Displaying 961-990 of 1071 results
Commentary
8.28.2019
Accountability & Testing, Governance, Standards

The proficiency bar is inching upward, yes, but…

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

A dozen long years ago, when people were just beginning to take serious stock of what good and not-so-good was emerging from 2002’s enactment of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), we at Fordham, in league with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), issued a 200-plus page analysis of the “proficiency” standards that states had by then been required to set and test for.

Commentary
8.23.2019
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The meeting is dead, long live the meeting

Hollie Pettersson, Kerri Briggs

A few weeks back, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said that principals would not be required to attend district meetings this coming September.

Commentary
8.21.2019
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Standards

The kids who had been “left behind” are doing much better today than 25 years ago. But what about everyone else?

Michael J. Petrilli

The past quarter-century has included dramatic progress of America’s lowest-performing students, many of whom are also low-income and children of color. But how’s the vast middle class doing? It’s a mixed bag: They still don’t read very well, but their math skills have improved a bit and they are graduating from college in higher and higher numbers.

Commentary
8.21.2019
Charter Schools, Governance

Democratic presidential candidates are wrong: Racist redlining caused school segregation, not charter schools

Derrell Bradford

During a political campaign, the savviest candidates excel at two things. First, they offer a compelling message that differentiates them from their competitors. Second—which demands true skill and sophistry—they ascribe all their own failings to those very same competitors, forcing them to answer for political, policy and social issues for which they are not responsible.

Commentary
8.14.2019
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Governance

The messy reality of school turnaround

Dale Chu

Ten years ago, then U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a clarion call to turn around 5,000 of the nation’s most distressed schools, serving nearly three million students. It was an audacious goal set by an audacious leader—the likes of which are in terribly short supply these days. A decade later, states have fallen far short of his challenge, and the sticky problem of failing schools refuses to go away. But experience has provided three lessons to those who would make these efforts.

Commentary
8.8.2019
Governance

How to not blow the continuous school improvement moment

Eric Kalenze

As I belong to the legion of education professionals that’s usually on the receiving end of the term “top-down,” I’m not too keen on the enterprise’s more top-down improvements.

Commentary
8.5.2019
Governance

An Obama-era regulation is likely to establish unconstitutional racial quotas

Lucas Vebber, William D. Flanders

The Fordham Institute’s recent survey of teachers has brought the issue of discipline reform back to the forefront. But even as teachers say that discipline policies are leading to unsafe educational environments, a new federal rule threatens to further exacerbate the issue.

Report
7.30.2019
Accountability & Testing, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Discipline Reform through the Eyes of Teachers

David Griffith, Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

The debate over school discipline reform is one of the most polarized in all of education. Advocates for reform believe that suspensions are racially biased and put students in a “school-to-prison pipeline.” Opponents worry that softer discipline approaches will make classrooms unruly, impeding efforts to help all students learn and narrow achievement gaps.

Podcast
5.22.2019
Governance

The Education Gadfly Show: Education leadership’s gender imbalance

On this week’s podcast, Julia Rafal-Baer, chief operating officer at Chiefs for Change, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her organization’s recent report on the gender imbalances at the very top levels of educational leadership. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how closing chronically underperforming schools affects neighborhood crime.

Commentary
5.10.2019
Governance

The Secretary of School Choice

Dale Chu

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at the Education Writers Association’s (EWA) National Seminar, the largest annual gathering of journalists covering the education beat. With over five hundred education reporters in attendance, it was an opportunity to talk (on the record, of course) about the ins and outs of state accountability systems in the ESSA era, and to meet face-to-face with an assortment of folks I’ve long admired from afar and only previously known through social media.

Commentary
4.5.2019
Governance

The year’s best State of the State address for education reform

Dale Chu

Each year, the Education Commission of the States (ECS), based in my adopted home of Denver, reviews the governors’ State of the State addresses and offers an analysis of their main education components. Mentioned by at least thirty-six governors, this year’s top education priority was school finance, followed by workforce development, teacher quality, early learning, postsecondary financial aid, and school safety.

Podcast
2.20.2019
Governance

The Education Gadfly Show: Out of commission

On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Checker Finn, and David Griffith discuss Checker’s experience on Maryland’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, and its bold proposals for improving the state’s schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the benefits of arts education.

