Displaying 1-30 of 1115 results
US Department of Education
Commentary
11.21.2024
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

How much blame does the federal government deserve for America’s mediocre schools?

Michael J. Petrilli

In announcing his nomination of former SBA director Linda McMahon as the next secretary of education, President Trump promised yet again to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. An important question is whether abolishing the agency—and its programs, policies, and regulations—would actually make things better for America’s students.

US Department of Education
Linda McMahon
Commentary
11.21.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Linda McMahon should wrestle with learning loss

Dale Chu

Social media lit up Tuesday evening with the news that President-elect Trump has tapped professional wrestling magnate and former Small Business Administration (SBA) administrator Linda McMahon to lead the U.S. Department of Education.

Linda McMahon
David Brooks
Commentary
11.21.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

David Brooks vs. meritocracy

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Ah, David Brooks. Ordinarily, I’d start a piece in which I plan to (partially) disagree with him by stating that he’s a very smart guy—but what I’m going to push back at this time is his much-disseminated contention that America needs to rethink what “smart” means. Even though his own qualities would likely still qualify under his new formulation, I ought not take chances.

David Brooks
Teacher strike
Commentary
11.21.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The causes of teacher strikes and their impacts on student outcomes

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

A new working paper by an accomplished team of researchers uses a new dataset to dive deep into the dynamics and impacts of teacher strikes. This paper provides a fresh perspective on why these strikes happen, how they influence school districts, and their broader implications on education policy and student achievement.

Teacher strike
Advanced education classroom
Commentary
11.14.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

How schools can support equitable advanced education

Dina Brulles

In the Fordham Institute policy report titled Think Again: Are Education Programs for High-Achievers Inherently Inequitable?, Brandon Wright outlines four claims describing arguments that opponents of advanced education programs use to advocate for their

Advanced education classroom
Students in a classroom
Commentary
11.7.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Advanced education provides benefits that differentiated instruction can’t

Brandon L. Wright

Editor’s note: This is an adapted excerpt from the author’s recent Fordham Institute report, “Think Again: Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitable?”

Students in a classroom
Teacher speaking to students
Commentary
11.7.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How teachers can build knowledge

Daniel Buck

Almost forty years ago, E.D. Hirsch published his seminal book, Cultural Literacy, which advanced a simple, albeit paradigm-shifting, premise: Intellectual aptitudes—including literacy itself—depend on knowledge more than skills.

Teacher speaking to students
Happy student in school
Commentary
11.7.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Teachers & School Leaders

How some schools help students get back to grade level

Heena Kuwayama

According to estimates by principals nationwide, about 44 percent of American public-school students were behind grade level in a least one subject at the start of the 2023–24 school year.

Happy student in school
Empty classroom
Commentary
11.1.2024
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

We’re living through an education depression

Tim Daly

In 1990, 48 percent of our nation’s eighth graders had very weak math skills. How did we know? They scored in the lowest performance category, Below Basic, on the national test given to a sample of American students every two years.[1]

Empty classroom
Kamala Harris
Commentary
10.31.2024
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

A Republican education secretary for Kamala Harris’s cabinet?

Dale Chu

It is rare, but not unheard of, for presidents to ask members of the opposing party to serve in their cabinets. If she wins, Vice President Harris has pledged to make the symbolic gesture, historically used at key moments to project unity and bipartisanship. There’s a compelling argument to be made that the post of Education Secretary would be a worthy target for such an act. Here Chu discusses seven candidates for the role.

Kamala Harris
Voting location sign
Commentary
10.31.2024
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

20 questions for school board candidates

Michael J. Petrilli

Election Day is almost here, and the presidential contest is not the only one that matters.

Voting location sign
Bothered school student in a classroom
Commentary
10.31.2024
Teachers & School Leaders

How should teachers cover the election? They shouldn’t.

Daniel Buck

I student-taught during the Republican primary of 2016. One afternoon, I watched my mentor teacher, an avowed socialist, berate a student during class for daring to express support for Donald Trump. After the election, many of my colleagues breathed nihilistic tirades to their charges about the hopelessness of our country.

