A turnaround district for Pennsylvania's lowest-performing schools

On May 13, Fordham President Michael J. Petrilli delivered testimony before a Pennsylvania State Senate committee. These were his remarks.

The State of Preschool 2014

Like the previous nine, this tenth in NIEER’s annual series suffers from a woeful definition of preschool “quality.” Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Bad, Better…Best

When bad schools close, families usually get something better.That’s what the Thomas B. Fordham Institute asserts in its April 2015 study School Closures and Student Achievement, using new research conducted in both traditional and charter public schools located in Ohio’s large urban school districts.

Four lessons from the opt-out debate

Test refusals may force reformers to rethink their priorities. Robert Pondiscio

Rand Paul quotes about education

How to make sense of the opt-out phenomenon

Andy Smarick on fixing Buckeye State charters

Editor's note: On May 6, Fordham contributor Andy Smarick delivered testimony before an Ohio education subcommittee on Senate Bill 148, a critical piece of legislation that would help clean up

Public School Teacher Attrition and Mobility in the First Five Years

Ideas on how to fix troublesome teacher turnover rates. David Griffith

The Condition of Future Educators 2014

A picture is emerging of the next generation of teachers. It’s not pretty. Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.

Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools: The Politics of Education Reform

A useful but imperfect book from an education policy legend. Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The morality of school choice

Rewarding parents who make informed decisions. Matthew Levey

Trust, but verify

The era of judging New York City Schools on academics is over. Robert Pondiscio

A successful formula: Shared curriculum and shared responsibility

Like pretty much everyone who is passionate about closing the achievement gap, I’m interested in Success Academies.

Games of knowledge: A review of Greg Toppo's "The Game Believes in You"

Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form at U.S. News & World Report.I wanted to hate this book.

Mike Huckabee quotes about education

Marc Tucker, education doomsayer

The Education Gadfly

National Board Certification and Teacher Effectiveness: Evidence from Washington

Nationally certified teachers are more effective. Jessica Poiner

The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter

A smart new book rescues educational gaming from becoming another fad. Robert Pondiscio

Are we really ready for democracy?

Chilling results from the NAEP history, geography, and civics exam. Chester E. Finn, Jr.

School closures and student achievement

Closing bad schools is politically unpopular. But now there’s good evidence that it works. Aaron Churchill and Michael J. Petrilli

Why school closures matter

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has consistently believed that all schools should be held accountable for the performance of their students and that any school that isn’t perfor

School closures, student learning, and the new system of schools

A decade ago, I became fixated on what I saw as the biggest problem in K–12 education—that we continued to assign low-income inner-city kids to persistently failing schools.

A Shared Responsibility: Ensuring Quality Education in Every Cleveland Neighborhood

Where are quality school seats most needed?

Students make academic gains when low-performing schools close

New report findings challenge popular myth that closing schools hurts students academically

The retreat from "college readiness"

Lowering college standards is not a solution to our remedial education problem. Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Early and unplanned pregnancy: An off-ramp from upward mobility

The New York Times’s Nicholas Kristof argued in his column yesterday that the “low-hanging fruit” of

Gadfly Bites - 4/24/15

Charter law reform efforts get attention at all levels, but it's worth remembering that great charter schools can change lives

House committee leadership: Don’t destroy education evaluation and research (or you'll never know what programs and schools are effective)

Since its passage in 1974, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) has struck a careful and reasonable balance between the privacy of students and families and the need for timely and accurate information on the state of U.S. schools and school systems.