Displaying 1-30 of 169 results
Globe
Commentary
12.19.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The state of global education in a post-pandemic world

Nuno Crato, Harry Anthony Patrinos

The recently released results from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023 highlight a concerning decline in U.S. students’ performance in science and mathematics, with the country falling further behind peer countries. But it isn’t just America.

Globe
Empty school hallway
Commentary
12.19.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Governance

New international data on the persistent link between Covid school closures and learning loss

Jeff Murray

Emergency school closures aimed at minimizing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the education trajectory of over one billion children worldwide starting in March 2020. However, the length and manner of closures varied greatly from country to country and education system to education system.

Empty school hallway
Donald Trump
Commentary
12.13.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance

Why education R & D should be on Trump’s agenda

Sara Schapiro

As President-elect Trump and his team prepare for the first 100 days of office, they are setting their policy agenda and striving to make good on their campaign promises. In education, that will include decreasing the federal role (if not eliminating the U.S.

Donald Trump
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
Students in a classroom
Commentary
12.9.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education

New accountability system supports advanced math learners

Todd Truitt

Virginia’s new accountability system incentivizes schools to provide valuable middle-school math pathways, resulting in more opportunities for Virginia students, especially the most underprivileged.

Students in a classroom
China
Commentary
12.5.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning

PISA is wrong about China

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

AEI’s foremost and very distinguished demographer, my long-ago colleague Nick Eberstadt, joined by several colleagues, has released a devastating analysis/critique of the much-cited OECD assertion that China’s K–12 education performance—based on PISA scores—

China
Linda McMahon
Commentary
11.21.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Linda McMahon should wrestle with learning loss

Dale Chu

Social media lit up Tuesday evening with the news that President-elect Trump has tapped professional wrestling magnate and former Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator Linda McMahon to lead the U.S. Department of Education.

Linda McMahon
David Brooks
Commentary
11.21.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

David Brooks vs. meritocracy

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Ah, David Brooks. Ordinarily, I’d start a piece in which I plan to (partially) disagree with him by stating that he’s a very smart guy—but what I’m going to push back at this time is his much-disseminated contention that America needs to rethink what “smart” means. Even though his own qualities would likely still qualify under his new formulation, I ought not take chances.

David Brooks
Teacher strike
Commentary
11.21.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The causes of teacher strikes and their impacts on student outcomes

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

A new working paper by an accomplished team of researchers uses a new dataset to dive deep into the dynamics and impacts of teacher strikes. This paper provides a fresh perspective on why these strikes happen, how they influence school districts, and their broader implications on education policy and student achievement.

Teacher strike
Cornucopia
Commentary
11.20.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education

A cornucopia of advanced learning reports to spice up your Thanksgiving

Jonathan Plucker

After an eventful year of politics and controversy—with more lurking on the horizon—several friends have shared their apprehension about holiday gatherings. No one wants to see Grandma serve the turkey wearing her red hat or Uncle Bob stick a “We’re not going back” flag in the cranberry sauce.

Cornucopia
Advanced education classroom
Commentary
11.14.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

How schools can support equitable advanced education

Dina Brulles

In the Fordham Institute policy report titled Think Again: Are Education Programs for High-Achievers Inherently Inequitable?, Brandon Wright outlines four claims describing arguments that opponents of advanced education programs use to advocate for their

Advanced education classroom
Teenagers raising hands in a classroom
Commentary
11.14.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education

The longer-term impacts of early-college high schools

Jeff Murray

Early-college high schools are those that fully incorporate college course-taking into the curriculum. They are not to be confused with a more-typical “dual enrollment” model, which allows students the opportunity to take college courses if they have time.

Teenagers raising hands in a classroom
Catholic school
Commentary
11.7.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Governance, Private School Choice

How to ensure accountability in private-school choice programs

Michael J. Petrilli, Devon Nir

Yes, choice itself is a form of accountability, but “customer satisfaction” isn’t enough when tax dollars are in play—even for private-school choice programs. The public has a right to know that participating students are gaining essential skills. To that end, this post discusses four tiers of escalating accountability and where state policy should land, depending on the amount of taxpayer dollars provided to individual schools, among other considerations.

Catholic school
Students in a classroom
Commentary
11.7.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Advanced education provides benefits that differentiated instruction can’t

Brandon L. Wright

Editor’s note: This is an adapted excerpt from the author’s recent Fordham Institute report, “Think Again: Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitable?”

Students in a classroom
Teacher speaking to students
Commentary
11.7.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How teachers can build knowledge

Daniel Buck

Almost forty years ago, E.D. Hirsch published his seminal book, Cultural Literacy, which advanced a simple, albeit paradigm-shifting, premise: Intellectual aptitudes—including literacy itself—depend on knowledge more than skills.

Teacher speaking to students
Happy student in school
Commentary
11.7.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Teachers & School Leaders

How some schools help students get back to grade level

Heena Kuwayama

According to estimates by principals nationwide, about 44 percent of American public-school students were behind grade level in a least one subject at the start of the 2023–24 school year.

Happy student in school
Preschool classroom
Commentary
10.31.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

The return on investment of pre-kindergarten programming: Evidence from Connecticut

Jeff Murray

The academic impacts of pre-kindergarten programming for children are a matter of unsettled science, with some research finding a positive impact, some a negative, and much showing the fade out of all impacts by third grade or soon thereafter.

Preschool classroom
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
Teacher in a classroom
Commentary
10.18.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Implementing the science of reading: Insights from the field

Maggie Johnson

At Partnership Schools, we are excited that so many Ohioans are excited about the “science of reading.” In 2023 legislation that took effect this school year, Governor DeWine and the General Assembly have mandated that all reading curricula follow this approach—one we know well, since Partnership Schools have implemented it for over a

Teacher in a classroom
School report card
Commentary
10.17.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Grade inflation: Why it matters and how to stop it

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

Grade inflation influences the environment in which teachers teach and students study, shaping their behavior and relationships. But utilizing external assessments, increasing transparency, and supporting reforms that preserve the rigor of grading standards can help fix the problem.

School report card
College graduate
Commentary
10.17.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The American dream is still in reach for young people

Ian Rowe

The American dream is still alive and can be achieved in just one generation, even among the most economically disadvantaged young people. That finding is among the most promising takeaways from new research produced by Harvard University’s Raj Chetty and his collaborators.

College graduate
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
Chicago school bus
Commentary
10.10.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Facilities, Governance

Wrong (and right) lessons from Chicago’s school closures

Vladimir Kogan

Chicago’s troubled school district has made national headlines recently—from the mass resignation of its appointed school board, which opposed the mayor’s efforts to borrow nearly $300 million at ruinous rates to give the teachers union a sweetheart contract, to the

Chicago school bus
Career-technical education classroom
Commentary
10.10.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction

Many CTE teachers are leaving the classroom. But is that necessarily a bad thing?

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Jeff Murray

The growing popularity of career and technical education (CTE) at the high school level creates an ongoing need for more teachers with industry experience to provide hands-on instruction in a diverse variety of fields.

Career-technical education classroom
Overwhelmed school teacher
Commentary
10.3.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The case against discipline reform

Daniel Buck

Rates of student misbehavior remain elevated compared to pre-Covid levels. Pandemic-era disruptions, broader societal disorder and crime rates, and social media are also plausible explanations. But so is “discipline reform,” a set of policies and practices that many schools embraced over the past decade. Its tenets: talk to those kids, pursue “restorative justice,” or ignore their poor behavior. But never impose a consequence.

Overwhelmed school teacher