Reading and Writing Instruction in America's Schools
Since 2010, when most states adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has been committed to monitoring their implementation.
Since 2010, when most states adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has been committed to monitoring their implementation.
Over the past two years, Fordham has been an outspoken critic of some of the efforts to modify Ohio’s graduation requirements. It’s not that we think the current graduation requirements are perfect. Heck, we’ve even offered a variety of ideas to modify the current framework.
On this week's podcast, Paul Morgan, Professor of Education and Demography at Penn State University, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss the evidence on racial disparities in special education identification and services. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effect of online versus paper tests on student achievement.
On this week's podcast, Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss better ways to communicate students’ academic progress (or lack thereof) to parents. On the Research Minute, David Griffith examines the recent AEI study that questioned the relationship between test scores and long-term outcomes.
On this week's podcast, Paolo DeMaria, Ohio's State Superintendent of Public Instruction, joins Mike Petrilli and Brandon Wright to discuss the state’s new strategic plan for education, which Fordham’s gadflies find disappointing. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the access, perseverance, and outcomes of first-generation college students.
Achievement gaps between poor and minority students and their peers are well documented and persistent. For years, data indicate that these students have generally been making slow but steady progress.
A recent paper from the left-leaning Center for American Progress (CAP) examined high school graduation requirements across the nation to determine whether they were aligned with requirements for each state’s public university system.
On this week's podcast, Bruno Manno, Senior Advisor to the Walton Family Foundation’s K–12 Education Reform Initiative and a Trustee Emeritus at Fordham, joins Mike Petrilli and Checker Finn to discuss this week’s NAEP results in the context of the thirty-fifth anniversary of A Nation at Risk. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how accountability metrics related to student subgroups affect teacher turnover and attrition.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education released data from the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
On this week’s podcast, Hanna Skandera, former New Mexico education chief, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss next week’s NAEP score release and why we’ve seen so little progress in recent years. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how NCTQ’s ratings affect teacher education programs.
Ohio’s State Board of Education recently voted in favor of recommending that the legislature extend softer graduation requirements to the classes of 2019 and 2020.
Malcolm X once said, “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” Wise words. Education has long been the source of opportunity, a passport if you will, for Americans to pursue a better life. But education isn’t a passive activity; it’s earned through hard work, preparation, attainment.
Education Week just released its 22nd annual report and rankings of state education systems.
The state board of education voted today to recommend that the General Assembly extend previously-relaxed graduation requirements for the class of 2018 to the classes of 2019 and 2020.
In case you missed it during the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Ohio recently announced how students can earn a new endorsement on their high school diplomas.
Today, Fordham released a new report suggesting changes to Ohio’s school report cards to help parents and taxpayers get the best information about the performance of their schools and districts. This is the preface to that report.
The Every Student Succeeds Act grants states more authority over their accountability systems than did No Child Left Behind, but have they seized the opportunity to develop school ratings that are clearer and fairer than those in the past?
You have no doubt seen numerous media stories regarding the recent release of school report card data in Ohio. As supporters of a robust accountability system, we urge you to pay attention to the stories and the ongoing discussion. The success of our public schools (charter and district) in doing the vital work with which they are entrusted must be assessed, reported, and analyzed.
Research confirms what common sense dictates: Students learn less when their teachers aren’t there. According to multiple studies, a ten-day increase in teacher absence results in at least ten fewer days of learning for students.
As Ohio’s annual report cards are released this week, Fordham is gearing up to dive into the data and explore what it means about K-12 public education in the Buckeye State.
The Ohio Department of Education is expected to release report cards for the 2016-17 school year by the end of this week. Like an annual checkup with a physician, these report cards offer valuable information on the academic health of Buckeye schools and students.
As part of the most recent state budget, Ohio lawmakers created alternative graduation pathways for the class of 2018 in response to widespread fears on the part of district administrator
Confronted with the paradox of a simultaneous rise in high school graduation and college remediation rates, researchers from The Alliance for Excellent Education examined diploma pathways across the country for evidence as to how well they match college or career expectations.
Last month, several urban Ohio school districts began sounding alarms over Ohio’s third-grade reading guarantee—a policy put in place several years ago that requires students who don’t reach reading proficiency by the end of grade three to be held back—fearful that a much larger number of their third graders won’t meet the requirements for promotion.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) grants states more authority over their school accountability systems than did No Child Left Behind (NCLB)—meaning that states now have a greater opportunity to design improved school ratings. Rating the Ratings: Analyzing the First 17 ESSA Accountability Plans examines whether states are making the most of the moment.
This blog originally appeared as an editorial in today’s edition of the Columbus Dispatch.
When I was growing up, “fake news” was the black-and-white photograph of the infamous bat child. Staring back at me in the supermarket check-out line, it was easy to spot—the line demarcating fiction from reality was as recognizable as the red and yellow tabloid headlines.
Back in February, U.S. News and World Report named Massachusetts the top state in its Best States rankings.
In its version of the state budget bill, the Ohio House included language that would place more weight on student growth measures when calculating charter sponsor ratings.