Charter Schools

The case against federal accountability mandates in education

All we are saying is give choice a chance. Michael J. Petrilli

School Choice Week 2015: Honoring the best charter schools in Ohio

Agnostic on form; honoring the best

Stump speech challenge: A New Deal on testing

All the pro-testing talking points you’ll ever need. Robert Pondiscio

And the climate changes (at least in Albany)

Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form in the Daily News.

Vision Talks a better fit for conservatives than ed reformers

In AEI’s latest Vision Talks video, Arthur Brooks, its president and the happiest man in the think-tank world, argues that public-policy advocates need to make a better cas

Why didn't I think of that?

Perhaps the highest praise you can heap on another writer’s work is to acknowledge a tinge of professional jealousy. You read a blog post, column, or piece of reporting and think, “Damn, I wish I’d written that.” Here are some of the pieces—about Common Core and education at large—I wish I’d written in 2014.

Exploring Ohio’s Private Education Sector

Some interesting trends and projections emerge from limited private school data

Late Bell: December 22, 2014

Welcome to a special Fordham-in-the-news edition of Late Bell.

School discipline: Too important to leave to liberals

CREDO charter-quality report makes waves in Ohio

New report digs deep into student performance data.

Charters can do what's best for students who care

On today's Room for Debate series at the New York Times, p

Why aren’t Republicans trying harder to reach school-choice voters?

Editor'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

New 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?

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

Looking back and looking forward at the Cristo Rey school model.

The Evolution of Charter School Quality

Looking at improvements in Texas charter school performance over the years.

What does the charter-quality ‘curve’ look like in Ohio?

The policy implications of a u-shaped curve vs. a rectangular-looking distribution

Last night's implications for education reform

Get 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

We 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

What 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

Ed reform is dead. Long live ed reform. Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Soul searching

A view of the need for quality schools through the office window.

New OCR guidance on equitable resources: A godsend for charter schools?

On the whole, the new guidance from the U.S.