Governance

Displaying 961-990 of 1416 results
Commentary
8.26.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Lax school discipline won’t cut it as kids return to school

Michael J. Petrilli

As traumatized students return to classrooms, educators must be ready to handle worsened behavior issues, as some kids externalize the suffering they’ve been through and re-learn how to “do school.” Unfortunately, the discipline policies in place in many schools may exacerbate the challenge, potentially setting us up for disaster.

Commentary
8.26.2021
Accountability & Testing, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

More dumb things done in the name of educational “equity”

Dale Chu

Parents across the country are up in arms over their school systems’ equity initiatives. To be clear, this is not “equity” as I came to define it when I started teaching nearly a quarter century ago.

Commentary
8.19.2021
Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

School choice upholds America’s founding ideals

Daniel Buck

There is a heated debate going on among school choice advocates, in which the essential question is whether school choice is sufficient to reform American education. The civil disagreement belies a tension within the conservative movement writ large between the libertarians and the institutionalists. But it needn’t be a stalemate. A means to palliate the competing undercurrents can be found in our nation’s very founding.

Commentary
8.19.2021
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The future of local school politics: Division or détente?

Paul T. Hill

Divisions about mask and vaccine mandates, in-person versus remote learning, student discipline, and racism and anti-racism in the curriculum will make it difficult for schools to serve anyone well this year.

Commentary
8.12.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The vast majority of parents want schools to teach children social and emotional skills

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Michael J. Petrilli

The biggest takeaway of our new report, "How to Sell SEL," is that most moms and dads want their children to acquire social and emotional skills and think that schools have a role in making that happen, even as they recognize the key role that they and other family members play. Read more.

Commentary
8.12.2021
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Can changing our eduspeak help with post-pandemic schooling?

Dale Chu

The radio show Marketplace recently ran a piece asking, “Can changing home appraisal language help close the wealth gap?” The story examined structural racism in the housing market, specifically the wealth gap that persists as a result of Black and Hispanic families having t

Report
8.11.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

How to Sell SEL: Parents and the Politics of Social-Emotional Learning

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

This report examines parents’ opinions on SEL and pitfalls in communicating about it. It finds overwhelming support for the essence of SEL and its place in schools, but differences by political party and challenges in getting the terminology right.

Commentary
8.5.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Groundhog Day for school discipline

David Griffith, Ph.D.

On June 4, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights asked for information that would help it “support schools in addressing disparities and eliminating discrimination in school discipline and fostering positive and inclusive school climates,” suggesting that something resembling the Obama-era discipline guidance may be reinstated in the near future.

Commentary
8.5.2021
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The case for partisan school board elections

Aaron Churchill

This November, Americans will cast their votes in thousands of local school board races. The stakes couldn’t be higher. These governing bodies will decide how public schools handle hot-button issues like masking requirements and critical race theory.

Commentary
8.5.2021
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Five ideas for recruiting and retaining more Black and Hispanic teachers

William Rost

Because of how Covid-19 has devastated the U.S. education system, many see this time as a unique opportunity to galvanize state and local education systems to enact large-scale changes. Bellwether Education Partners believes that one such transformation should be how state and local education agencies recruit and retain Black and Hispanic teachers.

Commentary
8.3.2021
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Remote instruction is to blame for plummeting test scores

Nat Malkus

Texas recently became the first state to release state test score data since the pandemic hit.

Commentary
7.29.2021
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

Biden’s anticompetitive moves on charters and choice

Dale Chu

Earlier this month, President Biden issued a sweeping executive order encouraging federal agencies to undertake a series of initiatives aimed at increasing competition in the U.S. economy. But there’s a mismatch between his approach to competition in the private sector and his support for monopoly when it comes to public education.

Commentary
7.29.2021
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Governance

2.7 cheers for the NAEP Reading Framework

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Gadfly habitues have seen me grump, criticize, lament and recently brighten over the protract

Commentary
7.22.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Thinking requires knowledge

Daniel Buck

Editor’s note: This was first published by National Review.

Commentary
7.22.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Give a universal curriculum a chance: The NYC initiative holds promise

Robert Pondiscio

When Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter recently announced the city would spend more than $200 million dollars to develop a citywide reading and math curriculum, the smart and obvious take was

Commentary
7.22.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Factors that help teaching candidates find and keep jobs

William Rost

A recent CALDER working paper examined links between teacher preparation programs and the chance that their candidates will enter or remain in the public school system for their first two years post-graduation. Its findings can help school systems improve teacher retention—a problem that many districts face, especially those that mostly educate disadvantaged students.

Commentary
7.15.2021
Governance, Standards

How not to write state standards for civics and U.S. history

Jeremy Smith

As discussed in Fordham’s new report, many states aren’t making the grade when it comes to their civics and U.S. history standards, which are often vague to the point of being meaningless.

Commentary
7.15.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Preparing students of all races to achieve greatness

Ian Rowe

When looking for models of ambitious inspiration, Americans often hearken back to President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” address at Rice University on September 12, 1962:

Commentary
7.14.2021
Charter Schools, Governance

Three hypotheses to explain this year’s big wins on school choice

Michael J. Petrilli

Despite much anti-choice talk in national politics and some Congressional pushback, 2021 has seen an impressive string of victories for school choice at the state level, which is where it matters most. Was it the pandemic? Has the salience of the anti-school choice argument weakened over the past year? Or does Donald Trump deserve a lot of the credit? Read more.