Displaying 661-690 of 1306 results
Commentary
1.20.2022
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Some Republicans want Miguel Cardona gone. They might come to regret it.

Dale Chu

A letter seeking federal law enforcement intervention into threats aimed at school board members has caused a hullabaloo one year into U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s otherwise unremarkable tenure. Though his role in soliciting the letter is unclear, some Congressional Republicans would love nothing more than to see him become the fall guy. They would do well to consider how their thirst for blood might cut both ways.

Commentary
1.20.2022
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

The case for starting NAEP in kindergarten

Michael J. Petrilli

Way back in the late 1960s, when federal officials and eminent psychologists were first designing the National Assessment of Educational Progress, they probably never contemplated testing students younger than nine. After all, the technology for mass testing at the time—bubble sheets and No.

Commentary
1.13.2022
Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Now is not the time for OCR to meddle in school disciplinary policy

Michael J. Petrilli

Any day now, Catherine Lhamon, the assistant U.S. secretary of education for civil rights, is expected to release new guidance for school districts that’ll reinstate an Obama-era policy limiting the use of suspensions and the like in the name of reducing racial disparities in “exclusionary discipline.” It couldn’t come at a worse time.

Commentary
1.13.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Stop focusing on class size

Daniel Buck

The Nation ran quite a headline last month: “To Reduce Inequality in Our Education System, Reduce Class Sizes.” Surely we might expect substantive evidence to follow such a pronouncement, especially in the midst of a staffing shortage.

Commentary
1.13.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Not much to show nationally from a decade of teacher evaluation reforms

Victoria McDougald

Spurred in large part by an infusion of over $4 billion in federal Race to the Top funds, beginning in 2009, nearly all states and the District of Columbia implemented major reforms to their teacher evaluation systems.

Commentary
1.13.2022
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Sharpening the picture of early pandemic schooling

Jeff Murray

While it’s no secret that pandemic-induced remote learning was a disaster for almost all students in 2020 and 2021, we must remind ourselves that in-person education models weren't so great

Commentary
12.23.2021
Evidence-Based Learning

Counting down the top education studies of 2021

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

Subscribers to our podcast, the Education Gadfly Show, are treated weekly to the Research Minute, a segment where I highlight a recent rigorous, useful, or intriguing education-related study (ideally all three).

Commentary
12.23.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance

Charter attendance, education outcomes, and civic participation

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

For those of us old enough to remember, the “Rock the Vote” campaign in the 90’s showcased many celebrities—including Madonna in a red bikini and American flag—trying to convince young people to participate in elections.

Commentary
12.16.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Civility, democracy, and education

Jennifer Frey

Most of our founding fathers believed that a democracy is only as good as its citizens, since democracy only flourishes with citizens who are capable of governing themselves. But we have lost our understanding of the connection between virtue, self-government, and democracy. Indeed, few students today learn anything about virtue, let alone see any connection between it and the fate of our republic.

Commentary
12.16.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Online courses and college degree completion

Jeff Murray

Students’ inability to enroll in required courses—due to capacity or scheduling constraints—can stymie progress toward a college degree. New findings published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis suggest that online courses can help keep students on track to college graduation.

Commentary
12.16.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Boosting the effectiveness of STEM role models

Jeff Murray

Providing relatable role models for young people is a guiding principle by which STEM practitioners hope to motivate scientists of the future and diversify their ranks. Conscious of the importance of this endeavor, New York University researchers Jessica Gladstone and Andrei Cimpian examined the literature on role modeling to identify strategies for maximizing its motivational impact.

Commentary
12.9.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The best and worst metro areas for school quality may surprise you

Michael J. Petrilli

Fordham newest study ranks schools in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, with heavy focus on academic growth. Many of America’s “superstar cities” appear far less super when examined through this lens. Some have a right to brag—but others would be well advised to stop resting on their laurels and work harder to improve all students’ progress.

Commentary
12.9.2021
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Education’s enduring love affair with “luxury beliefs”

Robert Pondiscio

The proof of a powerful idea is how well it sticks. Once you hear about it “you start to see it everywhere,” as Bari Weiss puts it. She was describing “luxury beliefs,” a phrase coined by Rob Henderson, an Air Force veteran and Ph.D.

Commentary
12.9.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Governance

Learning more about the use of industry recognized credentials

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

While the ubiquitous term “college and career readiness” assumes that twelve years of compulsory education could adequately prepare a student for both postsecondary and workplace settings, we know far more about readiness for the former than the latter.

Commentary
12.9.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Proof that online credit recovery has been on the rise

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

Recent years have seen a move to eliminate homework and relax grading standards, and struggles by teachers and students to do their work during the pandemic have accelerated this trend. Some educators and commentators, however, fret that these new practices amount to lowering standards.

Report
12.8.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality

Thomas B. Fordham Institute

"America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality" is the first analysis to use nationally comparative data to evaluate the effectiveness of large and mid-size metro areas on school quality. Use our interactive data tool to see how your metro area stacks up.

Commentary
12.3.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

In defense of suspensions

Daniel Buck

A student was arrested after an attempted stabbing at Montgomery Blair High School.

Commentary
12.2.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Attacking gifted education is bad policy and bad politics

Brandon L. Wright

Education for high achievers has come under siege in blue cities and states as the national focus has shifted to racial equity in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. But such attacks, even when well-intentioned, are misguided. They target a problem’s symptom rather than its cause, and in doing so, harm students and defy parents.

Commentary
12.2.2021
Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Redesigning early college credit to reach underserved students

Jeff Murray

In 2012, Tennessee lawmakers created the Statewide Dual-Credit program (SDC) to help more students earn college credit while completing high school.

Commentary
12.2.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The state of computer science education

Jessica Poiner

In early November, the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, the Computer Science Teachers Association, and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance teamed up to release the 2021 State of Computer Science Education.