The Education Gadfly Show: Recent Episodes
Thomas B. Fordham Institute
For more than 15 years, the Fordham Institute has been hosting a weekly podcast, The Education Gadfly Show. Each week, you’ll get lively, entertaining discussions of recent education news, usually featuring Fordham’s Mike Petrilli and David Griffith. Then the wise Amber Northern will recap a recent research study. For questions or comments on the podcast, contact its producer, Pedro Enamorado, at penamorad@fordhaminstitute.org.
Andrew Camp and Collin Hitt join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Moving Target: The Success and Failure of Missouri’s Charter School Funding Surge, a new Fordham report by David, Andrew, and Collin. They examine Missouri’s effort to close the charter funding gap, how schools used the additional money, and why true funding parity remained out of reach. They also discuss the effects on staffing, teacher retention, and student achievement.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews new research from Ohio on whether the threat of third-grade retention can improve reading achievement by prompting schools to provide struggling students with additional literacy support.
Recommended content:
- Moving Target: The Success and Failure of Missouri’s Charter School Funding Surge —Andrew M. Camp, Collin Hitt, and David Griffith, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The Impact of Increasing Funding for High-Performing Ohio Charter Schools: The Quality Community School Support Fund, 2019–23 —Stéphane Lavertu, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier —Sheree Speakman, Chester E. Finn, Jr., and Bryan C. Hassel, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Why Ohio’s third-grade retention law worked (until lawmakers killed it) —Vladimir Kogan, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The Effect of Retention Threat on Student Learning Gains: Evidence from Ohio —Sarah Souders and Robert Bifulco, EdWorkingPapers (July 2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Congressman Josh Harder joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his push to revive the National Reading Panel and advance the READ Act. They consider whether a new panel could update the evidence base on reading instruction, how federal funding might encourage stronger implementation of science-of-reading reforms, and whether literacy could help rebuild a bipartisan federal role in education policy without repeating the mistakes of past reforms.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new study on how adding AP courses may affect school enrollment, socioeconomic integration, and academic tracking.
Recommended content:
- Is the Senate’s READ Act a Reading First redux?— Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- READ Act section-by-section summary—Senate HELP Committee
- From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report—David Griffith and Brian Fitzpatrick, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Can Uncle Sam help kids read? | Episode 1023 of The Education Gadfly Show
- Tracking to Retain Higher-Income Students: Evidence from the Addition of Advanced Courses—Farah Mallah, EdWorkingPapers (July 2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Mike Miles, superintendent of Houston Independent School District, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about his new book, By Design: How to Transform School Systems, and how districts can use systemic thinking and accountability with support to improve schools.
Then, on the Research Minute, Brian Fitzpatrick reviews new research on how classroom context can affect teacher evaluations, and how schools can use the logic of value-added models to develop better evaluations.
Recommended content:
- By Design: How to Transform School Systems —Mike Miles
- State takeovers are back —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Texas’s controversial takeover of Houston’s schools—Daniel Buck, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Classroom Composition Affects Teacher Performance Ratings —William Delgado and Lauren Sartain, EdWorkingPapers (April 2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Tyrone Holmes, chief impact officer at Curriculum Associates, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the growing parent backlash against education technology and why i-Ready has become one of its most visible targets. They unpack the differences among i-Ready’s assessments, teacher-led resources, and personalized online instruction; consider concerns about screen time and overuse; and discuss why teachers and schools need to communicate more clearly with families about how these tools are being used.
Then, on the Research Minute, Brian Fitzpatrick reviews a new study tracking the effects of Massachusetts charter schools over two decades and examines why their benefits rose, receded, and then rebounded.
