Commentary
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How districts and schools can make the most of course access
The potential for customization is no bull. Kevin Mahnken
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
The resurgence of urban Catholic education?
For years, I worried that I was auditioning to be the Edward Gibbon of urban Catholic schooling, chronicling the decline and fall of an invaluable, sprawling institution.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
Partnership schools: The hundred-year-old start-ups
Let’s not break those things about Catholic schools that make them effective. Kathleen Porter Magee
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Career technical education and labor market outcomes
CTE works, but some programs are better than others. James White
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The effectiveness of instructional practices for first-grade math
Step one: Teach the math. Step two: Have the students practice it. Step three: There is no step three. Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Creative schools
More of the same nonsense from TED talk superstar Sir Ken Robinson. Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
The case for career-focused charter schools
A great way to get kids knowledge, skills, credentials, and work experience. Robert Schwartz
Commentary
Report
Charter Schools, Governance
Pre-K and Charter Schools: Where State Policies Create Barriers to Collaboration
In Pre-K and Charter Schools: Where State Policies Create Barriers to Collaboration, authors Sara Mead and Ashley LiBetti Mitchel examine thirty-six jurisdictions that have both charter schools and state-funded pre-K programs to determine where charters can provide state-funded pre-K.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
Faith, hope, and hard work: Reflections on Year One of Partnership Schools
June marked the end of my first year as superintendent of Partnership Schools, a nonprofit school management organization that (thanks to an historic agreement with the Archdiocese of New York) was granted broad authority to manage and operate six K–8 urban Catholic schools.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Tapas-style curriculum
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form at the Core Knowledge Blog.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Want to change school names? Involve students in the decision
I taught fifth grade for many years at P.S. 277, in New York City’s South Bronx. But the school's full name was the Dr. Evelina Lopez-Antonetty Children's Literacy Center.
Report
Governance
Redefining the School District in America
In Redefining the School District in America, Nelson Smith reexamines existing recovery school districts (RSDs)—entities in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan charged with running and turning around their state’s worst schools—and assembles the most comprehensive catalog of similar initiatives underway and under consideration elsewhere.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Building Literacy Skills: The state of reading instruction in grades K–3
It’s working! Evidence of positive changes in teaching practices under Common Core. Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
A peek inside the classroom black box
District curriculum choices should be transparent—and making it so is easy. Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Common Core's first breakout hit?
A free online curriculum taps a need—and a nerve.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Closing the Expectations Gap 2014
We’re doing an awful job of ensuring that kids graduate from high school with the skills to succeed. Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Truth and consequences
States shouldn’t sugarcoat the bad news when reporting Common Core test results to parents. Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
The Paperwork Pileup: Measuring the Burden of Charter School Applications
A new AEI report raises the right questions—and promulgates some of the wrong answers. Kathryn Mullen Upton
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
EngageNY's ELA curriculum is uncommonly engaging
Advocates hoped Common Core would incentivize good new curriculum. It’s happening. Kathleen Porter-Magee and Victoria Sears
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards
NEW from Fordham: Is EngageNY uncommonly engaging?
Since we at Fordham began reviewing state academic standards in 1997, we have understood—and made clear—that standards alone are insufficient to drive improvements in student achievement.
Report
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards
Uncommonly Engaging? A Review of the EngageNY English Language Arts Common Core Curriculum
The need for standards-aligned curricula is the most cited Common Core challenge for states, districts, and schools. Yet five years into that implementation, teachers still report scrambling to find high-quality instructional materials. Despite publishers’ claims, there is a dearth of programs that are truly aligned to the demands of the Common Core for content and rigor.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Knowledge is literacy
Editor's note: This post has been updated to include the entirety of "Knowledge is literacy."
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
The American Dream in crisis: A conversation with Robert Putnam
Last week, Fordham hosted Robert Putnam for a discussion of his new book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, which argues that a growing opportunity gap is leaving many American children behind.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Games of knowledge: A review of Greg Toppo's "The Game Believes in You"
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form at U.S. News & World Report.I wanted to hate this book.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Charter Schools
The promise of mastery grading
Call it mastery or competency-based education, it holds promise for students of all abilities
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Getting observations wrong: the Phil Jackson Fallacy
Was Phil Jackson really a great coach? Despite his reputation as the Zen master of hoops, I’ve never been convinced. After all, Kobe, Shaq, and His Airness would have made any coach look like a genius, and there’s never been a natural experiment quantifying Jackson’s impact.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Don't know much about history
Editor's note: This post has been updated with the full text of "Don't know much about history."
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards, Accountability & Testing
Ten arguments against Common Core presidential hopefuls should avoid
An open letter to the candidates. Tim Shanahan