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Education choice in 2019 and beyond
The Fordham Institute’s analysis of “charter school deserts” helps answer a vital question: Where are neighborhoods in which low-income children lack access to schools of choice?
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Districts should start fresh on school discipline reform in the new year
For the new year to bring a new politics to America—one marked by a pragmatic search for solutions, with good ideas from left, right, and center—it’s going to have to come from the bottom up, far away from the Washington outrage machine. A good place to start would be the contentious challenge of school discipline.
Commentary
What to expect in Wisconsin with Governor (gulp!) Tony Evers
On January 7, 2019, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, a Democrat, will take the oath of office as Wisconsin’s next governor. His narrow defeat of Republican Scott Walker represents the end of an era for education reform in the Badger State, which now faces a governor who is famously hostile to school choice.
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Deconstructing teacher turnover
During the news lull between Christmas and New Years, the Wall Street Journal published an alarmist piece about the high rate of teachers and other public educators quitting their jobs.
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Successfully supporting community college students in Ohio
In 2015, Ohio imported a successful program used to help community college students in the City University of New York (CUNY) system persist in school and complete a degree in three years or less.
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At least encourage the crazy ones: How to reward our highly motivated students
For the better part of two decades, school improvement has been focused on narrowing “achievement gaps” by raising the reading and math scores of low-performing students. While this charge has undeniable merit, it also carries some real costs.
Event
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction
Education 20/20: Mona Charen and Ramesh Ponnuru
Fordham’s Education 20/20 speaker series kicks off the New Year with a bang on January 9th as we bring you another double header.
Podcast
The Education Gadfly Show: Educational pluralism
On this week’s podcast, Ashley Berner, assistant professor and deputy director of the Institute for Education Policy at Johns Hopkins, joins David Griffith and Adam Tyner to discuss pluralism in American education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the latest data on school spending, as well as high school dropout and completion rates from the Institute of Education Sciences.
Commentary
2020 is practically around the corner
No, this has naught to do with the next election. It’s about an immediate target here at Fordham: to generate and publish some fresh thinking, mostly from prominent conservatives and other sensible folk, about the future direction of American education.
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How school choice advances curriculum reform
Natalie Wexler is a name you should know, if you don’t already.
Commentary
Fordham's most-read articles of 2018
In education, 2018 brought some worthy new beginnings. Policymakers, wonks, and teachers alike realized that large-scale education reform is waning, and that a renewed focus on instruction and practice is needed.
Commentary
College costs and returns and parents' aspirations for their children's post-secondary outcomes
Prior survey studies have found that providing adults with accurate information can alter their perceptions or actions.
Commentary
The state of Latino students in Montgomery County, Maryland
One of America’s wealthiest jurisdictions, Montgomery County, Maryland, is experiencing rapid demographic changes. The D.C. suburb’s Latino population has nearly doubled since 2000, and now comprises almost 40 percent of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students.
Commentary
Reform on the horizon
2018 revealed that the education-reform gas tank was empty. This turned out, however, to be not such a big deal because the “movement” didn’t have a destination in mind either. So the travelers pulled over, jumped out of the car, and yelled at one another as the rest of the world passed by.
Commentary
A call to arms on collective bargaining
The year-end wind-down means new legislative sessions are just around the corner. From early childhood and teacher pay to funding formulas and career readiness, there are many fights to be had, and advocates will invariably end up duking it out over their share from states’ coffers.
Commentary
Moms and choice: An interview with Inga from San Antonio, Texas
It’s easy for those of us who opine on education to think about—and talk about—school choice as a policy, a concept, and an issue worth pushing in Washington and state legislatures. But school choice is really about parents, children, and the very personal stories that drive people to look beyond their traditional neighborhood public schools.
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Choice and specialization are important levers for parents of students with disabilities
In a recent commentary on this blog, I expressed concern regarding the growth of specialized charter schools: that is, schools designed solely or primarily to educate students with disabilities.
Commentary
Identifying "what works" is still a work in progress
If we are going to take advantage of the End of Education Policy, and usher in a Golden Age of Educational Practice, we need our field to start taking rigorous evidence much more seriously.
Commentary
We'll always have policy
Recent weeks have seen multiple efforts to declare and prove that the United States has entered a post-policy era, complete with multiple references to Francis Fukuyama’s famous 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man.
Commentary
Dylan Wiliam's guide for clear education thinking
I owe Education Gadfly readers an apology. Dylan Wiliam’s excellent and eminently sensible book was published nine months ago and has been sitting on my desk since then. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Creating the Schools Our Children Need deserves your immediate attention.
Commentary
What millennial parents think about schools and their children's education
A recent Pew Research study found that by 2016, half of all Millennial women—those born between 1981 and 1996—were mothers.
Commentary
In charter school deserts, do private schools pick up the slack?
In April, we published a report by Andrew Saultz and colleagues—along with an interactive website—that mapped the locations of “charter school deserts” across the country.
Podcast
The Education Gadfly Show: America’s choice deserts
On this week’s podcast, Lindsey Rust, National Director of Implementation for the American Federation of Children, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether private schools serve as oases in charter school deserts. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether parents’ aspirations for their children to go to college someday are affected by receiving new information on the cost, and returns, on completing post-secondary education.
New Media
Charter Schools, Private School Choice
Do Private Schools Serve as Oases in Charter School Deserts?
Last April, we published a report by Andrew Saultz and colleagues highlighting “charter school deserts” across the country, or high poverty areas that lack charter schools.
Commentary
How to help children get on, and stay on, the "success track"
In my new book, The Forgotten Americans, I revisit what has come to be called “the success sequence.” That’s the idea that if a young person gets a decent education (at least high school), works full-time, and finds a committed partner to marry before having children, that person’s chances of achieving the
Commentary
NCAA and credit recovery
The NCAA cares a great deal about college readiness, access, and success. As we work to stay current on trends and issues in education, one of our greatest challenges is maintaining an open mind to innovation in the field of education, while also guarding against propensities for shortcuts. Nowhere is this more difficult than with online learning and credit recovery (CR).
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