America and its high-potential kids
Throughout much of 2013, a colleague and I worked on a project related to America’s highest-potential boys and girls, students colloquially known as “gifted.” Though I learned a great deal, it was mostly a discouraging enterprise.
It’s a bad idea to use a lottery system for varsity football…and for varsity courses
Michelle LernerLottery systems are too common in education. And while it’s the fairest way to allocate a limited number of seats at, say, an oversubscribed, high-performing charter school, it’s not the way forward when it comes to Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Unfortunately, that’s the direction some California school districts may be heading.
Columbus school reform shouldn’t forget the whiz kids
Aaron ChurchillHigh-ability low-income students could get lost in the shuffle in Columbus
Ed Next Book Club: Tony Wagner on Creating Innovators
In this edition of the Ed Next Book Club, Mike Petrilli sits down with Tony Wagner to discuss his new book
What We’re Listening To: Mike Petrilli and Josh Starr on Whether the Brightest Students Are Being Challenged
This week, Mike Petrilli was a guest on "What’s the Big Idea?," a podcast hosted by Josh Starr
Playing the gifted-student race card
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Shame on the New York Times
Fordham President Chester E. Finn, Jr. receives NAGC President's Award
Pamela TatzCongratulations to Checker, who received the 2012 National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) President’s award for outstanding contributions to the field of gifted education
The best bargain in American education
Chester E. Finn, Jr., Jessica HockettExam schools stretch the school dollar
Gotham’s exam-school problem
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Simplistic? Yes. Discriminatory? No.
Raising the floor, but neglecting the ceiling
Chester E. Finn, Jr., Jessica HockettGifted education, selective public schools, and the troubles of one of America's best high schools
Exam Schools: Inside America's Most Selective Public High Schools
Chester E. Finn, Jr., Jessica HockettWhat is the best education for exceptionally able and high-achieving youngsters? There are no easy answers but, as Chester Finn and Jessica Hockett show, for more than 100,000 students each year, the solution is to enroll in an academically selective public high school. Exam Schools is the first-ever close-up look at this small, sometimes controversial, yet crucial segment of American public education.
Can schools spur social mobility?
Michael J. PetrilliHere’s hoping Charles Murray is wrong
Closing the achievement gap, but at gifted students' expense
Michael J. PetrilliMike Petrilli and AEI's Rick Hess examine the consequences of the America's focus on achievement gaps in a Washington Post Op-Ed.
The Obama Administration's war on Stuyvesant and Thomas Jefferson
Michael J. PetrilliED's diversity enforcement policies could negatively impact magnet schools.
Valuing growth for all students
As part of the release of our new study, Do High Flyers Maintain Their Performance: Performance Trends of Top Students, we are hosting a forum for
Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students
Robert Theaker, Yun Xiang, Michael Dahlin, John Cronin, Sarah Durant"Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," is the first study to examine the performance of America's highest-achieving children over time at the individual-student level. Produced in partnership with the Northwest Evaluation Association, it finds that many high-achieving students struggle to maintain their elite performance over the years and often fail to improve their reading ability at the same rate as their average and below-average classmates. The study raises troubling questions: Is our obsession with closing achievement gaps and "leaving no child behind" coming at the expense of our "talented tenth" and America's future international competitiveness? Read on to learn more.
Distressing but not surprising
We asked a few experts to weigh in on our new study, "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Performance: Performance Trends of Top Students," as part of an online forum we'll be hosting on Flypaper over the next couple days.
Tracking and Detracking: High Achievers in Massachusetts Middle Schools
Tom LovelessBrookings scholar Tom Loveless examines tracking and detracking in Massachusetts middle schools, focusing on changes that have occurred and the implications for high-achieving students. Among the findings: detracked schools have fewer advanced students in math than tracked schools and detracking is more popular in schools serving disadvantaged populations.
Growing Pains in the Advanced Placement Program: Do Tough Trade-Offs Lie Ahead?
Steve Farkas, Ann DuffettOver the past five years, the number of students taking at least one Advanced Placement exam rose by more than half. This news is celebrated but is there a downside? To find out, Fordham commissioned the Farkas Duffett Research Group to survey AP teachers in the US. The AP program remains popular with its teachers. But there are signs that the move toward "open door" access to AP is starting to cause concern.
High-Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind
Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett, Tom LovelessThis publication reports the results of the first two (of five) studies of a multifaceted research investigation of the state of high-achieving students in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era. Part I examines achievement trends for high-achieving students since the early 1990s; Part II reports on teachers' own views of how schools are serving high-achieving pupils in the NCLB era.
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate: Do They Deserve Gold Star Status?
Sheila Byrd Carmichael, Lucien Ellington, Paul Gross, Carol Jago, Sheldon SternThis report examines whether the reputation the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs have for academic excellence is truly deserved. Our expert reviewers looked at the four AP and IB courses most similar to the core content areas in American high schools--English, history, math, and science--and found that, in general, the courses do warrant praise. In a few cases, they deserve gold stars.
2004 Thomas B. Fordham Prizes for Excellence in Education
Eric HanushekThis brochure contains profiles of the winners of the second annual Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Prizes for Excellence in Education. The 2004 prize for Valor is awarded to Howard Fuller, and the 2004 prize for Distinguished Scholarship is awarded to Eric Hanushek.
The Tracking and Ability Grouping Debate
Tom LovelessTracking and ability grouping strategies differ widely from school to school. They diverge even more widely from their portrayal in the popular criticisms of the 1980s. This report digs into the sensitive matter of whether those criticisms are valid today. The answer tells a more complicated and more honest story than we have heard before on this topic.