A fifty-state strategy for course choice

Individual district schools don’t serve all students, either

Last week was National Charter School Week and, to celebrate, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act.” This was an exciting occasion for us Washington-based policy wonks, starved as we are for any legislative action on education.

NEW from Fordham: Expanding the Education Universe: A Fifty-State Strategy for Course Choice

In defense of the anti–Common Core Right

It’s true that many conservatives (and liberals, too!) have employed pretty outlandish rhetoric in their effort to discredit the Common Core. It’s also true that many of the things these opponents say are either factually untrue or unrelated to the standards themselves.

Setting a course toward charter quality

Now is the time for a renewed commitment to charter school quality in Ohio.

Setting a course toward charter quality

Now is the time for a renewed commitment to charter school quality in Ohio.

National Charter Schools Week: A time to celebrate good charter schools

A look back at a week of charter school profiles.

The DOJ and Wisconsin’s private-school choice program: a storm is brewing

Last week, the Wisconsin Reporter reported that the United States Department of Justice is still conducting an “ongoing investigation” into whether Wisconsin’s private-school choice program d

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: Columbus Collegiate Academy and the United Schools Network are EPIC performers in Ohio’s capital

Our final National Charter Schools Week school feature is a bit overdue, but introduce you to one of the brightest lights in the Fordham portfolio.

Netflix Academy: The best streaming videos on earthquakes and volcanoes

Note: This post is part of our series, "Netflix Academy: The best educational videos available for streaming

Now you’re entitled to your own facts, too

Something unsavory is underway at the Department of Education and in the world of pre-school zealotry.They seem to be merging—and in so doing they risk the integrity of our education-data system.

Almost, Peggy, But This Time Not Quite

For no current-affairs commentator do I have greater respect than Peggy Noonan, whose sagacity, common sense, plain-spokenness, and “big picture” view of things are as welcome—and rare—as the clarity and persuasiveness of her prose.

The mystery that is twelfth-grade NAEP

One of the great unanswered questions in American education policy is why the major gains we’ve seen on the Nation’s Report Card in the fourth and eighth grades evaporate once students reach the twelfth grade.

Reactions pour in to At the Helm, Not the Oar

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: DECA Prep is a high-quality learning lab

The resilience of Common Core

I keep up on Common Core news religiously. In the last few weeks, I’ve amassed a stack of 30 articles and reports, trying to come up with a clever, cogent argument for what they mean when considered together.

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: Village Preparatory School :: Woodland Hills Campus adds a new school leader

Village Preparatory School: Woodland Hills Campus (VPWH) is located in the Kinsman-Woodland Hills area of Cleveland and serves about 300 students in grades K–3. VPWH is a part of the incredibly successful Breakthrough Schools network.

Teachers, race, and effectiveness

Among the many problems facing American K–12 education, we don’t have enough highly effective, minority, or male teachers.

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: KIPP Columbus boosting the academic success of needy kids

Columbus is the proud home to the Buckeye State’s lone KIPP charter school.

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: Growth is in the works at Phoenix Community Learning Center

Phoenix Community Learning Center is in the midst of a structural renaissance. The school, Fordham’s only sponsored school in Cincinnati, has plans to expand their current school building, which would eventually add three classrooms and a media center.

SEA reform and violent agreement

My colleague Julie Squire and I recently published a report on reforming state departments of education. We argue most state-level reforms ought to be driven by entities other than the SEA, which should focus on a narrower, but still important set of responsibilities.

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: Sciotoville Elementary Academy

As noted in our intro blog to this week’s series on National Charter Schools Week, no two charter schools are alike. An excellent case in point is the two charter schools that Fordham sponsors in the Southern Ohio town of Sciotoville.

Fordham celebrates National Charter Schools Week

President Obama signed a Presidential Proclamation naming May 4 through May 10 “National Charter Schools Week.” This reflects the growing bipartisan support enjoyed by charter schools across the nation.

USED, Indiana’s ESEA, and an unexpected federalism paradox

On the surface, the story of the US Department of Education’s recent letter to Indiana about its ESEA-waiver noncompliance writes itself.

The 'Year of School Choice' bears fruit

The Wall Street Journal dubbed 2011 “The Year of School Choice” after more than a dozen states enacted school-choice legislation that spring.

Keep calm and carry on with the testing

Today, the next wave of states will begin field-testing the Common Core–aligned assessments after a largely successful first phase.

Seeing Common Core from a parent’s perspective

Among cyclists, there is a joke that “I had the right of way” makes a good epitaph. The point is obvious: being right is cold comfort if you’re dead.

Netflix Academy: The best streaming videos on human evolution

Note: This post is part of our series, "Netflix Academy: The best educational videos available for streaming." Be sure to check out our previous Netflix Academy posts on