Here’s a quick look around at what had Fordham’s blogs buzzing over the past week:
- “Rather than hope for revenue increases that are unlikely to materialize, smart leaders can turn the present budget crisis into an opportunity,” Mike Petrilli wrote on Flypaper, explaining key strategies for doing so from his new policy brief.
America is addicted to grade inflation, Terry Ryan explained on the Ohio Gadfly Daily. “Americans like feeling good about themselves, their schools, and their futures even when warning bells are ringing all around us,” he warned.- Kathleen Porter-Magee wondered on Common Core Watch how the “just right” books theory of literacy instruction will fare with the CCSS. As she concludes, “figuring out how to target remediation and how to scaffold difficult texts is exactly the kind of work that needs to happen to make a serious push to close the reading gap.”
- The U.S. spends more per capita on education than any other country, but students underperform on international tests. “The solution,” Chris Tessone argued on Stretching the School Dollar, “may just be to pay teachers more money, especially in salary rather than expensive fringe benefits.”
- David Harris, CEO of The Mind Trust, wrote on Board’s Eye View that the most important education governance issue is increasing the number of high-quality public schools in America’s urban core.
- On Choice Words, Adam Emerson analyzed a new Brookings study that found “zoning regulations are segregating cities by income and race and leaving quality schools available to mostly higher income families.”
Also, be sure to watch the replay of Thursday's panel discussion, "Education Reform for the Digital Era," and check out Fordham's review of Texas's new math standards. To stay on top of all of Fordham’s commentary, subscribe to the Gadfly Daily’s combined RSS feed.
