We are squandering the talents of too many low-income high achievers
Aaron Churchill , Michael J. PetrilliFar too many high-achieving children are drifting through middle and high school. Despite their potential, they don’t end up taking AP exams, achieving high marks on their ACTs, or going to four-year colleges. This limits their ability to move up the social ladder, threatens U.S. economic competitiveness, and derails our aspirations for a more just society. We must stop buying into the false assumption that high-achieving kids will do fine on their own.
Rigorous courses are a good thing—and good for equity
Brandon L. Wright“As a broader mechanism for equity, [Advanced Placement] has fallen short, unable to overcome the powerful structural forces that disadvantage far too many students,” writes Anne Kim in a recent long-form article in Washington Monthly titled “AP’s Equity Face-Plant.” “If the ultimate goal
Addressing constructive criticisms of Fordham’s report on state civics and U.S. history standards
David GriffithOur recent study of states’ U.S. history and civics standards attracted some constructive criticism from both the left and the right. It was, after all, explicitly bipartisan. Here are our responses to four critiques.
Using deeper learning to strengthen our democracy
Kent McGuireThe past eighteen months have been some of the most tumultuous in the history of our nation. The twin pandemics of Covid-19 and social injustice have highlighted how today’s students face very different expectations than students encountered in previous generations.
The Education Gadfly Show #784: Remote learning worked well for some students. What schools can learn from that.
State civics and U.S. history standards are less politically biased than before. Let’s keep it that way.
Jeremy A. Stern, Ph.D.In 2020, as we began to look at state U.S. history standards for the first time since 2011, I was concerned about what we would find.
Boston is punishing its Asian American community for its educational success
Brandon L. WrightBoston just approved sweeping changes to the process by which students are admitted to its three highly-sought exam schools. The idea was to free up more seats for disadvantaged children, some of whom have long been underrepresented at the institutions. Yet in one important aspect, the plan may do exactly the opposite: It’s likely to significantly reduce the number of seats that go to low-income Asian American students.
How not to write state standards for civics and U.S. history
Jeremy SmithAs discussed in Fordham’s new report, many states aren’t making the grade when it comes to their civics and U.S. history standards, which are often vague to the point of being meaningless.
Preparing students of all races to achieve greatness
Ian RoweWhen looking for models of ambitious inspiration, Americans often hearken back to President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” address at Rice University on September 12, 1962:
Strong standards are vital for making history and civics central in K–12 education
Peter GibbonGone are the days when we could all agree with Ben Franklin’s sunny admonition: “Indeed the general tendency of reading good history must be, to fix in the minds of youth deep impressions of the beauty and usefulness of virtue of all kinds.” Instead, we must cope with political polarization, schools preoccupied with the achievement gap, students who learn from social media, and adults who are t
5 things I’ve learned from teaching U.S. history to high schoolers
José A. GregoryI’ve taught U.S. history to high schoolers for almost twenty years, during which time I’ve worked in multiple states with students of varying personal and cultural backgrounds. Below are the five things that I think I’ve learned. 1) Our students need more exposure to U.S. history.
We need better civics education, but it won’t happen anytime soon
Dale ChuFordham’s new report found that twenty states have “inadequate” civics and U.S. history standards that need a complete overhaul. An additional fifteen states were deemed to have “mediocre” standards that require substantial revisions. This fits the lackluster showing of U.S. students on the NAEP exams in these subjects, and suggests that some schools barely teach this content at all. Unfortunately, the obstacles in the way of improving this sad state run up and down the line.
How to strengthen U.S. history and civics standards
Louise DubéFor our constitutional democracy to survive, much rests on our ability to resolve “…differences even as we respect them,” which is The State of State Standards for Civics and History in 2021 report’s definition of the social purpose of civic education.
The Education Gadfly Show #776: Can curriculum reform succeed where the rest of standards-based reform failed?
Proof that it’s possible to approach civics and U.S. history in a balanced way
David Griffith, Chester E. Finn, Jr.Is America a racist country? Or the greatest nation on earth? Or both or neither or some of each?
Teaching U.S. history and civics in America’s pluralistic society
John Wood, Jr.The Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s review of state standards for U.S. history and civics comes at a critical moment in American civic life.
The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021
Jeremy A. Stern, Ph.D., Alison E. Brody, José A. Gregory, Stephen Griffith, Jonathan PulversIs America a racist country? Or the greatest nation on earth? Such a divisive question leaves little room for the complexity, richness, and nuance of our country’s past and present. But it’s the sort of question that often seems to get asked in today’s polarized environment. Small wonder, then, that the tattered condition of civics and U.S. history education constitutes a national crisis.
Does public preschool benefit students from Kindergarten to college?
Jeff MurrayA trio of researchers from the University of Chicago, MIT, and UC Berkeley recently released a working paper that indicates a multitude of positive long-term effects—very long term, in fact—associated with attendance at public preschool.
Lessons learned from 10 years of pioneering blended learning
Jeff Kerscher, Emily GilbrideIn 1908, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model T and introduced a reliable, affordable automobile for the middle class. While revolutionary, the Model T also took twelve hours and 7,882 tasks to assemble 1,481 parts, and increased production time meant increased costs. In 1913, Ford introduced an assembly line and cut production to ninety-three minutes.
Six ways schools can serve gifted students after the pandemic
CAO CentralNow more than ever, high-ability students from low-income families will need specialized attention and guidance from their parents and teachers. Many less-resourced families have experienced illness or personal and financial instability, and low-income students’ schooling may have experienced long interruptions due to a lack of resources at home.
First, do no harm: The initial impact of the Common Core on student learning
Victoria McDougaldEver since their creation and adoption over a decade ago, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been hotly debated and intensely villainized. The backlash to the CCSS initially took many advocates and supporters by surprise, as state education standards have existed in the U.S.
How any school can personalize learning, part II
Beth RabbittIn part I of this two-part series, I wrote about three of the most common practices teachers implement in elementary schools that successfully personalize learning: giving each child a learning plan, organizing instruction around class-level and individual mastery, and using grouping an
The Acceleration Imperative: A Plan to Address Elementary Students’ Unfinished Learning in the Wake of Covid-19
In school districts and charter school networks nationwide, instructional leaders are developing plans to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year. To help kick-start their planning process, we are proud to present The Acceleration Imperative, an open-source, evidence-based document created with input from dozens of current and former chief academic officers, scholars, and others with deep expertise and experience in high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools.
How any school can personalize learning, part I
Beth RabbittIn a previous Flypaper post, Mike Petrilli described the challenge of personalizing instruction for our youngest learners as the “Mount Everest” of education.
How elementary schools can address unfinished learning through personalization
Michael J. PetrilliEditor’s note: This is the fifth and final installment in a series of posts about envelope-pushing strategies that schools might embrace to address students’ learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.
The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring
Mike Goldstein, Bowen PaulleHigh-dosage tutoring is receiving a lot of buzz as a promising tool to address learning loss in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But unlike vaccines, successful tutoring programs are challenging to scale with fidelity. In this paper, long-time educators Michael Goldstein and Bowen Paulle explain how leaders can smartly scale promising tutoring programs that can boost student outcomes.
How gifted students improve the outcomes of their classmates, regardless of their ability levels
Brandon L. WrightGifted education is usually thought of as comprising separate classrooms that participating students attend for part of the day, and that move faster through curricular material or examine it at greater depth than “regular education” classrooms. This, of course, is only possible because all of the students in gifted classrooms are up to the challenge of this enhanced instruction.