Governance

Displaying 1081-1110 of 1405 results
Commentary
2.4.2021
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

How ya gonna keep ‘em back in that old school?

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

If the pandemic vanished tomorrow and all U.S. schools instantly reopened in exactly the same fashion as they were operating last February, how many parents would be satisfied to return their daughters and sons to the same old familiar classrooms, teachers, schedules and curricula? A lot fewer than the same old schools and those who run and teach in them are expecting back!

Commentary
2.4.2021
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Opening schools can help heal our divided country

Dale Chu

Last month, I weighed in on the renewed calls for civics education after January 6’s disgraceful assault on the U.S. Capitol. While teaching civics would be a good start, schools are critical institutions of civil society regardless of whether they teach civics well or at all.

Commentary
1.28.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

What to do about the Covid kindergarten cohort?

Michael J. Petrilli

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of posts about envelope-pushing strategies that schools might embrace to address students’ learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.

Commentary
1.28.2021
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Don’t let bad habits become the “new normal”

Robert Pondiscio, Julie Fitz

From the start of the pandemic, I’ve resisted talk of the “new normal” in education for two reasons. First and most importantly, there’s an unquenchable thirst for the old normal, and increasingly so as disruptions to traditional patterns of schooling approach the twelve-month mark.

Commentary
1.28.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Merit aid and college outcomes

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

For many years, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) in Nebraska has provided full-ride college scholarships to eligible high school graduates in the state. This randomized study examines how such largesse affects higher education enrollment and degree completion.

Commentary
1.26.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Advice to the Biden administration on improving special education. More money isn’t enough—or most important.

Nathan Levenson

Among the many reasons equity advocates are celebrating new leadership in Washington is the hope that President Biden and Secretary of Education-designate Cardona will do more to help students with disabilities. These kids struggled mightily in school before the pandemic, and no group of students has suffered more from remote and hybrid learning.

Commentary
1.21.2021
Governance

Eight recommendations for the Biden administration

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Besides pumping tons more recovery dollars into schools, getting more teachers vaccinated, and trying to get many more kids back into classrooms, what might the Biden-Cardona team do in K–12 education that would actually be worthwhile?

Commentary
1.21.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

What the Capitol riot means for civics education

Dale Chu

Still reeling from the assault on the Capitol and the subsequent impeachment effort against Former President Trump, the education sphere’s attention has understandably returned to the need to resuscitate the teaching of civics and history. If schools did a better job of grounding our students in the principles of a free society and a basic understanding of U.S.

Commentary
1.20.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The pandemic dims a beacon of school improvement

Josh Boots

For the past decade, Washington, D.C., schools have shone as a success story, with achievement for all students rising steadily in elementary and middle schools and more quickly than the national average.

Commentary
1.14.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The civics and history lesson our children need right now

Robert Pondiscio

History, well taught, equips students with the ability to see through current crises. Civics, well taught, fosters in every heart an investment in democratic processes and a respect bordering on reverence for the rule of law.

Commentary
1.14.2021
Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Charter schools are a Band-Aid when a heart transplant is needed

Marc Tucker

This post is adapted from an email conversation between Marc Tucker and Fordham’s Michael J. Petrilli, in which Marc was responding to Mike’s recent article, “The case for urban charter schools.” It also appeared in Fordham’s Flypaper newsletter.

Commentary
1.14.2021
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Eyes on the street: Reducing crime and boosting school attendance

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

Reducing student absenteeism is a key goal in many schools’ efforts to improve academic outcomes. The reasons that students skip are myriad—indifference to school, illness, jobs, caring for siblings, and more—which means that there is no one solution.

Commentary
1.7.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Give disadvantaged children their pandemic year back

Michael J. Petrilli

As the world struggles through some of the darkest days of the pandemic, and more schools shift back to remote learning, we at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute are spending most of our time thinking about what comes next: educational recovery.

Commentary
12.23.2020
Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

It’s not news that Miguel Cardona is a charter school authorizer—and that’s worth celebrating

Alex Medler

President-Elect Biden has confirmed that he will nominate Dr. Miguel A. Cardona to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Education. He appears to be a prudent choice for Biden, earning support from teachers unions and education reform groups, including charter operators. Cardona is the current Connecticut Commissioner of Education.

Commentary
12.21.2020
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

What if everything we believe about education is a lie?

Robert Pondiscio

What if we can’t change at scale the distribution of academic outcomes among disparate groups of students? What if our hope that public education can erase inequality is in vain? If these things were true, how would what we ask of schools—and how we measure their success—change?

Commentary
12.17.2020
School Finance, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Mind the gap: Persistent and growing inequities in charter school funding

Victoria McDougald

Like traditional public schools, charter schools are publicly funded according to student enrollment. But compared to their district counterparts, charters have long received far less per-pupil funding.

Commentary
12.3.2020
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Suing for peace in education’s culture wars

Michael J. Petrilli

Editor’s note: This is the second article in a two-part series. Part I urges readers to "listen more, empathize more, and demonize less" in these divisive times.

Commentary
12.3.2020
Accountability & Testing, Governance

NAEP goes AWOL

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

It’s now official.

Commentary
12.3.2020
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Once an ed-reform standard bearer, Denver loses its way

Dale Chu

A long simmering feud between Denver’s school board and superintendent finally burst into the open last week following months of tensions and mutual distrust.