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Displaying 1261-1290 of 17507 results
Commentary
6.15.2023
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How not to read a book with students: A rebuttal to NCTE

Daniel Buck

An academic trifle to most, literary theory is a deceptively consequential issue in American education. In English classrooms, students are supposed to encounter great works of literature, sharpening and honing their own view of the world. And so it matters not just what books we choose to read with students, but how we read them.

Commentary
6.15.2023

What we're reading this week: June 15, 2023

The Education Gadfly

Centrists can reboot education reform. —Liam Kerr Passing legislation is only the start of the challenges to implementing universal ESAs successfully.

Commentary
6.14.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

How school systems can balance equity and excellence in their advanced education initiatives

Michael J. Petrilli

One of the most important efforts in America today is making sure we have as large and diverse a group of academic high achievers as possible in order to meet tomorrow’s challenges. A new report released this week—Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners—offers three-dozen recommendations to education leaders and policymakers at all levels on how to accomplish this.

Commentary
6.8.2023
Curriculum & Instruction

Summertime isn’t quite so easy

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Kids are now about to finish school for the year—in some places already have—and parents face difficult challenges, even as their daughters and sons kick up their heels in blissful freedom. Some of those challenges have been around forever, such as how to keep them occupied and out of trouble without completely disrupting parents’ lives and work. But others, like offsetting the immense learning loss caused by the pandemic, are still new.

Commentary
6.8.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Classical charter school enrollment skyrockets in Texas

Cassidy Syftestad, Albert Cheng

Recent shifts in enrollment patterns across Texas school sectors have gone in one direction—out of traditional public schools. Within those shifts, a disproportionately large swath of students has left for classical charter schools. These trends reflect a wider renaissance of classical schooling across the United States.

Commentary
6.8.2023

What we're reading this week: June 8, 2023

The Education Gadfly

“There is no such thing as a morally neutral education, in public schools or anywhere else.” —American Conservative Schools should be phone-free zones, as a growing body of research shows that they inhibit academic, cognitive, and social development.

Commentary
6.6.2023
Charter Schools, Governance

Catch up on the religious charter schools debate

The Education Gadfly

In a 3-2 decision yesterday, an Oklahoma state board defied the attorney general and approved the nation’s first religious charter school. Those of us at Fordham have been following the debate closely. These blog posts and podcasts will help you get up to speed:

Commentary
6.1.2023
Curriculum & Instruction, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

No, AP isn’t ushering in a totalitarian regime

Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.

In the summer of 2018, I was thrilled to learn that I would be teaching AP English Language and Composition starting that fall. As part of New York City’s AP for All initiative, I became one of the first two AP teachers at my small, alternative public high school.

Commentary
6.1.2023
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice

School choice proponents must wrestle with its shortcomings

Daniel Buck

Thomas Sowell famously quipped that “there are no solutions, only tradeoffs.” Even seemingly beneficial policies have repercussions. Reduce the prison population and crime increases. Close schools to prevent the spread of Covid and standardized test scores plummet. What’s more, even historic, society-altering changes come with side effects.

Commentary
5.25.2023
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

School systems’ essential quest for coherence

Emily Freitag

Every leader of a state or school system gets asked the question, “How do all of the things we are doing fit together?” It’s a question about “coherence”—the Holy Grail of education, says Freitag. And for the last two years, she has worked with leaders of four offices in one state with the goal of finding more of it. Here’s what she learned.

Commentary
5.25.2023
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

The CLT is a growing, classical alternative to the ACT and SAT: An interview with its co-founder

Daniel Buck

Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that allowed high schoolers to use the Classic Learning Test (CLT)—a classical alternative to the SAT and ACT—to qualify for the state’s Bright Futures scholarship. Already accepted at over 200 colleges, this legislation is the CLT’s biggest boost yet.

Commentary
5.25.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Another nail in the “money doesn’t matter” coffin

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

In recent years, the debate on the impact of financial resources in education has been petering out. Studies showing that more money for schools has had a discernable effect on student academic outcomes, particularly for students from lower-income families, keep accumulating.

Commentary
5.25.2023
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Dire straits: Taking stock of and addressing pandemic-related learning loss

Victoria McDougald

As the school year winds down, and with the World Health Organization officially declaring the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic over earlier this month, many students, parents, a

Commentary
5.25.2023

What we're reading this week: May 25, 2023

The Education Gadfly

“Why teacher evaluation reforms flopped.” —Matthew Yglesias The Educational Testing Service and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching are collaborating on new tests they say will promote students’ learning at their own pace and decrease the need for traditional “seat time.” —

Commentary
5.18.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

What we need from a “DARPA for education”: A Mars rover for schools

Michael J. Petrilli

There’s a lot of buzz right now about the potential for the Institute of Education Sciences to finally get the resources and authority to support major breakthroughs in teaching and learning via an “ARPA-ED,” modeled after the Defense Department’s DARPA program. Petrilli wants something more fundamental: basic information about what the heck is going on in America’s classrooms. Enter his (admittedly far-fetched) “Mars rover for schools” idea.

Commentary
5.18.2023
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

Getting reading legislation right

Dale Chu

Indiana’s Republican governor just signed into law a bill that mandates, among other

Commentary
5.18.2023
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

“Grading for Equity” isn’t grounded in reality

Meredith Coffey, Ph.D.

A few weeks ago, I finally sat down with Joe Feldman’s Grading for Equity (2018), expecting to nod my head along with every page. I loved teaching at an alternative school, considered myself flexible about deadlines, and frequently encouraged students to revise their writing.