CREDO charter-quality report makes waves in Ohio
Aaron ChurchillNew report digs deep into student performance data.
Charters can do what's best for students who care
Michael J. PetrilliOn today's Room for Debate series at the New York Times, p
Why aren’t Republicans trying harder to reach school-choice voters?
Michael BrickmanEditor's note: This post first appeared in a slightly different form on Watchdog.org.Republicans are still gleeful after their 2014 victories in the U.S. Senate and statehouses across the nation. They should be, but they should also take heed.
On The Road to Better Accountability: An Analysis of State Charter School Policies
Jessica PoinerNew report on authorization practices across the United States.
If charters work, what is the reason?
Editor's note: This post is the second entry of a multi-part series of interviews featuring Fordham's own Andy Smarick and Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at Holy Cross.
A system composed entirely of charters?
Editor's note: This post is the first entry of a multi-part series of interviews featuring Fordham's own Andy Smarick and Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at Holy Cross.
Teacher leadership: Yet another charter school innovation?
Michael J. Petrilli, Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.In England, all schools feature “distributed leadership.” Here, not so much. Michael J. Petrilli and Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
Strong charter accountability in D.C.
I recently wrote about exciting new charter school results in Washington, D.C..
D.C.'s outstanding and improving charter school sector
As my Bellwether colleague (and D.C.
The Cristo Rey Network: Serving Sustainable Success
Jeff MurrayLooking back and looking forward at the Cristo Rey school model.
The Evolution of Charter School Quality
Aaron ChurchillLooking at improvements in Texas charter school performance over the years.
What does the charter-quality ‘curve’ look like in Ohio?
Aaron ChurchillThe policy implications of a u-shaped curve vs. a rectangular-looking distribution
Last night's implications for education reform
Michael J. PetrilliGet ready for another “Year of School Choice.” Michael J. Petrilli
(What) Do Americans really think about education?
Joe Sixpack: You’re not paying attention. And much of what you think you know is wrong. Morgan Polikoff
Redefining the school district in Michigan
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Michael J. PetrilliWe know RSD. RSD is a friend of ours. EAA, you’re no RSD. Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. and Michael J. Petrilli
NEW from Fordham: Redefining the School District in Michigan
The Education GadflyWhat happens when policymakers create statewide school districts to turn around their worst-performing public schools? In Louisiana and Tennessee, Recovery School Districts (RSDs) have made modest-to-strong progress for kids and serve as national models for what the future of education governance might hold.In the Great Lakes State, the story is more complicated.
D.C. school spending: Don't forget to read the fine print
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Metro D.C. School Spending Explorer offers the public a great resource by sharing data on public school spending (at the school level) across the District.
Ed reform's blind spot: Catholic schools and social capital
[Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of personal reflections on the current state of education reform and contemporary conservatism by Andy Smarick, a Bernard Lee Schwartz senior policy fellow with the Thomas B.
Time for a Reboot
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Ed reform is dead. Long live ed reform. Chester E. Finn, Jr.
New OCR guidance on equitable resources: A godsend for charter schools?
Michael J. PetrilliOn the whole, the new guidance from the U.S.
It’s time for Annenberg and AFT to be a little bit more “progressive”
Michael BrickmanThere’s a lot of talk about disruptive innovation these days. It seems hardly a month goes by that we don’t see some sort of exciting new innovation that changes an industry. Sometimes it happens over and over again in the same space. First we had paper maps that were replaced by custom driving directions we could print out from MapQuest (remember those?).
A lion in winter and a coming of age
Over the last month or so, there’ve been a number of notable stories highlighting the passing of the torch from urban districts to urban chartering. The former continue their long, slow decline while the latter experiences the exhilaration and growing pains of emerging adulthood.
What do we really know about Eva Moskowitz's success?
With the release last month of the latest round test scores, Success Academy founder and CEO Eva Moskowitz is now a bona fide national-education-reform celebrity. She is also the latest in a line of educator-activists—like Michelle Rhee or Diane Ravitch—who embody, for supporters and opponents alike, one “side” of the education-reform debate.
Smart markets, diverse options, and Burke's caution
On September 3, I participated in a launch event for Mike McShane’s new book, Education and Opportunity, a publication of AEI’s
An elder statesman speaks
Terry RyanBeing an education reformer is often frustrating. No matter how zealously we push an idea or how smart we think it is, sometimes nothing changes. Or—the Common Core is a recent example—we make fast, bold gains at the outset, only to see our efforts watered down, neutered, or repudiated outright...
ExcelinEd on the dos and don'ts of course access
Michael BrickmanBack in May, Fordham published Expanding the Education Universe: A Fifty-State Strategy for Course Choice, where we explained the idea of “cour
A plea to Marc Tucker (and his colleagues)
Marc Tucker is the author of an important new report: Fixing Our National Accountability System. Although Marc and I disagree on the promise of Relinquishment (most specifically on charter schools), I agree with much of this thinking. But, in this report, Marc makes a strategic mistake in dismissing choice-based reforms. To put it another way: if there is a grand bargain to be made that significantly increases student achievement in the United States, it could look like this: Reduce testing frequency and increase testing rigor Improve the quality of the teaching force Increase charter schools and choice
What the hell is going on at Success Academy?
Robert PondiscioI’ll have what she’s having.