The rise in Black unemployment is about more than race
Walter Myers IIIRecently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its disappointing monthly jobs report, which showed that the economy had added only 250,000 jobs in August, far fewer than the 750,000 expected.
Five crucial considerations to protect social and emotional learning
The Master Teacher, Inc.The growth in popularity of social and emotional learning (SEL) is bringing with it increased attention to and scrutiny of what exactly SEL means and questions about whether it is something more than just another educational fad or ideological movement.
School choice is a better instrument for racial justice than critical race theory
Daniel BuckThe outlook has gotten bleak for the anti-racist and CRT movements in U.S. classrooms, as Americans saw these ideas in action and largely recoiled from them. But there's another K–12 strategy for achieving racial justice: school choice.
Blinding ourselves to America’s achievement woes
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Much as happened after A Nation at Risk, the U.S. finds itself facing a bleak education fate, even as many deny the problem. Back then, however, the denials came mostly from the education establishment, while governors, business leaders, and even U.S.
Ohio data show the pandemic's heavy toll on student achievement and the importance of in-person learning
Vladimir Kogan, Stéphane LavertuThe Covid-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to teaching and learning across America, including school closures, sudden changes to instructional delivery, economic hardship, and social isolation.
What U.S. teens think about their futures—and the country’s
Jeremy SmithThe Washington Post and Ipsos recently surveyed fourteen to eighteen year olds on their attitudes toward the state of the U.S.
What 9/11 means for America’s schools twenty years later
Dale ChuThis week, we remember and reflect upon an unforgettably tragic day. This comes amid throes of national conflicts over information, misinformation, even the nature of facts and truth themselves. Schools can’t fix all this, but they must reclaim their vital role in ensuring that Americans understand their history and the interconnectedness of today’s world.
Seven questions about September 11
Lamar AlexanderThis advice from my friend Lamar Alexander for teaching about 9/11 was published twice by Fordham, first in 2003 and again (lightly revised) in 2011.
From the personal to the political, for the love of freedom
William DamonThis superb short essay by Stanford professor Bill Damon is a hard-hitting piece from a gentle, thoughtful, and learned psychologist, and (as with Senator Alexander's contribution) was first published by Fordham in 2003
Alternative certification policies and teacher recruitment outcomes
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.A recent study published in Educational Policy is a timely look at the ways in which states’ alternative certification (or AC) policies for teachers have impacted the composition of the corps of novice educators.
A commonsense alternative to critical race theory bans
Robert Pondiscio, Tracey SchirraThere are good arguments to be made in favor of so-called critical race theory “bans” that have now been considered in some form by more than half of all US states.
A better way to improve literacy among Black and Hispanic children
Ian RoweFor the last half-century, if you read the mission statement of virtually any education reform organization, you will find earnest language about closing the racial or class achievement gaps. Unfortunately, not only have gaps failed to narrow during this multi-decade obsession, overall achievement levels have also remained mostly static.
NWEA measures the impact of the pandemic on student achievement and growth
Jessica PoinerResearchers at NWEA have been using data from their MAP Growth assessments to predict and analyze learning losses since the start of the pandemic.
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.
A bright future for open enrollment
Matthew Ladner“Hi. Welcome to the future. San Dimas, California. 2688.” Rufus, played by George Carlin, thus opened the American film classic Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure by explaining that, in the distant future, everything is great. The water, air, and even the dirt is clean.
Every high schooler in America deserves the U.S. history and civics education I have had
Cate BikalesBlack Lives Matter protests, raging wildfires, a monumental election, and the global pandemic. As a seventeen-year-old growing up in Portland, Oregon, these past eighteen months have been the craziest I have ever experienced. Never would I have thought that I would essentially miss the entirety of my junior year of high school, forced into taking classes in a solely online environment.
Lax school discipline won’t cut it as kids return to school
Michael J. PetrilliAs traumatized students return to classrooms, educators must be ready to handle worsened behavior issues, as some kids externalize the suffering they’ve been through and re-learn how to “do school.” Unfortunately, the discipline policies in place in many schools may exacerbate the challenge, potentially setting us up for disaster.
More dumb things done in the name of educational “equity”
Dale ChuParents across the country are up in arms over their school systems’ equity initiatives. To be clear, this is not “equity” as I came to define it when I started teaching nearly a quarter century ago.
A third disrupted year can only strain Americans’ ties to traditional public schools
Robert PondiscioIn the early days of the pandemic, I was dismissive of “new normal” talk about Covid’s long-term impact on schooling. There was good reason for skepticism.
School choice upholds America’s founding ideals
Daniel BuckThere is a heated debate going on among school choice advocates, in which the essential question is whether school choice is sufficient to reform American education. The civil disagreement belies a tension within the conservative movement writ large between the libertarians and the institutionalists. But it needn’t be a stalemate. A means to palliate the competing undercurrents can be found in our nation’s very founding.
The future of local school politics: Division or détente?
Paul T. HillDivisions about mask and vaccine mandates, in-person versus remote learning, student discipline, and racism and anti-racism in the curriculum will make it difficult for schools to serve anyone well this year.
A thoughtful but dated criticism of “no excuses” charter schools
Robert PondiscioIn the early days of KIPP, or the Knowledge Is Power Program, and other networks of urban charter schools that drafted in its considerable wake, the highly prescriptive form of classroom management and teaching these schools pioneered was a subject of intense fascination and considerable optimism.
The vast majority of parents want schools to teach children social and emotional skills
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Michael J. PetrilliThe biggest takeaway of our new report, "How to Sell SEL," is that most moms and dads want their children to acquire social and emotional skills and think that schools have a role in making that happen, even as they recognize the key role that they and other family members play. Read more.
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.
Can changing our eduspeak help with post-pandemic schooling?
Dale ChuThe radio show Marketplace recently ran a piece asking, “Can changing home appraisal language help close the wealth gap?” The story examined structural racism in the housing market, specifically the wealth gap that persists as a result of Black and Hispanic families having t
A chilling effect: School board composition and charter schools
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.In states as diverse as West Virginia, Florida,
Want great teachers and higher achievement? A study from Wisconsin suggests trying flexible pay.
Aaron ChurchillMany teachers are paid according to salary schedules that reward seniority and degrees earned, the result of state laws that require school districts to follow this rigid compensation scheme.
“Public education sucks” is a weak argument for school choice
Robert PondiscioI’ve long believed the best argument for school choice is to turn up the lights on what is possible when there’s room for a wide variety of schools, curricula, and cultures. Call it the When Harry Met Sally model.