Breaking the Cycle: How Schools Can Overcome Urban Challenges

Review of a remarkable book about a remarkable urban school defying all the odds in Dayton.

The case for holding Ohio’s voucher schools accountable for results

We take a look at the hubbub over Fordham's recent voucher toolkit with an Ohio insider's view.

Will Obama mention Common Core in the State of the Union?

The rumor around the water coolers in D.C. is that President Obama plans to mention the Common Core State Standards in his State of the Union Address next week—for the third year running. He should reconsider, for three reasons.First, it will feed the narrative that Common Core is, in fact, a federal takeover of public education.

First Bell: 1-22-14

A first look at today's most important education news:

First Bell: 1-21-14

A first look at today's most important education news:

Catholic Schools deserve an authentically Catholic debate about Common Core

Two months ago, a group of Catholic university professors signed a letter urging Catholic bishops and diocesan school leaders to reject the Common Core.

The good stuff of 2013

One of education reform’s best attributes is its sense of urgency about doing better for kids. This field is not one for the complacent.

Yes, gifted programs improve learning

A recent study examined whether gifted programs benefit students at the margin: those who barely “made the cut” for admission into a program and those who barely missed it.

Who in the world is Carmen Fariña?

In his press conference introducing Carmen Fariña as New York City’s next schools chancellor, Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested that he had picked her over several other candidates because she was on the same page with him in opposing his predecessor Michael Bloomberg’s education reforms.

The principled opposition to Common Core

Yesterday’s column by George Will condemning Common Core is a very bad sign for the standards’ advocates.

The problem with 'Bad voucher schools aren’t a problem'

This week, we at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a “toolkit” for policymakers working to create or expand private-school-choice programs.

Systemic reform in Kansas City

Because of Kansas City Public Schools’ (KCPS) persistent underperformance, the state is contemplating taking over the district. They engaged CEE-Trust and Public Impact (organizations I admire and have worked with) to produce a plan.

Public accountability & private-school choice

As voucher and tax-credit-scholarship programs have expand­ed in recent years, another promising development has been the incorporation into such programs of provisions that hold participating private schools to account for their students’ performance.

How population size affects PISA results

Myriad articles have pointed out that the U.S.

Weekend reading

There were many important releases and developments this week—invaluable new SIG information from IES, Race to the Top audits, new Brookings “choice index”—and I couldn’t keep up! Those subjects and others will get fuller treatments from me next week. But until then, here are some worthwhile things to read over the weekend.

School Choice Signals: Research Review and Survey Experiments

What rhymes with 'self-serving'?

Earlier this week, AFT president Randi Weingarten came out against the use of value-added measures in teacher evaluations, citing recent VAM shortcomings in D.C. and Pittsburgh and launching the catchy slogan, “VAM is a sham.” VAM certainly is not perfect.

Resolve to be resolute

We’ve passed the time for standing by and patiently hoping that Ohio’s lowest-performing charter schools will improve on their own. Or that the authorizers of such charters will solve this problem on their own.

Pension reform vs. the ‘California Rule’

Cities and states faced with rising pension costs have begun to search for the most effective way to balance retirement promises made to workers with the need for fiscal sustainability and employer flexibility.

Welcome to Choice Words 2.0

Readers of this blog have come to expect news from around the country, analysis, cogent commentary, and best-practice policy recommendations. All of that has been in large part due to the efforts of Adam Emerson.

Three things to know about gifted education

Identifying gifted students and serving gifted students are two different things in Ohio, and neither area has data that inspires confidence.

Resolve to be resolute

2014 should be the year that quality trumps all other considerations when it comes to charter schools in Ohio.

Save the date - January 30, 2014

Fordham invites you to what promises to be a fascinating panel discussion: Private Schools and Public Vouchers.

Reviving marriage to end poverty

A long time ago now, the late syndicated columnist William Raspberry was in the Twin Cities for some kind of program and a woman asked a modest question: “How do you fix poverty?” Raspberry, who was a gracious Pulitzer Prize winner, said something about how poverty was a very big problem, and as such, one could jump in just about anywhere and make a contribution.

Can't buy me love

The so-called War on Poverty has been fantastically successful at eradicating poverty among the old and devastatingly miserable at eradicating poverty among the young. It’s not hard to see why. It’s easy to reduce or eliminate poverty among people, such as seniors, who are not expected to work: Give them money and free services, like Social Security and Medicare.

The "war on poverty" and me

Forgive an aging education-reformer’s reminiscences, but LBJ’s declaration of war on poverty shaped the next fifty years of my life.

Disparate distortions: Obama administration doublespeak undermines school discipline

Today’s guidelines announced in Baltimore by the Justice and Education Departments brings the tortured logic of disparate impact to school discipline.

You know it's been a long time since NCLB reauthorization when…

Tomorrow, Michael Petrilli will be conducting a live chat with Kathleen Porter-Magee and Matt Chingos of Brookings on lessons learned (or not) since No Child Left Behind was enacted twelve years ago. (Tweet your questions to #NCLBchat.)

10 education-policy (and a few grammar) resolutions for 2014

The holiday season has come to end, and mostly likely, you’re starting 2014 off with some New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you’re still trying to figure out how to program your Fitbit. Or maybe you’re waking up an hour earlier to make it to the gym.