Charter Schools

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Commentary
9.25.2014
Charter Schools

It’s time for Annenberg and AFT to be a little bit more “progressive”

There’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?).

Commentary
9.17.2014
Charter Schools

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.

Commentary
9.10.2014
Charter Schools

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.

Commentary
8.27.2014
Charter Schools

An elder statesman speaks

Terry Ryan

Being 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...

Commentary
8.26.2014
Charter Schools, Accountability & Testing

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

Commentary
8.18.2014
Standards, Charter Schools

The personal touch of relinquishment

David Kirp had a piece in The New York Times on Sunday: Teaching is not a Business. You should check it out. My take on his piece:

Commentary
8.13.2014
Charter Schools, Accountability & Testing

Does Student Attrition Explain KIPP's Success?

Robert Pondiscio

A new Mathematica study persuasively puts to rest a common charge leveled at KIPP charter schools: that their test score gains are largely attributable to the attrition of their lowest-performing students. The authors compare nineteen KIPP middle schools to district schools and find no meaningful difference among those who walk in the door of each type of school.

Commentary
7.24.2014
Charter Schools

For Pete's sake, close low-performing schools

Aaron Churchill

Peet’s Coffee and Tea: We hardly knew you. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Peet’s coffee shop in downtown Columbus will close after less than a year of operation.

Commentary
7.22.2014
Charter Schools

Making School Choice Work

Jessica Poiner

How can cities with copious educational choices make those options work better for families?

Commentary
7.7.2014
Charter Schools

2014 Schooling In America Survey

Jessica Poiner

We take a look at the results of a recent survey of the public's attitudes toward the state of education in America.

Commentary
6.18.2014
Charter Schools

The wise wonks’ hierarchy of charter school quality

Michael J. Petrilli

Over the past three weeks, Fordham’s Flypaper blog hosted the charter school wonk-a-thon, an exercise in punditry and policy analysis that exceeded all expectations.

Commentary
6.13.2014
Charter Schools

Charter school wonk-a-thon: We have a winner!

Michael J. Petrilli

Ladies and gentlemen, the voters have spoken and the wisest wonk in the land is…Joe Siedlecki of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, edging out Michael Goldstein of Match Education, 35 to 27 percent. It’s the biggest upset since Brat beat Cantor! (Granted, that just happened Tuesday.)

Commentary
6.11.2014
Charter Schools

Contexts Matter: Selection in Means-Tested School Voucher Programs

A common gripe among choice kvetchers is that private schools that participate in voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs “cherry pick” the best students. This research by University of California professor Cassandra Hart finds evidence to the contrary.

Commentary
6.11.2014
Charter Schools

Democracy, community, and school choice

Kathleen Porter-Magee

While proponents of school choice often base their case on student achievement—contending that choice-based accountability leads to school improvement and stronger pupil attainments—opponents seem likelier to argue against choice on the grounds that it fractures communities and undermines democratic values.

Commentary
6.10.2014
Charter Schools

The three-sector approach and decision-defending

Back in college, one of my political science professors wanted to make a point to a lecture hall full of know-it-all freshman.He asked all of us to think back to when we were first getting interested in politics and developing positions on major issues. For most of us at this inside-the-beltway university, that was early.

Commentary
6.10.2014
Charter Schools

Charter school wonk-a-thon: Who was the wisest wonk?

Michael J. Petrilli

Over the course of thirteen days, Flypaper’s Charter School Wonk-a-Thon produced eleven posts jam-packed with sound analysis on charter school policy today. But who was the wisest, wonkiest wonk of all? 

Commentary
6.10.2014
Charter Schools

‘More’ is the operative word for building a high-quality charter sector

Here follows the eleventh entry in Fordham’s “Charter School Policy Wonk-a-Thon,” in which Mike Petrilli challenged a number of prominent scholars, practitioners, and policy analysts to take a stab at explaining why some charter sectors outpace their local distric

Wonkathon
Commentary
6.9.2014
Charter Schools

Schools educate kids; movements don’t

Joe Siedlecki

Here follows the tenth entry in Fordham’s “Charter School Policy Wonk-a-Thon,” in which Mike Petrilli challenged a number of prominent scholars, practitioners, and policy analysts to take a stab at explaining why some cities’ charter sectors outpace their district

Wonkathon
Commentary
6.6.2014
Charter Schools

Why we are betting on Washington State charters

Terry Ryan

Here follows the ninth entry in Fordham’s “Charter School Policy Wonk-a-Thon,” in which Mike Petrilli challenged a number of prominent scholars, practitioners, and policy analysts to take a stab at explaining why some charter sectors outpace their local district s