Recommended content:
- There’s more to the i-Ready story —Kelly Sia for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- There’s actually more to the i-Ready story: A rebuttal —Daniel Carr for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Are Chromebook carts the answer? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Can schools escape the digital delusion? | Episode 1026 of The Education Gadfly Show
- How “No Excuses” charter schools went off the rails, with Steven Wilson | Episode 961 of The Education Gadfly Show
- Two Decades of Massachusetts Charter School Effects —Geoffrey Kocks, Blueprint Labs (2026)
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David Griffith talks with neuroscientist and educator Jared Cooney Horvath, author of The Digital Delusion, about whether schools have put too much faith in classroom technology. They discuss what the evidence says about screen-based instruction, why school-sanctioned devices and platforms deserve more scrutiny, and whether artificial intelligence is making the ed-tech problem better or worse.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new study on Texas’s Teacher Incentive Allotment and why performance pay may not be enough to steer effective teachers toward higher-need schools.
Recommended content:
- The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning - And How To Help Them Thrive Again —Jared Cooney Horvath
- Let’s debate LA’s screen time policy —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Are Chromebook carts the answer? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Teacher Sorting and Preferences over School Disadvantage: Evidence from Performance Pay in Texas —Patrick L. Massey, EdWorkingPapers (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Mike Petrilli takes the mic to consider whether America’s schools need a renewed sense of urgency around raising achievement and closing gaps. He revisits the test-based accountability era, debates whether its biggest contribution may have been less about policy mechanics and more about shifting the national “vibes,” and argues that today’s education leaders may need to be much clearer about what it means to put students first.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new American Enterprise Institute report tracking post-pandemic chronic absenteeism and warning that elevated absence rates may be turning into a long-term condition.
Recommended content:
- The one where Ross gets rebuked by reformers —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- On NCLB, Wiener and Petrilli fight to a draw —Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Student Achievement —Thomas S. Dee and Brian A. Jacob, NBER
- From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025 —Nat Malkus, American Enterprise Institute (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Stefanie Sanford, president of Civic Ventures at Alithi Consulting and Humanitae Philanthropy Advisors and a trustee of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how America’s 250th anniversary could help renew civic life. They explore why civic formation must extend beyond the classroom, how schools can teach both the achievements and failures of American history, and what young people need in order to develop a sense of civic responsibility in an increasingly polarized and digital society.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new study examining gaps in how schools are adopting artificial intelligence, including differences in training, policies, and guidance for students and teachers.
Recommended content:
- Civic Life in the Information Age —Stefanie Sanford
- Civics, citizenship, and America 250 — Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Civic Profile —Hoover Institution
- America at 250: Surveying Change and Continuity on Civic Values — by Karlyn Bowman and Nicole Penn, AEI
- AI Diffusion Gaps: Unequal Integration of AI Across K-12 Schools —Christopher Campos and John D. Singleton, NBER (2026)
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Charles Barone of the National Parents Union joins Mike Petrilli to debate the Senate’s bipartisan READ Act. Would additional federal funding help states strengthen teacher preparation and expand evidence-based reading instruction, or could a larger federal role politicize the science-of-reading movement and repeat the mistakes of Reading First?
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new study examining why tutoring’s impact on student achievement tends to shrink when programs scale up.
Recommended content:
- Is the Senate’s READ Act a Reading First redux? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- The READ Act: A National Commitment to Literacy —National Parents Union
- From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report —David Griffith and Brian Fitzpatrick, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Too Good to Last: The True Story of Reading First —Sol Stern, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- What Impacts Should We Expect From Tutoring at Scale? Exploring Meta-Analytic Generalizability —Matthew A. Kraft, Beth E. Schuele, and Grace T. Falken, SAGE Journals (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Mike Petrilli flies solo to discuss the latest Long-Term Trend NAEP results and why the bounce-back among nine-year-olds deserves more attention. While America’s education recovery is far from complete, especially for older students, Mike argues that the rebound in reading and partial recovery in math suggest that federal dollars, tutoring, economic trends, and perhaps science of reading reforms may be helping younger students regain lost ground.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new evidence from Michigan on which school attendance strategies are associated with better student outcomes.
