Topics

Displaying 301-330 of 427 results
US Supreme Court
Commentary
4.30.2025
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

SCOTUS should mandate state support for religious education, but not via charter schools

Michael J. Petrilli

The last two weeks of April featured a rare doubleheader at the Supreme Court, as the justices took up two cases dealing with the intersection of religious liberty and public education. The Court has a path that would respect the secular nature of public schooling while guaranteeing parents their right of free expression, and that is to declare that states must provide taxpayer support to religious schools.

US Supreme Court
Report
4.30.2025

Advanced Math Pathways in New England

Heena Kuwayama, Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

This report explores advanced math pathways in the New England region. As a supplement to the primary report Calculus or Statistics: Does It Matter?, this targeted analysis examines access to and participation in advanced math courses, as well as ongoing efforts to develop and diversify these pathways across New England.

Student doing calculus
Commentary
4.24.2025

Calculus, statistics, and the capstone course question

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Michael J. Petrilli

Are high school students better served by completing their math studies with calculus or statistics? This question has provoked lively debate in the education world, in the mathematics world, and in the college admissions world. But remarkably little is known for certain about what difference—if any—it actually makes.

Student doing calculus
Office Space screengrab
Commentary
4.24.2025

The Department of Education meets “Office Space”

Frederick M. Hess

The U.S. Department of Education has been cut down to half its previous size. Over the past month, as more than a thousand former employees carted their belongings out of the building at 400 Maryland Avenue, they were greeted by protesters denouncing the clumsy cuts and callous execution.

Office Space screengrab
Fallen piggy bank
Commentary
4.24.2025

The ESSER hangover is here

Marguerite Roza

Lately, I’ve been asking audiences (mostly comprised of public school district leaders) to rate ESSER. Thumbs up for success, down for disaster. The most common answer, by far, is a tepid something in between.

Fallen piggy bank
Fordham Gadfly image
Commentary
4.24.2025

What we’re reading this week: April 24, 2025

The Education Gadfly

Babies, toddlers, children, and teens are negatively impacted by parental device use; parents need to keep their own screen time to a minimum and put their phones down around their children.

Fordham Gadfly image
Report
4.23.2025

Calculus or Statistics: Does it Matter?

Matt Giani, Ph.D., Franchesca Lyra, Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

While calculus remains the gold standard in most college admissions offices, educators and employers increasingly champion advanced statistics as critical for navigating today’s data-driven workforce. So which math pathway actually shapes long-term success?

Washington, D.C.
Commentary
4.17.2025
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

Power plays in federal education: Three flashpoints, three branches

Dale Chu

Three emerging issues—each unfolding in a different branch of government—offer a telling snapshot of where federal education policy could be headed. They involve religious charter schools, tax-credit scholarships, and ESSA waivers. On their own, each represents a flashpoint. Taken together, they provide a rare glimpse into the full machinery of federal influence—and a timely reminder that education policymaking in Washington still matters.

Washington, D.C.
Teacher in a classroom
Commentary
4.17.2025
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Answering Randi Weingarten

Robert Pondiscio

I appreciate and admire Randi Weingarten’s willingness to engage in a discussion about American Educator and the American Federation of Teacher’s role in education.

Teacher in a classroom
Fordham Gadfly image
Commentary
4.17.2025

What we’re reading this week: April 17, 2025

The Education Gadfly

The Education Department under the Trump administration has adopted a more aggressive civil rights enforcement strategy, marked by rapid investigations, funding threats, and a focus on LGBTQ+ and antisemitism issues.

Fordham Gadfly image
Students
Commentary
4.11.2025
School Finance, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

Can the left deliver education abundance?

Danyela Souza Egorov

Ezra Klein’s new book has sparked an important discussion about how the left can provide more housing and transportation. However, one area that particularly needs self-reflection is education. The left has often obstructed the creation of new and innovative schools.

Students
AFT sign
Commentary
4.10.2025
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How the AFT could have changed teaching and learning (and maybe still can)

Robert Pondiscio

The AFT’s journal, The American Educator, was for many years a reliable source of first-rate research and practice tips for those who think teaching should run on evidence, not folklore and philosophy. It could still be an important engine of K–12 instructional reform today. All it would take is for Randi Weingarten and the AFT to give it some attention and visibility. Or failing that, just leave it the heck alone.

AFT sign
Donald Trump
Commentary
4.10.2025
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

A K–12 public school choice agenda for the Trump administration

Bruno V. Manno

The Trump administration’s K–12 education policy prescriptions typically focus on ways to provide financial support for private schools, including federal vouchers and tax-credit scholarships.

Donald Trump
Teenager on phone at night
Commentary
4.10.2025
Evidence-Based Learning, Teachers & School Leaders

What are students doing between 6 p.m. and midnight?

Mike Goldstein, Sean Geraghty

Editor’s note: This is the first of two posts on what students do outside of school hours. For decades, field biologists tried to understand animals by observing them during the day. They’d sit in a jeep, holding a notebook, maybe wearing a funny hat. They observed what lions, elephants, or jaguars did under the sun.

Teenager on phone at night
Student outside a closed school
Commentary
4.10.2025
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Short- and long-term impacts of school closure on student outcomes

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

According to a report issued by the OECD in 2018, school closures are an inevitable consequence of declining populations of school-age children across much of the world, and the United States is not im

Student outside a closed school
Fordham Gadfly image
Commentary
4.10.2025

What we’re reading this week: April 10, 2025

The Education Gadfly

Students with Indiana’s new Enrollment Honors Plus diploma, which requires advanced coursework and work experience, will gain automatic admission to state colleges, while those on career or military tracks will receive guaranteed job or enlistment opportunities.

Fordham Gadfly image
Students doing math in a classroom
Commentary
4.8.2025
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Advanced students rebounded faster from learning loss. They still need our attention.

Brandon L. Wright

Countless articles have been written about students’ recent bleak performance on the Nation’s Report Card, most of which rightly bemoaned declines in reading and math, compared to 2019 and 2022 scores, especially among lower-scoring students.

Students doing math in a classroom
College class discussion
Commentary
4.3.2025
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The best colleges for political diversity

Michael J. Petrilli

It is decision time for the high school class of 2025, with commitments due to colleges by May 1. Among the many factors that students might consider when deciding whether a college is the right fit for them is the political climate on campus. Simply put, are both liberals and conservatives relatively well represented in the student body?

College class discussion
Kevin Stitt
Commentary
4.3.2025
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Waiver and out: How red states plan to push the limits of federal ed policy

Dale Chu

Red states are lining up to test just how much leeway they can get from Uncle Sam’s education mandates, with some pushing for block grants that would allow them to consolidate federal aid into a single grant with few spending restrictions.

Kevin Stitt