What we're reading this week: July 27, 2023
The Education GadflyRick Hess interviews Virginia school board member Andrew Rotherham on the state’s adoption of new social studies and history standards.
#880: Everything wrong with California’s math framework, with Tom Loveless
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Loveless, a former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, j
How to ensure twice-exceptional students don't slip through the cracks
Adam Laningham, Sarah HolmanImagine the course of history if some of the most brilliant minds were held back by learning disabilities. Albert Einstein was dyslexic and didn’t talk until he was six. His teachers said nothing good would come of him.
Building diverse college campuses starts in kindergarten
Michael J. PetrilliRather than wait until kids are leaving high school to try to even the playing field, we must start in kindergarten to identify the most academically talented students of all races and backgrounds and give them the support they need to excel.
Exit interview: James Peyser in defense of education reform
Robert PondiscioIn the latest issue of Education Next, James Peyser argues that “overpromising” undercut the ed reform movement, in which he played a prominent role for three decades in a series of roles—from education advisor to two governors to chairman of the State Board of Education
Is ed tech contributing to chronic absenteeism?
Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.Nearly two years after federal data indicated that 99 percent of students had returned to in-person learning full-time, as many as one out of three students still haven’t really returned fu
The path to four million apprentices
Jeff MurrayFor folks who question the value of a traditional four-year college degree—whether they have done so for ages or have only recently lost faith—apprenticeships seem like a promising alternative for young people leaving
What we're reading this week: July 20, 2023
The Education GadflyContrary to many media narratives claiming that Asian Americans were stalking horses for whites, elite colleges really did discriminate against them.
#879: Chatting about evidence-based chatbots, with Perpetual Baffour
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Perpetual Baffour, the research director at the Learning Agency Lab, joins
Low- and high-income schools now receive equal funding
Adam Tyner, Ph.D.State-level school finance reforms and, to a lesser extent, increases in federal funding for schools have worked: America’s shamefully persistent inequities in school funding are finally a thing of the past. School funding is now generally progressive, meaning that students from poor families typically attend better-funded schools than students from wealthier families in the same state.
The accountability conundrum
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Editor's note: Read more about this topic in Finn's essay in National Affairs, "The Accountability Challenge."
Stop calling them book bans
Daniel BuckYou may have heard that conservative parent groups are banning books. From the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel Maus, to seemingly anything that addresses LGBT themes, such groups are challenging their inclusion in libraries and on curricula.
Can great high schools really make a difference for low-income students?
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.How well do our public high schools prepare students—especially low-income students—for future success? A working paper from analysts at Brown and Harvard addresses that question, focusing on a number of consequential middle- and longer-term outcomes.
What we're reading this week: July 13, 2023
The Education GadflyIvy League colleges remain the domain of an elite, privileged few and so the strike-down of affirmative action will have little effect on the other 99.8 percent of the populace.
#878: Our “savage inequalities” are no more, with Adam Tyner
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Fordham’s Adam Tyner joins Mike to discuss his latest report on the inequalities or
Who loses when we abolish entrance exams
Daniel BuckIn the wake of last week’s affirmative action decision, most analysts expect the recent enthusiasm for test-optional admissions policies to continue—if for no other reason than to make schools’ racial gerrymandering less transparent. Yet the students who will lose most in the process are the very students that these measures ostensibly seek to help: high performing, underprivileged students.
Considering a new approach to classic literature isn’t “doing it wrong”
Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.With the liberal arts seemingly in a perpetual budgetary and identity
Giving marginalized students better access to customized learning opportunities
Katrina BooneRecent policy innovations such as education savings accounts, microgrants, and tax credits address some of the financial barriers that prevent families from accessing flexible education opportunities.
Piloting an advanced learning curriculum for typically underserved students
Jeff MurrayIn many schools, being identified as advanced or gifted doesn’t guarantee that students will receive “gifted services.” For low-income students, Black and Brown students, rural students, and many others, the odds of being identified as gifted and having access to advanced coursework are even lower than for their higher-income and White or Asian peers.
What we're reading this week: July 6, 2023
The Education GadflyHow might the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action in higher education also affect K–12 policy? —Education Next A college professor reflects on “racial gamification,” the byproduct of affirmative action.
#877: Don’t overpromise on learning loss, with Jim Peyser
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Jim Peyser joins Mike to discuss education
Why conservatives should embrace open enrollment
Aaron Garth Smith, Jude SchwalbachAmerica’s school choice moment has finally arrived, but the vast majority of students nationwide still attend traditional public schools—and will for the foreseeable future. Conservatives would be wise to support policies that give families choices within the public education system. Cross-district open enrollment does precisely that, and it has strong bipartisan support.
Three terrifying findings in the latest NAEP results
Vladimir KoganParents and policymakers inured to years of depressing headlines about learning disruptions in the wake of the pandemic might be tempted to shrug at the latest federal test data on the achievement of thirteen-year-olds as more of the same.
What we're reading this week: June 29, 2023
The Education GadflyOn Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case about a North Carolina charter school’s dress code. In doing so, SCOTUS also declined the opportunity to declare charter schools public—or not.
#876: The chronic absenteeism crisis, and what to do about it, with Alia Wong
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alia Wong of USA Today joins Mike and David to discuss what’s caus