Recommended content:
- A Surprising Sliver of Hope in New NAEP Scores for the Lowest-Performing Kids Chad Aldeman, The 74
- Declining NAEP Scores Are Flashing Red Lights for the Covid Generation —Michael J. Petrilli, EducationNext
- Anatomy of a ‘Learning Recession’: Academic Losses Began in 2013, Report Finds —Kevin Mahnken, The 74
- Experts say schools could recover pandemic losses by 2028. What then? —Jay Mathews, The Washington Post
- The Learning Legacy of Randi Weingarten —The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal
- Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism —Jing Liu, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2022)
- Identifying Effective Attendance Strategies in Michigan —Jeremy Singer, Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, and Angela Lyle, EdWorkingPapers (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Patrick McAlister, principal of PM Strategies and former director of the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, and Shaina Cavazos, the office’s current director, join The Education Gadfly Show to discuss charter growth after the replication era. Drawing on their experience with closures and mergers in Indianapolis, they explain why authorizers and charter boards may need new approaches as enrollment declines and the sector matures.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on content rich reading instruction and finds that while teachers are using strong foundational skills curricula, students often get too few chances to build fluency and vocabulary.
Recommended content:
- Beyond Replication: What Responsible Charter Growth Looks Like Now —Jed Wallace, CharterFolk
- The 10-year test for durable schools —Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Do Authorizer Evaluations Predict the Success of New Charter Schools? — Adam Kho, Ph.D., Shelby Leigh Smith, and Douglas Lee Lauen, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Bridging the Divide: Connecting Word Recognition and Language Comprehension in Early Literacy —Anna Jennerjohn, Sara Rutherford-Quach, Lauren J. Cassidy, Katrina Woodworth, Sarah Dec, and Dan Reynolds, SRI (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Jonathan Plucker, a research professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Education, and Fordham’s own Alicia Anderson, policy and editorial associate, join The Education Gadfly Show to discuss new research on how little states and the federal government invest in advanced education. How much funding goes toward gifted education, AP, IB, and other advanced learning opportunities, and why is it so hard to track where those dollars go?
Then, on the Research Minute, Brian Fitzpatrick examines new research on Algebra I achievement gaps and finds that many are rooted as early as third grade and grew worse during the pandemic.
Recommended content:
- Broad support, barely funded: The paradox of advanced education in America —Jonathan Plucker, Alicia Anderson, Matthew Makel, and Shaun Dougherty for Advance
- The Leaky Pipeline: Assessing the college outcomes of Ohio’s high-achieving low-income students —Stéphane Lavertu, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners —The National Working Group on Advanced Education
- Ohio’s Lost Einsteins: The inequitable outcomes of early high achievers —Scott Imberman, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- A Widening Chasm: The Divergent Paths of High- and Low-Achieving Students in Algebra I After the Pandemic—Benjamin Backes, Michael DeArmond, Elise Dizon-Ross, Dan Goldhaber, and Alejandra Salazar, CALDER (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Melissa Arnold Lyon joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss Fordham’s new report, A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026, and what has changed in state education politics since Fordham’s 2012 analysis of teacher union power. How influential are teacher unions today, where are they strongest, and what does a more crowded political landscape mean for education policy?
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on the Common Core State Standards and their effects on achievement beyond math and English language arts.
Recommended content:
- A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026 —Melissa Arnold Lyon, Sandy Frost Waldron, and Rebecca Jacobsen, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison —Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Janie Scull, and Dara Zeehandelaar Shaw, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Teachers’ Unions and Collective Bargaining —Bradley D. Marianno, Live Handbook: Education Policy Research, an initiative of AEFP
- The unintended effects of the Common Core State Standards on non-targeted subjects — Benjamin W. Arold, and M. Danish Shakeel, ScienceDirect (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
On this week’s solo episode of The Education Gadfly Show, Mike Petrilli discusses President Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit, including how it works, why he has concerns about its design, and why he still thinks states, including blue states, should opt in. Could the program help Catholic schools and expand scholarships for low-income families, or will it mostly benefit upper-middle-class parents and well-connected schools?
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on whether full-day pre-K affects English learner identification in elementary school, especially for children from non-English-speaking households.
