Bridging the Covid Divide: How States Can Measure Student Achievement Growth in the Absence of 2020 Test Scores
Ishtiaque Fazlul, Cory Koedel, Eric Parsons, Cheng QianWhen the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. last spring, schools nationwide shut their doors and states cancelled annual standardized tests. Now federal and state policymakers are debating whether to cancel testing again in 2021. One factor they should consider is whether a two-year gap in testing will make it impossible to measure student-level achievement growth during this historic period.
The Education Gadfly Show: Emily Oster and Noelle Ellerson Ng answer the big question: Will schools reopen this spring?
Teacher Effectiveness and Improvement in Charter and Traditional Public Schools
Matthew P. Steinberg, Haisheng YangStudy after study has found that new teachers tend to be less effective than educators with more experience. But despite having more junior staff, charter networks (referred to as CMOs) often outperform their district peers. So what’s their secret? To find out, this study explores how teacher effectiveness varies and evolves across traditional and charter public schools, as well as within the sector’s CMOs and standalone schools.
The Education Gadfly Show: What the election means for education reform
The Education Gadfly Show: Two years after Janus, why are teachers unions stronger than ever?
On this week’s podcast, Colin Sharkey, executive director of the Association of American Educators, joins Mike Petril
The Education Gadfly Show: The politics of school reopenings
On this week’s podcast, Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss why politics seems to be
How America’s best charter schools crushed the Covid-19 challenge
On this week’s podcast, Gregg Vanourek joins Mike Petrilli to discuss Fordham’s new report that Gregg authored,
Schooling Covid-19: Lessons from leading charter networks from their transition to remote learning
Gregg VanourekLast spring, the Covid-19 pandemic upended routines for over 56 million students and challenged more than 3.7 million teachers in over 130,000 schools nationwide to continue educating kids in an online format. This transition to “virtual learning” was understandably trying for all educators, schools, and districts, but some managed to do far better than others.
On Biden’s education platform
On this week’s podcast, Tressa Pankovits, associate director of Reinventing America's Schools at the Progressive Policy Institute, joins Mike Petrilli a
The Education Gadfly Show: NAEP’s flawed reading revamp
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn and David Griffith discuss the flawed effort to revamp NAEP’s reading framework.
The Education Gadfly Show: How assessment data can drive instruction this fall
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Tran Le, Amber Northern, and David Griffith discuss Fordham’s new
The Education Gadfly Show: School districts failed the remote learning test
On this week’s podcast, Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, talks with Mike Petrilli and David Griffith about how well school districts handled remote learning this spring. On the Research Minute, Olivia Piontek joins Mike and David to examine how data on how academic growth affects parents’ perception of school quality.
The Education Gadfly Show: The one where the pandemic turns Robert into a big softie
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Robert Pondiscio, and David Griffith debate how much we can expect districts to do du
The Education Gadfly Show: Research Deep Dive: The impact of school closures
The Education Gadfly Show: On technocrats and culture wars
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Checker Finn, and David Griffith discuss Mike and Checker’s new edited volume, How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow’s Schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether the nationwide rise in high school graduation rates is real, and whether high-stakes school accountability played a role.
The Education Gadfly Show: Heavens to Betsy's block grant
On this week’s podcast, Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public
The Education Gadfly Show: Community schools and disadvantaged families
On this week’s podcast, William Johnston, associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to
The Education Gadfly Show: Finding the right school for your child
On this week’s podcast, Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether
Great Expectations: The Impact of Rigorous Grading Practices on Student Achievement
Seth GershensonOne indicator of teachers’ expectations is their approach to grading—specifically, whether they subject students to more or less rigorous grading practices. Unfortunately, “grade inflation” is pervasive in U.S. high schools, as evidenced by rising GPAs even as SAT scores and other measures of academic performance have held stable or fallen. The result is that a “good” grade is no longer a clear marker of knowledge and skills. This report examines to what extent teachers’ grading standards affect student success.
The Education Gadfly Show: School Choice Week 2020
On this week’s podcast, Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss National School Choice Week. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how teachers who specialize instead of teaching all subjects affect elementary school outcomes.
The Education Gadfly Show: The effects of early college programs
On this week’s podcast, Kristina Zeiser, senior researcher at American Institutes for Research, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk a
The Education Gadfly Show: NAEP 2019: It (was) the economy, stupid
On this week’s podcast, Marty West, a Harvard professor of education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about last week’s NAEP results and their relationship to the Great Recession. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how graduation requirements affect arrest rates.
Is Advanced Placement Good for Everyone? A Discussion with Partisans and Doubters
Learning in the Fast Lane: The Past, Present, and Future of Advanced Placement (Princeton, 2019), the new book by Chester Finn and Andrew Scanlan, tells the story of the Advanced Placement (AP) program, widely regarded as the gold standard for academic rigor in American high schools.
The Education Gadfly Show: On education, Warren’s got a pander for that
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk to Checker Finn about Senator Warren’s flawed education proposal. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines improvements to the student teaching experience that can help candidates feel more prepared for success in the classroom.
The Education Gadfly Show: Early warning: Kindergarten readiness skills are trending downward
On this week’s podcast, Megan Kuhfeld, a research scientist at NWEA, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss her recent, sobering findings about the reading and math skills of children entering kindergarten. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how “stereotype threat” affects the results of cognitive ability tests.
The Education Gadfly Show: Why the Big Easy’s big gains are over
On this week’s podcast, Doug Harris, director of the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to disc
The Education Gadfly Show: Research Deep Dive: Everything we know about effective teachers
On this week’s podcast, Dan Goldhaber, the director of CALDER, joins Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Amber Northern to discuss what rigorous research says about identifying, developing, and retaining effective teachers.
The Education Gadfly Show: Charter schools lift all boats
On this week’s podcast, Nina Rees, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance for Public