The RNC on the CCSSI, OMG!
Republicans make a colossal—but reversible—error on the Common Core
Republicans make a colossal—but reversible—error on the Common Core
The College Board and ACT have entered the ring
Alabama’s decision to drop out of both consortia and choose a battery of ACT exams is enormous
Lone Star State moves to lower its own standards
Will the new science standards make the grade?
Andy's picks, from Kansas City to CALDER
Andy Smarick's pick of the news
Conducted jointly by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Public Impact, the new research study Searching for Excellence: A Five-City, Cross-State Comparison of Charter School Quality sheds light on charter performance — in Albany, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, and Indianapolis. These cities were highlighted because they have relatively large numbers of charter schools and charter school students. These are cities where charters have been part of the educational landscape for a decade or more. Read this exciting report today!
Keeping up with education headlines
Online and blended learning alter some of the most basic characteristics of traditional schooling—and the ripples extend much, much farther
Andy Smarick's pick of recent education news
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute has provided big-picture feedback and detailed, standard-specific commentary for the second draft of the Next Generation Science Standards—standards that done right, set a firm foundation upon which the rest of science education across the states will be constructed. In our comments on the first draft, we concluded that “the NGSS authors have much to do to ensure that the final draft is a true leap forward in science education.” In comments on Draft II, we address to what extent NGSS writers have moved closer to a set of K–12 science standards that even states with strong standards of their own would do well to adopt.
Options for students, not parents
The new National Children's Museum, like our kids' social-studies curriculum, doesn't teach much of anything
Andy Smarick's pick of the news, from PARCC to Zuckerberg
MOOCs in size small, please
It isn't going to be easy for David Coleman and his fellow authors of the Common Core English/Language Arts standards to wean U.S. students off writing about themselves.
The middle path to technology in education
The cumbersome, inscrutable title is the first clue that something is not right: “Vision for the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3): Framework for Inquiry in Social Studies State Standards.”
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute's recent study of teacher-union strength is an example of the institute's willingness to "get into the weeds" of standards
100 books every child should encounter by age five.
Lots of parents favor sending their sons and daughters to diverse schools with children from a variety of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. But can such schools successfully meet the educational needs of all those different kids? How do middle class children fare in these environments? Is there enough challenge and stimulation in schools that also struggle to help poor and immigrant children reach basic standards? Is there too much focus on test scores? And why is it so hard to find diverse public schools with a progressive, child-centered approach to education? These quandaries and more are addressed in this groundbreaking book by Michael J. Petrilli.
Let there be controversy
If at first you don't succeed...
No single public school is expected to serve students with every single type of disability. Except, apparently, public charter schools.
In May, Achieve unveiled and solicited comments on the first draft of the Next Generation Science Standards, the product of months of work by a team of writers from twenty-six states. This document provides commentary, feedback, and constructive advice that Fordham hopes the NGSS authors will consider as they revise the standards before the release of a second draft later this year.
Success requires failure
On integration and differentiation