Recommended content:
- Trump’s education tax credit is poorly designed, but blue states should opt into it anyway — Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- New York plans to accept the federal tax credit. Should we celebrate? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- The bipartisan opt-in chorus grows louder —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Effect of Full- Versus Half-Day Pre-K on Grade K–3 English Language Learner Designations — Katharine Parham Malhotra and Allison Atteberry, Sage Journals (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the sweeping Arkansas LEARNS reforms, from early literacy and teacher pay to career pathways, parent empowerment, and new approaches to teacher preparation. Why did Arkansas take on so much at once, and can it support teachers, empower districts, and maintain high standards along the way?
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on Indiana charter schools’ post-pandemic academic recovery, especially for Black, Hispanic, low-income, and previously low-performing students.
Recommended content:
- ExcelinEd 2026 Poll Findings —ExcelinEd
- Raising the Floor: Teacher Retention Effects of a Statewide Minimum Salary Increase —Gema Zamarro, Andrew M. Camp, Josh McGee, Taylor Wilson, and Miranda Vernon, CALDER (2026)
- What happens when you relax accountability —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Virtual Illusion: Comparing Student Achievement and Teacher and Classroom Characteristics in Online and Brick-and-Mortar Charter Schools —Brian R. Fitzpatrick, Mark Berends, Joseph J. Ferrare, and R. Joseph Waddington, Educational Researcher (2020)
- Indiana Charter School Performance During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic —Ron Zimmer, Stephen M. Ponisciak, Mark Berends, Julie W. Dallavis, Joseph J. Ferrare, Adam Kho, Shelby L. Smith, and Joseph Waddington, EdWorking Papers (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Christy Wolfe, director of K–12 policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss a new report on the American workforce—and what it means for K–12 education. As policymakers call for a clearer national talent strategy, which ideas echo past reforms, what’s genuinely new, and should school improvement efforts shift from individual schools to districts?
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern looks at what happens when schools lock up student phones—and the results may surprise you.
Recommended content:
- A Nation at Risk to a Nation at Work —Bipartisan Policy Center
- Reimagining School Improvement: What are Portfolio Districts? —Christy Wolfe and Robin Chait, Bipartisan Policy Center
- State takeovers are back —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Reformers: Yes, states should intervene in failing districts —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- The Effects of School Phone Bans: National Evidence from Lockable Pouches —Hunt Allcott, E. Jason Baron, Thomas Dee, Angela L. Duckworth, Matthew Gentzkow and Brian Jacob, NBER (2026)
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On this week’s episode, Mike Petrilli is joined by David Griffith and Brian Fitzpatrick to discuss Fordham’s latest report, From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of K–3 teachers, they examine what educators understand about reading instruction, how state policies are shaping classroom practice, and where progress has been made. The takeaway: While many teachers are embracing the science of reading, gaps in knowledge and implementation remain.
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new evidence on student attendance, finding that most variation is driven by student characteristics rather than school districts, raising important questions about policies that tie funding to average daily attendance.
Recommended content:
- From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report —David Griffith and Brian Fitzpatrick, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Wonkathon 2025 Anthology: What comes next for the science of reading? —Edited by Brandon L. Wright and Elainah Elkins, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism —Jing Liu, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- How Large are District Effects on Student Attendance? Implications for School Funding Based on Average Daily Attendance David S. Knight and Mark Olofson, EdWorkingPapers (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
On this week’s solo episode, Mike Petrilli explores a big question: What would it look like to define an evidence-based model for American elementary schools—and could AI help us get there? Drawing on his long view of school reform, he considers what most schools have in common, where they fall short, and whether a clearer, research-backed playbook could improve outcomes at scale.
This is a work-in-progress idea, and Mike wants your feedback. Share your thoughts at mpetrilli [at] fordhaminstitute [dot]org.
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new evidence on special education, finding that after students are identified for services, their achievement rebounds significantly—suggesting that individualized supports may boost learning more than previously understood.
