How much should we rely on student test achievement as a measure of success?
By Dan Goldhaber and Umut Özek
Education 20/20: Ian Rowe and Michael Barone
The Education 20/20 speaker series resumes on December 11th with another all-star double-header. Ian Rowe will lead off by arguing for the inclusion of family structure in measures of student achievement. Then Michael Barone will explore the educational travails—past, present, and future—of gifted students and what might be done to ease the pain.
The Education Gadfly Show: The sad state of credit recovery
On this week’s podcast, Samantha Viano, Assistant Professor of Education at George Mason University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Fordham’s new study of credit recovery programs, and her own work on the subject. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how high school start times affect student outcomes.
To improve educational practice, let researchers peek into the black box of the classroom
Michael J. PetrilliI’m in the middle of a series of posts looking at how we might usher in a “Golden Age of Educational Practice” now that big new policy initiatives appear to be on ice.
Credit recovery: Good intentions, poor execution
Michael J. Petrilli, Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Last May, Slate ran an eight-part series exploring the rise in online learning for high school students who had failed a course.
What is the value of earning college credit from AP?
Andrew ScanlanCollege-level courses taken while in high school have never been more popular. Chief among these sources is Advanced Placement (AP), whose five million exams were taken by almost three million students in 2018.
Per-pupil funding in charter and traditional public schools
Jessie McBirneyJournalists are told to “follow the money,” and it seems only fair the same adage be applied to education.
Education 20/20: Kay Hymowitz and Nicholas Eberstadt
For part two of our Education 20/20 speaker series on the purpose of K-12 education, we’re joined by Kay Hymowitz and Nicholas Eberstadt as they discuss parenting, soft skills, the decline of male labor participation, and what schools can (and can’t) do about it.
Addressing the ‘gifted gap’: Three strategies
As an educational community, we are constantly analyzing our strengths and weaknesses to determine how well we are meeting the needs of all students. Often, we measure our performance in terms of ‘growth’ and ‘gaps’.
NEW REPORT: Gotta Give 'Em Credit: State and District Variation in Credit Recovery Participation Rates
The Education GadflyCredit recovery, or the practice of enabling high school students to retrieve credits from courses that they either failed or failed to complete, is at the crossroads of two big trends in education: the desire to move toward “competency based” education and a push to dramatically boost graduation rates.
Gotta Give 'Em Credit: State and District Variation in Credit Recovery Participation Rates
Adam Tyner, Ph.D., Nicholas Munyan-PenneyCredit recovery, or the practice of enabling high school students to retrieve credits from courses that they either failed or failed to complete, is at the crossroads of two big trends in education: the desire to move toward “competency based” education and a push to dramatically boost graduation rates.
The Education Gadfly Show: How to separate the wheat from the chaff on technical credentials
On this week’s podcast, Mary Alice McCarthy, a director of the Center on Education and Skills at New America, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how leading states like Florida are vetting thousands of technical credentials to identify the ones worth pursuing. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the relationship across the globe between testing policies and student achievement.
Proposed solutions for revitalizing working-class communities
Sophie SussmanOut of the 2016 presidential election emerged a struggling and forgotten group eager to voice their needs: working-class Americans. In response to this outcry, Opportunity America, a D.C.
Improving student motivation and engagement
Robert PondiscioThere’s a terrific story about the late Frank McCourt, who became famous as the author of Angela’s Ashes and other books, but who was Mr. McCourt the English teacher to a generation of students at Stuyvesant High and other New York City schools. One day a student asked what possible use a particular work of literature he assigned would have in his life.
Poor curriculums are disastrous, but schools can help teachers avoid them
Lately, I’ve seen a meme that keeps popping up on social media: “Telling a teacher to use a boxed curriculum is like forcing a chef to cook hamburger helper.”
Civic engagement versus civics education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.There’s much about Montgomery County, Maryland, that I appreciate—starting with the fact that it’s been a fine home for me and my family for forty-plus years.
Education 20/20: Naomi Schaefer Riley and Jonah Goldberg
Our Education 20/20 speaker series continues with a double-header event. First up, Naomi Schaefer Riley discusses the limits of school choice. Then Jonah Goldberg argues that civics education need to reclaim the ideals of American democracy.
"Lord knows I love my kids": Poverty, family formation, and the future of education reform
Ian Rowe“They already made up in their mind that they’re not going to give [my children] back. I feel as though they want me to say, ‘F**k it, let me just sign, take ’em.’ I get to that point. I get there. That’s why I’ve been late. I can be on time. But when I’m at home getting ready, I don’t see an end to this tunnel, I don’t see a light, it’s just pitch black.
The school choice landscape following the 2018 election
After the recent mid-term election, we published our analysis of newly elected and re-elected governors and where they stand on the issue of private school choice. We also saw changes at the state legislative level that could have implications for educational choice.
Hoorah for charter schools serving kids with disabilities
Chester E. Finn, Jr.You might think the executive director of an organization called the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools would place the interests of children seeking the best possible special ed that charter schools can provide for them ahead of the policy preferences of IDEA (the federal special-ed law).
The specialized-charter-school trend threatens to undermine IDEA's inclusion goals
Some state charter school laws create the opportunity to open schools specifically for students with disabilities. Such schools may appeal to families who have not experienced success in their local public school and who simply cannot afford to wait for the reality of inclusion to catch up with the ideal.
The Education Gadfly Show: The end of education policy?
On this week’s podcast Chester E. Finn, Jr., Chad Aldis, and David Griffith discuss whether we’ve reached the “end of education policy.” On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how same-race teachers affect students’ long-term educational outcomes.
How to better inform parents about their school options
Jessie McBirneySchool choice can only thrive when families are well-informed about their options. Unfortunately, good information about different schools in a district can be hard to come by, and even when it is accessible, how it is presented and the level of detail provided can heavily influence the decisions parents make.
Are college remedial courses effective?
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Among postsecondary students who began their studies in 2003–04, 68 percent of those at public two-year colleges and 40 percent at public four-year colleges took at least one remedial course during their enrollment between 2003 and 2009. Of course, we’d prefer that students not need remediation in the first place.
What to do about standardized tests
Critics of standardized testing say scores merely reflect family income and other factors beyond schools’ control—while also narrowing the curriculum and warping instruction. Still, the tests have value, and there’s much more that schools could do to address the inequities they reveal.
Promoting educational excellence and closing excellence gaps
Last week, the Twin Cities was the epicenter of gifted education policy and practice as Minneapolis hosted the sixty-fifth NAGC Annual Convention. The convention provided a time for reflection about how Minnesota and the nation fare in supporting the needs of advanced students—and what we can do better.