Displaying 1-16 of 16 results
Commentary
5.25.2023
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

The CLT is a growing, classical alternative to the ACT and SAT: An interview with its co-founder

Daniel Buck

Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that allowed high schoolers to use the Classic Learning Test (CLT)—a classical alternative to the SAT and ACT—to qualify for the state’s Bright Futures scholarship. Already accepted at over 200 colleges, this legislation is the CLT’s biggest boost yet.

Commentary
5.25.2023
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Dire straits: Taking stock of and addressing pandemic-related learning loss

Victoria McDougald

As the school year winds down, and with the World Health Organization officially declaring the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic over earlier this month, many students, parents, a

Commentary
5.18.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

What we need from a “DARPA for education”: A Mars rover for schools

Michael J. Petrilli

There’s a lot of buzz right now about the potential for the Institute of Education Sciences to finally get the resources and authority to support major breakthroughs in teaching and learning via an “ARPA-ED,” modeled after the Defense Department’s DARPA program. Petrilli wants something more fundamental: basic information about what the heck is going on in America’s classrooms. Enter his (admittedly far-fetched) “Mars rover for schools” idea.

Commentary
5.18.2023
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

Getting reading legislation right

Dale Chu

Indiana’s Republican governor just signed into law a bill that mandates, among other

Commentary
5.18.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

“Grading for Equity” isn’t grounded in reality

Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.

A few weeks ago, I finally sat down with Joe Feldman’s Grading for Equity (2018), expecting to nod my head along with every page. I loved teaching at an alternative school, considered myself flexible about deadlines, and frequently encouraged students to revise their writing.

Commentary
5.11.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

Do charter schools improve outcomes for English learners?

David Griffith, Michael J. Petrilli

The number of English learners in charter schools has increased markedly in recent years, but our knowledge of how well charters serve these students hasn’t kept pace with that growth. That’s why we conducted our new study, "Charter Schools and English Learners in the Lone Star State." It finds, among other things, that compared to their traditional public school peers, English learners in Texas charters are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college. They also earn more money in the post-college years.

Commentary
5.11.2023
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

An evolving landscape calls for a “both/and” approach to school choice and charter schools

Frederick M. Hess

This year’s state legislative sessions, now coming to a close, have yielded a blizzard of high-profile victories on school choice, from the enactment of universal education savings accounts (ESA) programs, to the expansion of private school choice policies to serve many more families, to fairer funding for charter schools.

Commentary
5.11.2023
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

3 reasons why religious charter schools should give us pause

Kathleen Porter-Magee

When it comes to K–12 education policy, the post-Covid period has become, more than almost anything else, the era of school choice. This success has opened new avenues for its growth and confronted choice supporters—particularly Catholic school supporters—with an important decision.

Commentary
5.5.2023
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

High-achieving middle schoolers fare poorly in U.S. history and civics, finds NAEP, but that’s nothing new

Brandon L. Wright

Editor’s note: This is an edition of “Advance,” a newsletter from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute written by Brandon Wright, our Editorial Director, and published every other week. Its purpose is to monitor the progress of gifted education in America, including legal and legislative developments, policy and leadership changes, emerging research, grassroots efforts, and more.

Commentary
5.4.2023
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

History and civics scores still falling, reports NAEP

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Aaargh. Here we go again. The new National Assessment civics and history results are as deplorable as they were predictable. Whether they’ll also serve as the action-forcer that we need is far from certain.

Commentary
5.4.2023
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How lax grading policies make classrooms chaotic

Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.

Since the return to in-person learning, schools have seen a surge in student misbehavior of many kinds, ranging from minor

Commentary
5.4.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Putting the Core Knowledge study into perspective

Natalie Wexler

A recent study finding dramatic boosts in reading achievement from a knowledge-building curriculum has come in for criticism, some of it well-taken. But the study should be seen as just one more piece of evidence casting serious doubt on standard literacy instruction.