What we're reading this week: January 25, 2024
The Education GadflyBlack families disproportionately attend schools of choice and so are caught in the middle of the school choice debate in Chicago.
New Home, Same School: Charters and residentially mobile students
Douglas Lee Lauen, Ph.D.Because the housing and education markets are linked, evictions and other involuntary changes in residence often force students to change schools at a time when they are vulnerable. But is disrupting at-risk students' education in this manner necessary?
High schools where students routinely graduate with college degrees: An interview with Kevin Teasley, CEO of GEO Academies
Brandon L. WrightKhaya Njumbe enrolled at GEO Academies’ 21st Century Charter School, in Gary, Indiana, when he was eleven years old. By age thirteen, he’d become the youngest student in state history to earn an associate degree.
Doing educational equity right: School discipline
Michael J. PetrilliIf school funding is the issue around which it’s easiest to find common ground across left and right, school discipline might be the hardest. That shouldn’t be surprising, given how divisive our country’s debate has been on the related issue of criminal justice and law enforcement. But we can begin to bridge these ideological differences if we commit to “doing educational equity right.”
Teachers are fed up with no-consequence discipline
Daniel BuckI used to judge teachers who quit midyear. How could they abandon their students? Didn’t they sign a contract? Could they just really not cut it? Well, now I get it. Midyear quitting may be unseemly, but it’s understandable.
The rise and fall of Finland mania, part two: Why did scores plummet?
Tim DalyEditor’s note: This was first published on the author’s Substack, The Education Daly.
Do alternative pathways to teacher licensure depress teacher pay? Evidence from Texas
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Alternative licensure pathways—which equip prospective new educators for the classroom in ways other than traditional, university-based teacher preparation programs—aim to expand and diversify the ranks of K–12 teachers.
What we're reading this week: January 18, 2024
The Education GadflyAs remote work normalizes and crime spikes, working professionals are fleeing the city, and it’s causing headaches for politicians.
Congress’s bipartisan progress on strengthening America’s workforce
Bruno V. MannoThe U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce ended 2023 with some tidings of potential joy for America’s workforce by approving two proposed bills on a strong bipartisan basis. Committee approval in one chamber is just a start, of course, but bipartisanship in the current House is a good sign.
The rise and fall of Finland mania
Tim DalyEditor's note: This was first published on the author's Substack, The Education Daly.
7 trends state lawmakers need to know for 2024
Patricia LevesqueEditor’s note: This was first published by ExcelinEd.
Doing educational equity right: School finance
Michael J. PetrilliLast week, Petrilli identified three rules for “doing educational equity right” that will result in smart policy designs and make it likelier that the political right will get on board the equity train. Now let’s apply those rules to the topic of school finance.
How to ban phones effectively
Daniel BuckShortly before schools—and Fordham—shuttered their doors for the holiday break, Tim Daly asked a simple question in these pages: Should schools ban smart phones?
Alternative classroom models don’t have to threaten “traditional” ones
Meredith Coffey, Ph.D., Jeanette LunaAs former teachers in a variety of settings—charter, traditional public, and “transfer” schools—we read with great interest our colleague Daniel Buck’s recent piece, “In defense of the traditional classroom
Teachers who frequently refer students to the office: Who are they and how can we help them?
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Whether school discipline falls differently on students from different racial groups is an ongoing concern for families, school and community leaders, and policymakers.
What we're reading this week: January 11, 2024
The Education GadflyThousands of schools across the country, including schools in Mississippi, Baltimore, Boston, and other jurisdictions, are at risk of closing because of declining enrollment.
Remembering Linda Brown
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The education world lost a true reformer on Christmas Day—and the charter-school world lost one of its true heroes—when Linda Brown passed away at eighty-one at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
3 rules for doing educational equity right
Michael J. Petrilli“Suitcase words” have different meanings for different people. They’re everywhere in our political conversations and in K–12 education, and they include “social justice,” “parental rights,” and “accountability.” But the granddaddy of them all is surely “educational equity.” In coming weeks, this series will aim to unpack this phrase, and discuss what it would mean to do educational equity right.
When school becomes optional
Chester E. Finn, Jr.“Truancy” may no longer be the right word for it, maybe not even “absenteeism,” for both imply being missing from a place where one is supposed to be. “Truancy,” with its overtone of misbehavior and illegality, suggests willfulness, i.e., that one is intentionally missing, while “absenteeism” is a more neutral term with no suggestion of motive.
How centralized enrollment systems enhance school choice
Jeff MurrayA new report from the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice adds to the robust literature on school choice in New Orleans, shedding light on the ways in which the centralized enrollment system in the Crescent City has grown and evolved, as well a
How pandemic-era emergency teaching licenses diversified the teaching profession
Kate KerinThe Covid-19 pandemic created innumerable disruptions to the education system. Among them were challenges faced by teacher candidates trying to complete licensure requirements. In response, those requirements got waived in many places.
What we're reading this week: January 4, 2024
The Education GadflyAfter a year spent campaigning for the issue, deal cutting, and threats of primary challenges, Greg Abbott failed to pass school choice legislation.
Disappointment and hope: K–12’s biggest stories from 2023
Dale ChuThis year marked the fortieth anniversary of “A Nation at Risk,” the seminal report that did so much to reshape America’s modern education landscape.
The best and worst of education reform in 2023
Michael J. PetrilliEvery week in the Education Gadfly, we flag a handful of news items for our “Cheers and Jeers” section. Here are the ten most fantastic or horrendous developments of the year that was, presented in chronological order. Best
15 of the best opinion pieces on education reform that we read in 2023
Michael J. PetrilliEvery week in the Education Gadfly, we flag a handful of articles in our “What We’re Reading” section. Mostly these are opinion pieces, usually from leading newspapers and magazines, or occasionally high-profile Substacks. Here’s our list of our favorites for the year, presented in chronological order.