Bothered school student in a classroom
Students raising their hands in a school classroom
Commentary
10.24.2024
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Once a hedgehog, now a fox: Ten lessons from six decades in the struggle to improve schools

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The Greek poet Archilochus wrote that “the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Finn’s experience has made him more like the fox: as keen as ever to overhaul and revitalize American education, but having come to “knows many things” about that enterprise, is more a wary realist regarding its difficulty.

Students raising their hands in a school classroom
Teacher in a classroom
Commentary
10.18.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Implementing the science of reading: Insights from the field

Maggie Johnson

At Partnership Schools, we are excited that so many Ohioans are excited about the “science of reading.” In 2023 legislation that took effect this school year, Governor DeWine and the General Assembly have mandated that all reading curricula follow this approach—one we know well, since Partnership Schools have implemented it for over a

Teacher in a classroom
School report card
Commentary
10.17.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Grade inflation: Why it matters and how to stop it

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

Grade inflation influences the environment in which teachers teach and students study, shaping their behavior and relationships. But utilizing external assessments, increasing transparency, and supporting reforms that preserve the rigor of grading standards can help fix the problem.

School report card
College graduate
Commentary
10.17.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The American dream is still in reach for young people

Ian Rowe

The American dream is still alive and can be achieved in just one generation, even among the most economically disadvantaged young people. That finding is among the most promising takeaways from new research produced by Harvard University’s Raj Chetty and his collaborators.

College graduate
Chalkboard with dollar signs and question marks
Commentary
10.11.2024
School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Districts spent $190 billion in federal pandemic funds. Did it work?

Chad Aldeman

Editor’s note: This was first published by The 74. Say your boss gives you an unexpected bonus at work. Would you save the money, make those home upgrades you’ve been putting off or splurge on a nice vacation?

Chalkboard with dollar signs and question marks
Empty desk in a classroom
Commentary
10.10.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Student enrollment is dropping. The charter sector should keep growing anyway.

Michael J. Petrilli

The macro trend that will have the greatest impact on the American education system over the next decade or two is our declining birth rate and the resulting enrollment crisis facing many public schools. We have too many schools for too few kids and, as a result, thousands of schools are going to need to close. But what we don’t have are enough excellent schools, and therefore the charter sector should keep growing anyway.

Empty desk in a classroom
Overwhelmed school teacher
Commentary
10.3.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The case against discipline reform

Daniel Buck

Rates of student misbehavior remain elevated compared to pre-Covid levels. Pandemic-era disruptions, broader societal disorder and crime rates, and social media are also plausible explanations. But so is “discipline reform,” a set of policies and practices that many schools embraced over the past decade. Its tenets: talk to those kids, pursue “restorative justice,” or ignore their poor behavior. But never impose a consequence.

Overwhelmed school teacher
US Constitution
Commentary
10.3.2024
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Banned Books Week? Try “First Amendment Week” instead

Robert Pondiscio

A few years ago, I taught a high school seminar class in civics and democracy at a New York charter school. My goal for the course was for students to see that the U.S. Constitution isn’t an ancient, dusty document, but an enduring set of principles, deeply woven into their lives and the headlines they read every day.

US Constitution
Suburb
Commentary
10.3.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, Facilities, School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Urban school drama has come to the leafy suburbs

Tim Daly

A 6,000 student Midwestern district recently adopted a budget that would result—if all goes according to plan—in a $13.2 million deficit, or more than $2,000 per student. This follows $10 million shortfalls in each of the previous two years. Cash is dwindling.

Suburb
Students entering a school
Commentary
9.27.2024
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Do parents want a longer school year? Evidence from New York City.

Alina Adams

Eschewing the traditional September start to the new school year (or, at most, mid-August), some Richmond, Virginia, public schools kicked off the 2024–25 academic calendar on July 22.

Students entering a school
Houston, Texas
Commentary
9.26.2024
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The Texas-sized surge in uncertified teachers

Dale Chu

Houston’s local ABC news affiliate recently ran a report that the Houston Independent School District, Texas’s largest, has more than 2,000 uncertified teachers (out of a teaching force of approximately 10,000).

Houston, Texas
Kamala Harris
Commentary
9.19.2024
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

What Kamala Harris should do on education and training

Bruno V. Manno

Kamala Harris’s presidential acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention promised Americans “an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and the chance to succeed.” But working-class Americans are glum about their economic position today and what this promise means for them.

Kamala Harris