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.
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.
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.
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.
On this week’s podcast, David Griffith, Adam Tyner, and Brandon Wright discuss New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to revamp the admissions process for the city’s selective high schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines why ELL kids are doing better than we think on NAEP.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli, Alyssa Schwenk,
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Three years into his first gig as a recruiter/trainer at a job skills program in San Francisco, Mauricio Lim Miller recognized a striking contradiction that changed the trajectory of his life and work.
On this week's podcast, special guest Kathleen Porter-Magee, superintendent and chief academic officer of Partnership Schools, joins Brandon Wright and Checker Finn to discuss the state of Catholic schools and what role vouchers might play in their future. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how charter schools affect the performance and spending of nearby district schools in New York City.
NOTES: John Mullaney is the Executive Director of the Nord Family Foundation. Both authors were part of the Straight A Fund advisory board in FY 14-15.This piece originally appeared in a slightly different form in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
On this week's podcast, special guest Gerard Robinson, a resident fellow at AEI, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss House Republicans’ snubbing of the Trump Administration’s school choice proposals. During the Research Minute, David Griffith offers a skeptical look at a University of Arkansas study arguing that “quality control” efforts in school choice programs drive private schools away.
On this week's podcast, special guest John Bailey, a Walton Family Foundation Fellow, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss the federal budget deal for the current fiscal year and its effects on education. During the Research Minute, David Griffith examines the effects of Washington, D.C.’s school voucher program on student outcomes and parental satisfaction.
On this week's podcast, special guest Lindsey Burke, a director at the Heritage Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss Arizona’s tax-scholarship program. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of riding a school bus on student absenteeism.
A new report from the RAND Corporation examines trends across 27 counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia where fracking is a booming business. Nine of these counties are in Eastern Ohio, including Mahoning, Stark, Belmont, and several others.
On this week's podcast, Checker Finn, Alyssa Schwenk, and Brandon Wright discuss the drafting of an ESSA plan and what comes next for states that recently submitted theirs to the U.S. Department of Education. During the Research Minute, David Griffith examines the long-term effects of same-race teachers.
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal School Improvement Grants program is gone, but the goal of school improvement remains. States must now use seven percent of their Title I allocation for these efforts, but are no longer constrained by a prescribed menu of intervention options.
Countless studies have demonstrated that teacher quality is the most important school-based determinant of student learning, and that removing ineffective teachers from the classroom could greatly benefit students.
Tens of thousands of individuals across the United States volunteer their time, energy, and expertise as members of charter school boards. Yet as the charter sector has grown, we’ve learned remarkably little about these individuals who make key operational decisions about their schools and have legal and moral responsibilities for the education of children in their communities.
Whether the goal is to enhance instruction, create a culture of excellence, or broaden education options for parents, it’s nearly impossible to improve schools without strong leaders. This is hardly news; much evidence has indicated the importance of effective principals for decades.
