Commentary
What we're reading this week: August 18, 2022
A new survey finds a growing partisan split on the public’s views about education.
Topics
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders
Gifted education is (hopefully) a work in progress in America’s largest school district
Editor’s note: This is an edition of “Advance,” a newsletter from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute written by Brandon Wright, our Editorial Director, and published every other week. Its purpose is to monitor the progress of gifted education in America, including legal and legislative developments, policy and leadership changes, emerging research, grassroots efforts, and more.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Standards
A freedom framework for social studies education
The American educational system has neglected its duty to provide students with a foundational understanding of social studies for decades. Weak standards for learning were established, primary documents were ignored, and students were allowed to create their own historical truths.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Education reform is alive and well, even if the Washington Consensus is dead for now
The latest declaration of education reform’s demise comes from two of Mike’s favorite people: Checker Finn and Rick Hess. But what they actually describe is the end of the bipartisan ed reform coalition—what Mike and Rick used to call the “Washington Consensus.” Even with it gone for now, however, education reform continues apace—and continues to rack up victories for kids. And there are ways to rebuild the coalition.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
The new education consensus is conservative, and that’s a good thing
In the latest issue of National Affairs, Chester Finn and Frederick Hess chronicle the splintering of the school reform movement that lasted from roughly 1983 until Trump’s presidency.
Commentary
Teachers & School Leaders
Why and how leaders should tackle teacher wellness
The mental health crisis has been a persistent headline over the last few years, as research and
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
Do multi-tiered systems of support improve student behavior?
School systems across the country are training teachers in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to tackle issues like social emotional learning, mental health, and behavioral interventions.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
How states leaders can expand and support youth apprenticeships
The Covid-19 pandemic altered public confidence in education and left lasting shortages in the workforce. Youth unemployment rates are recovering, but young people are still in need of job opportunities that will create lasting wealth and opportunities for further education.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: August 11, 2022
School choice is a contentious issue in Texas’s gubernatorial race between Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke. —The Texas Tribune Parent protests over school budget cuts have pressured Mayor Eric Adams to take the unusual step of renegotiating NYC’s education budget with the City Council.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Lax school discipline is bad for teachers
Teachers’ authority in the classroom is being undermined by policies of “restorative justice”—a non-punitive approach to discipline. But the predictable albeit unintended consequence of these well-meaning policies is that disruptive students get away with previously unacceptable behavior. Outbursts of student vulgarity and incidence of violence have become normalized as something teachers and other students have to endure.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders
Gifted students need a “continuum of services” now more than ever
Teachers are now planning instruction for the new school year. But very quickly after their pupils arrive, many will realize that some students will not be adequately challenged by the grade-level curriculum typically assigned for the class. Some will already have mastered that material and are ready to move on.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Impacts of charter school growth on school and neighborhood diversity
Student demographics in traditional district schools largely reflect patterns of housing availability and affordability within neighborhoods. Much of that is due to strict attendance zoning.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
More evidence that making school easier does students no favors
It’s one of those zombie mantras that just won’t die: Letting students cut corners, giving them grades they haven’t earned, and generally lowering the bar is a nice thing to do for vulnerable kids—those living in poverty, often with turbulent home lives or mental health struggles to boot.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: August 4, 2022
Having friendships that cut across class lines can improve future earnings for poor children, but those relationships are rare. —New York Times Fewer young children live in cities, which could mean more enrollment declines for urban K–12 schools.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders
An interview with Janet Kragen, who taught gifted education for four decades
Editor’s note: This is an edition of “Advance,” a newsletter from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute written by Brandon Wright, our Editorial Director, and published every other week. Its purpose is to monitor the progress of gifted education in America, including legal and legislative developments, policy and leadership changes, emerging research, grassroots efforts, and more.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
The problem with “differentiation”
Shouldn’t we all seek to individualize instructions to meet each child’s needs? Who could oppose “differentiation”? Well, I do.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Biden’s misguided guidance on discipline for students with disabilities
Last week, the Biden administration released new guidance for how schools should handle discipline for students with disabilities.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
When students feel unsafe, absenteeism grows
School shootings are profoundly tragic—scarring not only the families whose children become victims, but casting a shadow over the lives, mental health, and outcomes of the surviving students. But evidence is also clear that it’s not only horrific mass shootings that can lead a child to miss school. Any feeling of not being safe can prompt children and teenagers to stay home.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools
CREDO examines charter school performance in three cities
Are charter schools helping students succeed?
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: July 28, 2022
The publisher of Lucy Calkins’s troubled reading curriculum has halted the release of an updated version over concerns about conservative states’ new curriculum laws. —New York Times Children’s needs were sacrificed more than any other group’s during Covid-19 policymaking decisions.
Commentary
Governance
Ed reformers should rally around the Romney family aid plan
A major, though largely unnoticed, development in America’s support for families with children is the recent release of the “Family Security Act 2.0” by Senator Mitt Romney, along with fellow Republicans Richard Burr and Steve Daines. It could and should serve as the starting point for bipartisan negotiations for a new federal investment in families that might stand the test of time.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
The American family is still coming apart
In 2004, the late Sara McLanahan published a landmark article called “Diverging Destinies: How Children Are Faring Under the Second Demographic Transition.” The paper was the first scholarly attempt to propose that the decline of the two-parent family in the United States since the 1960’s was intensifying the already unequal l
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders
In a time of crisis, Catholic schools offered a choice, not an echo
“New data suggest that the damage from shutting down schools has been worse than almost anyone expected,” the Economist tweeted recently to promote a
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
The bravest man in education reform
A few years ago, when I was writing my book about Success Academy and school choice, I had a moment of self-doubt bordering on despair.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction
Chatbot nudges boost student outcomes
“Nudges” to induce specific actions take many forms in education.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: July 21, 2022
Post-pandemic confidence in public schools has plummeted, especially among Republicans. —Gallup Asian Americans’ academic success is not a problem. Are White parents pushing against standardized tests just anxious about their children getting out-competed?
