Commentary
What we're reading this week: January 6, 2022
Keller Independent School District, under pressure by the state of Texas, is convening an anonymous committee to ban books they deem questionable.
Podcast
Accountability & Testing, ESSA, Curriculum & Instruction
Education Gadfly Show #801: Grumpy New Year with Checker Finn
Commentary
Fordham’s top 10 articles of 2021
The past year has brought hope and progress, but also setbacks and new challenges. At Fordham, we did our best to keep up with all of it, following our well-rehearsed practice of asking tough questions, conducting rigorous research, debating issues rather than propagandizing about them, and proposing workable solutions whenever we could. All of this is evident in Fordham’s 2021 commentary.
Commentary
The top Education Gadfly Show podcast episodes of 2021
This year, the Education Gadfly Show podcast covered many hot-button education issues. But our most-listened-to episodes reflect what we already knew: This was a big year for education politics!
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning
Counting down the top education studies of 2021
Subscribers to our podcast, the Education Gadfly Show, are treated weekly to the Research Minute, a segment where I highlight a recent rigorous, useful, or intriguing education-related study (ideally all three).
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Charter Schools, Governance
Charter attendance, education outcomes, and civic participation
For those of us old enough to remember, the “Rock the Vote” campaign in the 90’s showcased many celebrities—including Madonna in a red bikini and American flag—trying to convince young people to participate in elections.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: December 23, 2021
The CDC’s case for masking in schools is flawed and doesn’t square with European and global health organizations’ guidance. —The Atlantic Gordon S. Wood, leading scholar of America’s Founding, exposes the 1619 Project’s historical illiteracy.
Podcast
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Civility, democracy, and education
Most of our founding fathers believed that a democracy is only as good as its citizens, since democracy only flourishes with citizens who are capable of governing themselves. But we have lost our understanding of the connection between virtue, self-government, and democracy. Indeed, few students today learn anything about virtue, let alone see any connection between it and the fate of our republic.
Commentary
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
The long road to education recovery: Three ways for districts to redeem themselves
This school year was supposed to be the one when things returned back to normal. If only that were true.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
Online courses and college degree completion
Students’ inability to enroll in required courses—due to capacity or scheduling constraints—can stymie progress toward a college degree. New findings published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis suggest that online courses can help keep students on track to college graduation.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
Boosting the effectiveness of STEM role models
Providing relatable role models for young people is a guiding principle by which STEM practitioners hope to motivate scientists of the future and diversify their ranks. Conscious of the importance of this endeavor, New York University researchers Jessica Gladstone and Andrei Cimpian examined the literature on role modeling to identify strategies for maximizing its motivational impact.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: December 16, 2021
Parents, demonstrating more practical wisdom than activists and policymakers, are in favor of more career-oriented programs in high school.
Commentary
My friend Denis Doyle
Several people I admire have recently passed away (Bob Dole, Colin Powell, Fred Hiatt, Stephen Sondheim…), but the only one in that group who was als
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Build Back Better’s risks on early childhood education are manageable and outweighed by the benefits
The funding system for early childhood education envisioned in Build Back Better is far superior to the one we have now. But as always in public policy, the transition from one condition to another is fraught with risks.
Commentary
The Build Back Better plan would improve both pre-K and child care
The early childhood field has long recognized the need to transform its workforce—in meaningful part because earl
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
The best and worst metro areas for school quality may surprise you
Fordham newest study ranks schools in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, with heavy focus on academic growth. Many of America’s “superstar cities” appear far less super when examined through this lens. Some have a right to brag—but others would be well advised to stop resting on their laurels and work harder to improve all students’ progress.
Commentary
Accountability & Testing, Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Education’s enduring love affair with “luxury beliefs”
The proof of a powerful idea is how well it sticks. Once you hear about it “you start to see it everywhere,” as Bari Weiss puts it. She was describing “luxury beliefs,” a phrase coined by Rob Henderson, an Air Force veteran and Ph.D.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Conservatives: Let’s focus on winning policy, not just winning politics
There’s been lots of jabber lately about what the upset win by Glenn Youngkin in the recent Virginia gubernatorial race means for education policy.
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Governance
Learning more about the use of industry recognized credentials
While the ubiquitous term “college and career readiness” assumes that twelve years of compulsory education could adequately prepare a student for both postsecondary and workplace settings, we know far more about readiness for the former than the latter.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Proof that online credit recovery has been on the rise
Recent years have seen a move to eliminate homework and relax grading standards, and struggles by teachers and students to do their work during the pandemic have accelerated this trend. Some educators and commentators, however, fret that these new practices amount to lowering standards.
Commentary
Commentary
What we're reading this week: December 9, 2021
“In a San Francisco high school, the scars of remote schooling linger.” —Washington Post Staff shortages are hurting districts across the country. In some states, principals are taking over custodian work, and National Guardsmen are serving as bus drivers.
Report
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality
"America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality" is the first analysis to use nationally comparative data to evaluate the effectiveness of large and mid-size metro areas on school quality. Use our interactive data tool to see how your metro area stacks up.
Podcast
Career & Technical Education
Education Gadfly Show #798: Which metro areas are accelerating student learning?
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
In defense of suspensions
A student was arrested after an attempted stabbing at Montgomery Blair High School.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Education is progressive. Schools are conservative.
Editor’s note: This was first published by Newsweek.