Recommended content:
- Both/and on test scores & school inspections —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education — Michael J. Petrilli, Kathleen Carroll, and Barbara Davidson
- An ode to elementary schools —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Special Education Substantially Improves Learning: Evidence from Three States — Stephanie G. Coffey, Joshua Goodman, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, Marcus A. Winters and Yunee H. Yoon, NBER (2026)
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Jay Plasman of The Ohio State University joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss Fordham’s latest report on industry-recognized credentials—and whether they actually deliver for students. As Ohio has pushed more high schoolers to earn these credentials, do they lead to higher earnings down the line, or unintentionally steer students away from college pathways?
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new evidence on goal-setting and commitment pledges—whether they help students follow through on their plans or, surprisingly, can backfire.
Recommended content:
- College or Career Readiness? Postsecondary and Labor Market Outcomes for Ohio High School Students Earning Industry-Recognized Credentials —Jay Plasman for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The state of career-and-technical education in Ohio: An analysis of coursework, industry-recognized credentials, and work-based learning —Jay Plasman for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The high school pathways that boost adult earnings —Aaron Churchill, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- I Promise to Work Hard: The Impact of a Non-Binding Commitment Pledge on Academic Performance —Nicholas A. Wright, Puneet Arora, and Jesse Wright, Education Finance and Policy (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Jean-Claude Brizard, president and CEO of Digital Promise, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss the promise—and the pitfalls—of artificial intelligence in education. Drawing on what he’s seen in classrooms abroad, Brizard makes the case that AI can elevate teaching and learning—if it’s used to strengthen pedagogy rather than replace it. But as schools experiment with new tools, how can they embrace innovation without undermining the foundational skills students still need?
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern looks at new evidence on alternative schools in Chicago—how they affect enrollment, graduation, and even arrests—and what they mean for students’ chances of going to college.
Recommended content:
- AI in education requires national strategy —Jean-Claude Brizard for Fast Company
- The human stakes of AI grading —Meredith Coffey, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Should AI be used for teacher evaluation? —Kim Marshall for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The Expansion of Alternative Schools: Impact of Schools Targeting Lower Performing Students —Farah Mallah, Nour Abdul-Razzak, and Monica Bhatt, EdWorking Papers (April 2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Note: The Education Gadfly Show will be on spring break next week. We’ll be back with a new episode the following week!
Bibb Hubbard, founder and CEO of Learning Heroes, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss grade inflation and the disconnect between what parents think report cards are telling them and how students are actually performing. As families rely on grades and teacher feedback to understand student progress, can stronger school-family communication help give parents a more honest picture of how their children are doing?
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern looks at new research on Chicago’s merit-based free community college program and what it suggests about college choice, degree attainment, and whether free tuition at two-year colleges steers students away from four-year success.
Recommended content:
- B-flation | How Good Grades Can Sideline Parents —Gallup, Inc
- The Engagement Advantage — Dr. Eyal Bergman and Dr. Zenzile Riddick, Learning Heroes
- Fixing grade inflation via clear policies and cultural change —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Fixing grade inflation through incentives and transparency —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- The Effect of Merit-Based Free Community College —Emileigh Harrison, Kelly Hallberg, Elijah Ruiz, and Marvin Slaughter, EdWorking Papers (March 2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Mike Petrilli takes a solo turn to tackle teacher diversity, a topic at the center of today’s debates over DEI. Should schools recruit teachers whose backgrounds reflect those of their students? What does the research say about how shared life experiences shape student outcomes? And how can schools promote diversity while maintaining high standards for academic excellence?
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on Arkansas’s LEARNS Act, which raised the state’s minimum teacher salary to $50,000, and what it reveals about teacher pay and retention.
Recommended content:
- The Right Way to Boost Teacher Diversity —Michael J. Petrilli for AEI
- Can left and right find middle ground on teacher diversity? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- In defense of teacher diversity —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Raising the Floor: Teacher Retention Effects of a Statewide Minimum Salary Increase —Gema Zamarro, Andrew M. Camp, Josh McGee, Taylor Wilson, and Miranda Vernon, CALDER (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and what it could mean for schools. As AI tools grow more powerful, do schools need to fundamentally rethink how they prepare students for the future of work?
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern looks at evidence from New Jersey on whether raising teacher salaries improves student outcomes, highlighting research that links salary increases to gains in test scores, graduation rates, and college enrollment.
