2022
Accountability & Testing, Governance

Lively days for NAEP

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Those who pay attention to the “Nation’s Report Card” tend to take it for granted. In truth, most people heed it not at all.

Commentary
3.24.2022
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Curriculum wars are inevitable and necessary

Daniel Buck

There is much to love in George Packer’s essay on the culture wars and education in The Atlantic. He castigates both sides of the partisan aisle for their follies: the left’s support for school closures “far longer than either the science or welfare of children justified” and the

Commentary
3.18.2022
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Should we be worried about rising inflation?

Seth Gershenson

Inflation is up, and no, I’m not talking about gas prices. I’m talking about some troubling trends observed among the 2019 graduating class of high school students in the recently released 2019 NAEP High School Transcript Study.

Commentary
3.17.2022
Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Work instead of school: A better approach for our lowest-performing students?

Michael J. Petrilli

High school-age Americans struggling mightily with academics aren’t well served by our current approach to secondary education. But there may be a better model that would give them a more worthwhile experience and lead to better long-term outcomes: Let them take jobs while still in high school—during the school day, during both their junior and senior years, full pay included, no strings attached.

Commentary
3.17.2022
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Civic education and the battle for Ukraine

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

We’re all watching the news and hating what we’re seeing, the one big exception being the patriotic heroism of millions of Ukrainians (and the much smaller but still impressive collection of others who have been traveling to Ukraine to join the fight for freedom).

Commentary
3.17.2022
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education

San Francisco’s detracking experiment

Tom Loveless

Editor's note: This post was originally published on tomloveless.com.

Commentary
3.10.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Keep fighting for selective high schools

Brandon L. Wright

In cities across the country, selective high schools are facing increasing pressure to change their admissions policies to make their incoming student populations more socioeconomically and racially diverse. Closing these gaps is a laudable and important goal. But the most common strategies for accomplishing it are racially discriminatory, misguided, and ineffective.

Commentary
3.10.2022
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

Could Great Hearts Academy change the face of private education?

Robert Pondiscio

Remote learning is hard to love. The nation’s forced experiment in online education the past few years has been a disaster for kids. Educators and parents alike have come to view virtual learning as a necessary evil at best, an ad hoc response to a national crisis.

Commentary
3.10.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

The casualties of “college for all”

Arthur Samuels

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some ideas about how schools and districts can move away from the well-intentioned but deeply flawed “college for all” mindset that has permeated the education reform world and has, in turn, harmed many of the disadvantaged students whom the approach is m

Commentary
3.10.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

About that Tennessee pre-K study

David Griffith

It’s rare that a piece of social science makes you question the nature of your reality, but such was my reaction to the latest, much-discussed update on the performance of Tennessee’s pre-k program—or more specifically, on the fate of the 2,990 children from low-income families who applied to oversubscribed pre-K program sites across

Commentary
3.3.2022
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Smash-and-grab education reform

Dale Chu

Eight months out from a midterm election cycle that is shaping up to be a bloodbath for Democrats, Republican Senator Rick Scott recently released an “eleven-point plan to rescue America” that speaks volumes about the GOP’s posture on education. What’s most telling is what’s missing from Scott’s plan: a serious and good faith discussion of the most pressing issues facing our Covid-constrained education system.

Commentary
2.24.2022
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

The hypocrisy of school districts saying they’re “open to all”

Jessica Poiner

Opponents of school choice regularly criticize private schools for not taking all comers, contrasting them with traditional public schools, which they claim are open to all. But that’s not true in many places, especially wealthier suburbs, where public schools are typically restricted to students who live within geographic boundaries. Attending them requires a hefty mortgage and property taxes or sky-high rents that are out of the reach of low- and middle-income families.

Commentary
2.24.2022
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Classics and Black history: Lessons from Dr. Anika Prather

Jennifer Frey

A common charge against classical education—education that is rooted in the classical texts of the Western ancient world and that seeks to develop the moral and intellectual character of its students—is that it is inextricably racist, sexist, and quite generally offensive or alienating to members of historically marginalized communities.

Commentary
2.24.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

A principal explains how to repair the harm of “college for all”

Arthur Samuels

As Michael Petrilli wrote in these pages a few weeks ago, the education reform movement has come to the realization that its belief in “college for all,” while well-intended, was misguided.

Commentary
2.24.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

“Doing science” boosts academic achievement

Jeff Murray

In 2017, a team of researchers from Finland and Michigan State University who were eager to improve science instruction for secondary students launched a field trial for Crafting Engaging Science Environments (CESE), a project-based curriculum they created and aligned with the Next Gener