Displaying 1-24 of 24 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
11.5.2020
Charter Schools, Private School Choice

For better or worse, religiously-affiliated charter schools are on their way

Michael J. Petrilli

A U.S. Supreme Court decision is introducing a new type of charter school that’s likely to cheer conservatives but alarm many progressives: the religiously-affiliated charter. Those of us in the charter movement need to figure out how to keep them from splitting the charter coalition.

Commentary
9.16.2020
Charter Schools, Private School Choice

How states can meet the rising demand for school choice

Dale Chu

Six months into the pandemic, the nation’s forced experiment in remote learning has resumed. But our education system’s design is ill-suited to the unique quandaries posed by Covid-19. District officials continue to ask parents for grace and patience, and many have continued to oblige, but if current conditions persist into next year and beyond, demand for choice will almost certainly increase as a large number of parents keep their children at home.

Commentary
8.12.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

Teacher unions vs. private schools

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The private schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, where I live, are breathing a sigh of relief that, after much sturm und drang this past week, they’re back in charge of their own decisions about whether and how to re-open.

Podcast
6.3.2020
School Finance, Private School Choice

The Education Gadfly Show: The crisis’s outsized impacts on Catholic schools

On this week’s podcast, Michael McShane, the director of national research at EdChoice, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how Catholic schools are weathering the pandemic and economic downturn and what public policy can do to help. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of a quarter century of school finance reforms.

Commentary
5.11.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

A self-reflection tool for distance learners

Beth Blaufuss

Editor’s note: This blog post was first published by Partnership Schools.

Commentary
3.4.2020
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

Back to basics for conservative education reform

Yuval Levin

This major essay comprises one of the concluding chapters of our new book, "How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow's Schools." Levin brilliantly—and soberingly—explains what conservatives have forfeited in the quest for bipartisan education reform. He contends that future efforts by conservatives to revitalize American education must emphasize “the formation of students as human beings and citizens,” including “habituation in virtue, inculcation in tradition, [and] veneration of the high and noble.”

Commentary
12.18.2019
Private School Choice

Why Catholic schools have regained their place in education reform

Kathleen Porter-Magee

At the beginning of the modern ed-reform movement, getting onto four decades ago, urban Catholic schools were everywhere, serving as vital proof points in the debate about what was possible. While too many traditional public schools serving disadvantaged communities were either unsafe, failed to produce graduates with even basic skills, or both, urban Catholic schools stood apart.

Commentary
11.26.2019
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

Even more social engineering in New York schools

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

When the New York City Council moved the other day to require every one of the city’s thirty-two community school districts to develop a school desegregation plan, it was yet one more example of municipal social engineering that prizes diversity over quality and mandatory over voluntary. If families with means don’t like their new school assignments, they’ll simply exit to charters, private schools or the suburbs, meaning that the city’s social engineers will mainly work their will on those with the least.

Podcast
10.30.2019
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

The Education Gadfly Show: On education, Warren’s got a pander for that

On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk to Checker Finn about Senator Warren’s flawed education proposal. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines improvements to the student teaching experience that can help candidates feel more prepared for success in the classroom.

Commentary
10.15.2019
Charter Schools, Private School Choice

The real story: School choice is working

Benjamin J. Lindquist

On September 25th, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) issued a report titled “School Choice in the United States: 2019,” which sorely misrepresents the prevalence, value, and impact of school choice over the last twenty years.

Podcast
9.4.2019
Charter Schools, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

The Education Gadfly Show: Trends in public opinion on choice, testing, and teacher salaries

On this week’s podcast, Martin West, Harvard professor and editor-in-chief of Education Next, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the results of Ed Next’s annual survey of public opinion. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether video technology can improve teacher evaluations.

Commentary
2.28.2019
Private School Choice

Let’s hear it for educational freedom!

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Twenty-five months after Donald Trump’s inauguration, his administration has just unveiled its big school-choice initiative—yes, the cause that, during his 2016 campaign, he termed the “new civil rights issue of our time,” the very same cause that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has devoted her career to promoting.

Report
12.9.2015
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

America's Best (and Worst) Cities for School Choice

Priscilla Wohlstetter, Ph.D., Dara Zeehandelaar Shaw, Ph.D., David Griffith

More than twelve million American students exercise some form of school choice by going to a charter, magnet, or private school——instead of attending a traditional public school.

Report
1.8.2014
Accountability & Testing, School Finance, Private School Choice

Public accountability & private-school choice

Adam Emerson

The Fordham Institute supports school choice, done right. That means designing voucher and tax-credit policies that provide an array of high-quality education options for kids that are also accountable to parents and taxpayers.

Report
1.23.2013
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

School Choice Regulations: Red Tape or Red Herring?

David A. Stuit, Sy Doan

Many proponents of private school choice take for granted that schools won’t participate if government asks too much of them, especially if it demands that they be publicly accountable for student achievement. Were such school refusals to be widespread, the programs themselves could not serve many kids. But is this assumption justified? A new Fordham Institute study—to be released on January 29—provides empirical answers. Do regulations and accountability requirements deter private schools from participating in choice programs? How important are such requirements compared to other factors, such as voucher amounts? Are certain types of regulations stronger deterrents than others? Do certain types schools shy away from regulation more than others?