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.
Regardless of where you stand on the debate currently raging over school discipline, one thing seems certain: Self-discipline is far better than the externally imposed kind.
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.
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.
Back in February, U.S. News and World Report named Massachusetts the top state in its Best States rankings.
In politics as of late, there’s been a lot of talk about “going nuclear” in order to accomplish a goal.
Although it’s been almost seven years since many states took the important step of elevating their academic standards by adopting the Common Core, teachers and administrators across the country still bemoan the lack of reliable information about which instructional materials are high-quality and best aligned to the new standards.
NOTE: The Thomas B. Fordham Institute occasionally publishes guest commentaries on its blogs. The views expressed by guest authors do not necessarily reflect those of Fordham.
In Common Core Math in the K-8 Classroom: Results from a National Teacher Survey, Jennifer Bay Williams, Ann Duffett, and David Griffith take a close look at how educators are implementing the Common Core math standards in classrooms across the nation.
In this week's podcast, Robert Pondiscio and Brandon Wright laud the progress of education policies since NCLB, weigh gentrification’s role in D.C.’s achievement gains, and discuss the controversy surrounding a Success Academies video. In the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines educators’ perspectives on Common Core implementation.
Evaluating the Content and Quality of Next Generation Assessments examines previously unreleased items from three multi-state tests (ACT Aspire, PARCC, and Smarter Balanced) and one best-in-class state assessment, Massachusetts’ state exam (MCAS). The product of two years of work by the Thomas B.
More than twelve million American students exercise some form of school choice by going to a charter, magnet, or private school——instead of attending a traditional public school.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the average American lived to be about 50 years old.
Since we at Fordham began reviewing state academic standards in 1997, we have understood—and made clear—that standards alone are insufficient to drive improvements in student achievement.
The need for standards-aligned curricula is the most cited Common Core challenge for states, districts, and schools. Yet five years into that implementation, teachers still report scrambling to find high-quality instructional materials. Despite publishers’ claims, there is a dearth of programs that are truly aligned to the demands of the Common Core for content and rigor.
Promising early signs that the standards are working. Jane Song
What is the critical mass of opt-outs and to what might it lead?
Misunderstanding Common Core’s aspirational nature. Michael J. Petrilli
An open letter to the candidates. Tim Shanahan
A great resource fact-checks textbooks’ “Common Core-aligned” claims. Victoria Sears
A new video series shows what it looks like when your kid meets Common Core benchmarks. Robert Pondiscio
Just when you thought we’d run out of things to blame on the standards. Kathleen Porter-Magee
This post has been updated with the full text of "No time to lose on early reading"
I’d like to see Bobby Jindal use a teleprompter the next time he attacks Common Core. I’d like to be reassured he knows how to read.
A sobering new report says our most educated generation still can’t compete. Robert Pondiscio
Gadfly editorial by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Amber M. Northern
Higher standards are no excuse to ditch gifted services. Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
This post originally appeared in a slightly different form at Psychology Today.
The pros and cons of college courses in high school. Michael Brickman