What we're reading this week: December 8, 2022
The Education GadflyTeacher shortages are a local issue, with some shorthanded school districts existing side-by-side with fully staffed ones.
Education Gadfly Show #848: Talking about “Unbundling” with Bellwether’s Julie Squire
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk with
The case for gifted education
Brandon L. WrightEditor’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.
The good and bad news about declining U.S. poverty rates
Jon BaronRecent news articles have heralded a long-term decline in the U.S.
How conservatives can lead on K–12
Frederick M. HessThe right is well-positioned to lead on education. The left’s intimate ties with unions, public bureaucracies, and higher education have turned it into the apologist and paymaster for the education establishment. The right, meanwhile, is free to reimagine institutions and arrangements in ways the left is not. Moreover, as the left has found itself defending woke excesses, conservatives are put in a position to defend broadly shared values.
How rethinking industry-recognized credentials could boost student success
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Early in my career, I taught high school in North Carolina. One of the coolest things we did was partner annually with the local Habitat for Humanity team. Each year, students in my school’s construction-trades classes built a modular home from the ground up, doing the masonry, carpentry, electrical work, plumbing—all of it.
The noose tightens around failed reading programs in schools
Robert PondiscioThere was a remarkable moment near the end of last week’s ExcelinEd conference in Salt Lake City—one that I never would have thought possible and might have scoffed had someone predicted it, even a few short years ago.
Break high schools’ monopoly on awarding credit and diplomas
Peter RobertsonEditor’s note: This essay is an entry in Fordham’s 2022 Wonkathon, which asked contributors to address a fundamental and challenging question: “How can states remove policies barriers that are keeping educators from reinventing high schools?”
Policy doesn’t block high school redesign. Lack of will does.
Ed JonesEditor’s note: This essay is an entry in Fordham’s 2022 Wonkathon, which asked contributors to address a fundamental and challenging question: “How can states remove policies barriers that are keeping educators from reinventing high schools?”
A curricular trial (and error) to develop giftedness
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Schools don’t typically begin the process of formally identifying students to receive gifted and talented (GT) services until third grade. What if educators started developing in earnest a child’s innate abilities before then?
School choice priorities change at the middle and high school levels
Jeff MurrayCommon sense, backed by research, tells us that families weigh a lot of information when making school choice decisions.
Education Gadfly Show #847: States, snake-oil, and the science of reading, with Kymyona Burk
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kymyona Burk, Senior Policy Fellow at
The case for career and technical education
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Jeanette LunaWith rising college costs and sky-high college dropout rates—almost one-third of American undergraduates quit before completing their degree—young people are lookin
“Pragmatism wins”: What the midterms mean for education policy
Nathaniel GrossmanSo much for the “red wave.” Republicans expected sweeping victories in last week’s midterm elections that never materialized. Instead, Democrats outperformed expectations by maintaining control of the Senate and holding Republicans to a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
With affirmative action before the Supreme Court, here’s the state of diversity among high achievers
Michael J. PetrilliAmerica’s high-achieving students in our elementary and secondary schools are more racially diverse today than two decades ago. But Black high achievers in particular have made only incremental gains. Given affirmative action's original purpose, such trends are more than a little disappointing.
Public education is drifting from its founding ideals and public purpose
Robert PondiscioEditor’s note: Last week, the Jack Miller Center convened a National Summit on Civic Education at Mount Vernon, the Virginia home of George Washington. Robert Pondiscio delivered the keynote address. This is adapted from his remarks.
Parent groups win big despite Republican losses
Daniel BuckConsidering President Joe Biden’s historically low approval ratings, many predicted a Republican wave in the midterms. Well, the wave turned out to be a gentle lapping at the toes.
Education Gadfly Show #846: What do the midterm elections mean for the parents’ rights movement?
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Virginia Gentles, the director of the Education
In memory of Robert Kern
Chester E. Finn, Jr.We mourn the passing of Robert D. Kern at 96, even as we recall some of the great good he did—and our encounters with him.
Why homework matters
Eva MoskowitzHomework is the perennial bogeyman of K–12 education. In any given year, you’ll find people arguing that students, especially in elementary school, should have far less homework—or none at all. Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of Success Academy charter schools, has the opposite opinion. She’s been running schools for sixteen years, and she’s only become more convinced that homework is not only necessary, but also a linchpin to effective K–12 education.
New York City shortchanges its advanced students
Kristina Raevsky, David ArmorWhen New York City School Chancellor David Banks announced a new screened high school admissions policy last month, many were quick to rejoice that the de Blasio reign of “lottery admissions” was finally over.
Impacts of a content-rich literacy intervention
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Teaching young children to read fluently by the end of third grade is fast becoming a national priorit
School choice and parental compromise
Jeff MurrayWhat parents are looking for in an ideal school choice scenario is often very different from what they settle for in the real world. Cost, distance, academic quality, safety, extracurricular options, and a host of other factors are all at play, meaning trade-offs are unavoidable. Recently-published research findings try to capture the matrix of compromises being made.
What we're reading this week: November 10, 2022
The Education GadflyThe cracks in affirmative action have grown into fissures as immigration and demographic shifts change the country’s make-up.