Podcast
1.9.2019
ESSA, Governance

The Education Gadfly Show: Federal education policy in 2019

On this week’s podcast, Andrew Ujifusa, an assistant editor for Education Week, and one-half of the Politics K–12 team, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to explain why we wonks shouldn’t completely ignore Washington in the coming year. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern counts down the five most influential education studies of 2018.

Podcast
9.19.2018
Governance

Multiple pathways in the Lone Star State

On this week’s podcast, Donna Bahorich, Chair of the Texas State Board of Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how to encourage students to take ownership of their educational journeys. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether encouraging more students to retake the SAT would narrow college enrollment gaps.

Podcast
7.18.2018
Governance

How high schools can boost college completion

On this week’s podcast, Matthew Chingos, director of the Urban Institute’s Education Policy Program, joins Mike Petrilli and Brandon Wright to discuss what high schools should be doing to address the college completion crisis. On the Research Minute, David Griffith examines the impact of New Orleans’s post-Katrina education reforms on short-term and long-term academic outcomes.

Podcast
6.27.2018
Governance

How schools can better prepare for the worst

On this week’s podcast, Andy Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education Partners, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how schools can prevent mass shootings without turning themselves into bunkers. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how warm weather affects student learning.

Podcast
5.16.2018
Governance

Halted Hoosiers

On this week’s podcast, Dale Chu, education consultant and Indiana’s former assistant superintendent for innovation and improvement, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss what went wrong with Hoosier State school reform. On the Research Minute, David Griffith examines how school improvement grants in Ohio affected achievement and school administration.

Report
4.26.2018
Charter Schools, Governance

Charter School Deserts: High-Poverty Neighborhoods with Limited Educational Options

Andrew Saultz, Queenstar Mensa-Bonsu, Christopher Yaluma, James Hodges

2016–17 was one of the slowest-growth years for charter schools in recent memory. Nobody knows exactly why, but one hypothesis is saturation: With charters having achieved market share of over 20 percent in more than three dozen cities, perhaps school supply is starting to meet parental demand, making new charters less necessary and harder to launch.

Podcast
3.28.2018
Governance

States lead on education

On this week's podcast, Carissa Moffat Miller, the new executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss CCSSO’s campaign to highlight innovative state education policies. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of the National Heritage Academies chain of for-profit charter schools.

Podcast
2.28.2018
Governance

Where is the next "education governor"?

On this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli, Chad Aldis, and Alyssa Schwenk discuss what it will take to get gubernatorial candidates to embrace ed reform. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the cost effectiveness and return on investment of charter schools in eight American cities.

Podcast
1.10.2018
Governance

A master class in state policymaking

On this week’s podcast, Benjamin Boer, deputy director at Advance Illinois, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss how a coalition of advocates succeeded in getting the Land of Lincoln to overhaul its inequitable school funding formula. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the relationship between high school value added and students’ college success.

Report
12.5.2017
Governance

The Academic and Behavioral Consequences of Discipline Policy Reform

Matthew P. Steinberg, Johanna Lacoe

One important question about school discipline is whether it helps or harms those being disciplined. But a second, equally important question is whether a push to reduce the number of suspensions is harmful to the rule-abiding majority.

Podcast
11.15.2017
Governance

Education reform's avocado toast moment

On this week's podcast, special guest Kristen Soltis Anderson—co-founder of Echelon Insights—joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss millennials’ views on education. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines Florida’s universal preschool program, and you’ll never guess what happens to its academic benefits over time.

Report
11.14.2017
Accountability & Testing, ESSA, Governance

Rating the Ratings: An Analysis of the 51 ESSA Accountability Plans

Brandon L. Wright, Michael J. Petrilli

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?

Podcast
11.8.2017
Governance

Much ado about DeVos

On this week's podcast, special guest Anne Hyslop—education consultant and former Senior Policy Advisor in the Obama Department of Education—joins Alyssa Schwenk and Brandon Wright to discuss staffing and policy issues facing the department under Secretary Betsy DeVos. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how teachers affect students’ attitudes and behaviors.