The New TNTP: A conversation with CEO Daniel Weisberg
Fordham President Mike Petrilli talks with the TNTP helmsman about the organization’s future and the role of teacher evaluation in education reform.
Redefining the School District in America
Nelson SmithIn 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.
Turnaround Districts: Lessons from Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan
So-called “turnaround school districts,” inspired by Louisiana’s Recovery School District and its near-clone in Tennessee, have been gathering steam, with policymakers calling for them in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and other states scattered from coast to coast.
Uncommonly Engaging? A Review of the EngageNY English Language Arts Common Core Curriculum
Elizabeth Haydel, Sheila Byrd CarmichaelThe 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.
The American Dream in Crisis: A conversation with Robert Putnam
The Harvard political scientist discusses his new book and how education reform can help disadvantaged kids.
Ohio Education Speakers Series (April 2015): School closures and student achievement
A panel of experts discuss our recent study on school closures.
The Game Believes in You: A conversation with Greg Toppo
Gregg Toppo talks about his new book The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter.
Developing School Leaders: What the U.S. Can Learn from England's Model
Mark TonerThe myriad challenges facing school principals in the United States have been well documented, including limited opportunities for distributed leadership, inadequate training, and a lackluster pipeline for new leaders. Recently, the Fordham Institute teamed up with the London-based Education Foundation to seek a better understanding of England’s recent efforts to revamp school leadership.
Can gifted education survive the common core?
Jonathan Plucker, Rena Subotnik, and Tricia Ebner discuss what the new standards portend for high achievers.
Common Core and America's High-Achieving Students
Jonathan PluckerGadfly editorial by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Amber M. Northern
A fern between two Mikes: Testing, accountability, and the new ESEA
Testing, accountability, and the new ESEA.
Videos from the Education for Upward Mobility conference
A daylong investigation into the role education can—and must—play in promoting upward mobility.
Education for Upward Mobility
At the Education for Upward Mobility conference, the Thomas B.
Building a Lattice for School Leadership
Jonathan SupovitzOver the past decade, the English government has revamped that country’s approach to school leadership. At the center of the reform is the sensible idea that school leadership needs to be a team endeavor. While not a new idea—there’s been for years plenty of discussion about “distributed leadership” on both sides of the pond—the Brits got busy actually making it happen as opposed to jawboning about it. Central to their leadership structure is the formalization of three levels of school leaders, each with distinct roles and responsibilities: headteachers who lead schools (equivalent to the principal’s role in the U.S.), senior leaders or deputy heads who assist the headteacher (similar to the vice principal role in American education but...
VIDEO: Leadership Evolving: New Models of Preparing School Heads
What does school leadership development in England look like, how is it changing, and what can other countries learn from the English approach?
Redefining the School District in Michigan
Nelson SmithWhat happens when policymakers create statewide school districts to turn around their worst-performing public schools?
Metro D.C. School Spending Explorer
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute set out to answer a basic (yet complicated) question: how much does each school in the D.C. metro area spend on day-to-day operations for each student it enrolls? In the Metro D.C.
VIDEO: The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis
Twenty-six state-by-state rankings of charter school quality, growth, and innovation.
A fern between two Mikes: The Vergara fight goes coast to coast
Fordham's Mike Petrilli and AEI's Mike McShane discuss the growth of Vergara-like fights nationwide and the pros and cons of taking the tenure debate to the courts.
VIDEO: Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone)
This is a conversation and discussion with Elizabeth Green on new book, Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone).
The Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don't Teach
Matt RichmondThe number of non-teaching staff in the United States (those employed by school systems but not serving as classroom teachers) has grown by 130 percent since 1970. Non-teachers—more than three million strong—now comprise half of the public school workforce. Their salaries and benefits absorb one-quarter of current education expenditures.
VIDEO: On the Rocketship: Expanding the high-quality charter school movement
Richard Whitmire’s forthcoming book, On the Rocketship: How Top Charter Schools are Pushing the Envelope, is “the best account yet of what is happening with charters,” says the
Lacking Leaders: The Challenges of Principal Recruitment, Selection, and Placement
A school’s leader matters enormously to its success and that of its students and teachers. But how well are U.S. districts identifying, recruiting, selecting, and placing the best possible candidates in principals’ offices? To what extent do their practices enable them to find and hire great school leaders? To what degree is the principal’s job itself designed to attract outstanding candidates?
Mike Petrilli and Mike McShane on the future of Common Core
Fordham's Mike Petrilli and AEI's Mike McShane talk the future of Common Core. With Indiana, South Carolina, and Oklahoma backtracking from these standards, what's next in this political fight?
#MikesonCCSS: Mike Petrilli and Mike McShane on the future of Common Core
Join Fordham's Mike Petrilli and AEI's Mike McShane for a livestream event on the future of Common Core.
State Accountability in the Transition to Common Core
Victoria McDougaldThe Common Core is at a critical juncture. While many surveys show that support for the standards themselves remains strong, implementation has not been without major challenges.
Expanding the Education Universe: An explanation of course choice by Michael Brickman
The Fordham Institute's National Policy Director, Michael Brickman explains the benefits of course choice and the implications for students.
Expanding the Education Universe: A Fifty-State Strategy for Course Choice
Michael BrickmanAfter twenty years of expanding school-choice options, state leaders, educators, and families have a new tool: course choice, a strategy for students to learn from unconventional providers that might range from top-tier universities or innovative community colleges to local employers, labs, or hospitals.