Displaying 1-30 of 44 results
Students in a classroom
Commentary
12.12.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

After a “lost decade,” let’s restore high expectations for students

Robert Pondiscio

There has been a fierce and counterproductive backlash to “no excuses” charter schools, stemming from the idea that student discipline and orderly classrooms are culturally insensitive, particularly when imposed on students of color. This critique drove the rise of social justice education with its focus on reducing racial harm while functionally neglecting academic instruction and enshrining low expectations.

Students in a classroom
White House
Commentary
12.3.2024
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

So you want to make education great again? 3 executive orders for Trump on day 1.

Jeanne Allen

The Founding Fathers never envisioned that executive orders would be a major policymaking tool, circumventing legislative and executive deliberations, political stalemates, and partisanship. But recent history has deemed them essential levers if there is to be urgent action on the most important matters of the day.

White House
Students raising their hands in a school classroom
Commentary
10.24.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Once a hedgehog, now a fox: Ten lessons from six decades in the struggle to improve schools

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The Greek poet Archilochus wrote that “the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Finn’s experience has made him more like the fox: as keen as ever to overhaul and revitalize American education, but having come to “knows many things” about that enterprise, is more a wary realist regarding its difficulty.

Students raising their hands in a school classroom
Student doing schoolwork at home
Commentary
10.24.2024
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction

Is it time for a second look at virtual education?

Robert Pondiscio

I confess I approach the question of virtual education with more than a little skepticism. Kids spend enough time staring at screens, and I’ve developed a reflexive distrust bordering on cynicism for all things ed tech, which has a reliable history of overpromising and underdelivering. And, of course, student outcomes from virtual schools have been awful.

Student doing schoolwork at home
Empty desk in a classroom
Commentary
10.10.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Student enrollment is dropping. The charter sector should keep growing anyway.

Michael J. Petrilli

The macro trend that will have the greatest impact on the American education system over the next decade or two is our declining birth rate and the resulting enrollment crisis facing many public schools. We have too many schools for too few kids and, as a result, thousands of schools are going to need to close. But what we don’t have are enough excellent schools, and therefore the charter sector should keep growing anyway.

Empty desk in a classroom
Colorado State Capitol
Commentary
10.10.2024
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

Calling for a constitutional right to school choice in Colorado

Dale Chu

As the clock winds down towards Election Day, Colorado voters—myself included—face an important decision beyond the presidential contest: whether to amend the state constitution to enshrine a “right to school choice.” To be clear, the Centennial State has a long and proud record on the issue.

Colorado State Capitol
Food spread
Commentary
9.26.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

The “à la carte education” accountability conundrum

Michael J. Petrilli, Devon Nir

Of the school choice options available to many U.S. families today, few embody the spirit of “power to the parents” quite like education savings accounts (ESAs).

Food spread
School students raising hands
Commentary
8.29.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools

Charter schools outperform traditional public schools on average. Here's why.

Michael J. Petrilli, David Griffith

High-quality studies find that charter schools boost achievement by more than their traditional-public-school counterparts—an advantage that is particularly large for students of color in disadvantaged urban communities, and one that has only grown larger as the charter sector has expanded and matured.

School students raising hands
Students walking to school
Commentary
8.29.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance

Does competition from charter schools help or hurt traditional public schools?

David Griffith, Heena Kuwayama

It’s widely acknowledged that a bit of healthy competition is a good thing in most contexts. Among other things, it pushes businesses to create better products and athletes and musicians to train longer and harder. But what about in education?

Students walking to school
Dr. Kathleen O’Toole
Commentary
8.22.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Inside the classical school renaissance: An interview with Dr. Kathleen O’Toole

Daniel Buck

Classical education is undergoing a renaissance. According to a recent analysis by Arcadia Education, the classical sector is growing by 5 percent annually with a total projected enrollment of 1.4 million students by 2035.

Dr. Kathleen O’Toole
Wonkathon
Commentary
7.30.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

“Everything, everywhere, all at once” solutions to chronic absenteeism

Kelly James, Brad Bernatek

Read the winning entry in Fordham’s 2024 Wonkathon, which asked contributors to answer this question: “How can policymakers and practitioners radically reduce chronic absenteeism—at least below pre-pandemic levels and preferably much further?”

Wonkathon
Kamala Harris
Commentary
7.24.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

How Kamala Harris can move to the center on education

Michael J. Petrilli

It may be true that Kamala Harris is, at heart, your typical progressive Democrat from California. But she has an unusual opportunity to shed some of that political baggage. Indicating that she will be open to education reform is one of the best ways to do so.

Kamala Harris
J.D. Vance
Commentary
7.18.2024
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

Vance vs. Pence: How Trump’s VP picks compare on education

Dale Chu

On Monday, Donald Trump chose Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, signaling a doubling down on his MAGA brand. As far as education is concerned, this means tapping into broad parental discontent over educational and education-related issues, many of which were turbocharged by the pandemic.

J.D. Vance
Student raising hand
Commentary
7.18.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Five ways to ensure that charter schools have a political future

Brandon Brown

Perhaps no modern American education reform has enjoyed the success and staying power of charter schools. Three-plus decades after Minnesota passed the first charter law, 3.7 million students now attend charters, the majority of whom are children of color and come from low-income families.

Student raising hand
Catholic school classroom
Commentary
7.4.2024
School Finance, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

Public funding for religious schools can help ease our culture wars

Michael J. Petrilli

Knee-jerk reaction against public subsidies for religious education is unwise. That’s because allowing religious families to choose sectarian schools for their children could very well be a saving grace for our society. And you don’t have to be among the faithful to believe so.

Catholic school classroom
Students in a classroom
Commentary
6.20.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction

Is classical education research-based?

Daniel Buck

Classical education has surged in popularity, with 264 new schools cropping up since 2019, a host

Students in a classroom
Portrait of a black male student
Commentary
5.23.2024
Charter Schools, Governance

Blaming charters for segregation is dumb

Chris Stewart

Editor’s note: This was first published on the author’s Substack, “citizen stewart,” which covers race, education, and democracy.

Portrait of a black male student
Protest
Commentary
5.16.2024
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Private School Choice

How a parent movement could revolutionize education

Daniel Buck

In his new book, “The Parent Revolution,” school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis explains the notable plummet in the public’s trust of public education, especially in the past five years. By his telling, school choice is the answer to all that ails us. But he’s likely overselling its healing powers.

Protest
Hammer piggy bank
Commentary
4.4.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

School choice need not mean an expensive windfall for the rich

Michael J. Petrilli

The school choice movement continues to rack up dramatic wins nationwide. This growth in “educational freedom,” as many advocates now call it, is a fantastic development. But under the surface of these victories, an important debate is brewing: how to balance the drive for maximum choice with other values, including fiscal responsibility and fairness.

Hammer piggy bank