Recommended content:
- Agentic AI and the Future of Work —Robin Lake, Think Forward: Learning with AI, The Center on Reinventing Public Education
- AI-assisted learning stumbles on the evidence —Daniel Buck and Anna Low, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- What Happens When We Pay Our Teachers More? Evidence from New Jersey Public Schools —Prasiddha Shakya, Institute of Education Sciences, EdWorking Papers (2024)
- Raising the Floor: Teacher Retention Effects of a Statewide Minimum Salary Increase —Gema Zamarro, Andrew M. Camp, Josh McGee, Taylor Wilson, and Miranda Vernon, CALDER (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Drew Bailey, professor at the University of California, Irvine, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the fadeout effect across education interventions. Why do early treatment effects shrink over time, and what does that mean for judging program success, especially when test score gains diminish but long-term outcomes like graduation rates and earnings persist? We also debate the role of test scores in accountability, the evidence linking school value-added to real-world success, and what this all means for the role of testing in school choice initiatives.
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new data on how states define “proficiency” in reading and math and what NAEP reveals about rigor, transparency, and the debate over standards.
Recommended content:
- Why Do Most Education Interventions Fade Out Over Time? —Drew Bailey, Tyler Watts, and Emma Hart, Education Next
- School Choice, Test Scores and Long-Term Outcomes: The Evidence Is Ambiguous —Michael J Petrilli, Education Next
- Reducing Inequality through Dynamic Complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and Public School Spending —Rucker C. Johnson and C. Kirabo Johnson, American Economic Journal
- A future for IES? —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales Results From the 2022 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments —Darrick Shen-Wei Yee and Brian Cramer, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Karen Vaites, founder of The Curriculum Insight Project, joins us to discuss the evolving debate over curriculum reviews and state adoption policies. As more states look to third-party evaluations to guide decisions—and some consider mandating state-approved lists—how can policymakers avoid making costly mistakes?
Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new evidence on whether teacher effectiveness truly transfers when high-performing educators move into lower-achieving schools.
Recommended content:
- Educators Were Sold a Story About Phonemic Awareness —Karen Vaites, The Curriculum Insight Project
- What American Education Reformers Can Learn from England — Helen Baxendale, Education Next
- Is Teacher Effectiveness Fully Portable? Evidence from the Random Assignment of Transfer Incentives —Matthew A. Kraft, John P. Papay, Jessalynn James and Manuel Monti-Nussbaum, EdWorkingPapers (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, Mike Petrilli goes solo to talk about grade inflation—what it means, how it’s changed over time, and why tougher grading standards help students learn more. He argues that easier grades don’t serve students well—and explores what states can do about it.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern shares new evidence from Texas showing that distance from public colleges—especially community colleges—strongly shapes whether students enroll in and complete college, with particularly stark effects for lower-income and Hispanic students.
Recommended content:
- Grade Inflation in High Schools (2005–2016) —Seth Gershenson, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Great Expectations: The Impact of Rigorous Grading Practices on Student Achievement —Seth Gershenson, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Equitable” Grading Through the Eyes of Teachers —David Griffith and Adam Tyner, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Easy A’s, lower pay: Grade inflation’s hidden damage —Jill Barshay, The Hechinger Report
- Distance to degrees: How college proximity shapes students’ enrollment choices and attainment across race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status —Riley Acton, Kalena E. Cortes, Lois Miller, and Camila Morales, Economics of Education Review (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, we’re joined by Elliot Regenstein, partner at Foresight Law + Policy and author of Readiness: Preparing State Early Childhood Systems for a Brighter Future, to talk about early childhood education and care—and why state systems are so often fragmented and hard to navigate. We discuss who makes key decisions, why coordination is so difficult, and what it would take to build more coherent early childhood systems going forward.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern shares new evidence on achievement gaps across different types of schools, showing that inequality has grown fastest in traditional public schools, while charter schools show more positive trends over time.
Recommended content:
- Readiness: Preparing State Early Childhood Systems for a Brighter Future —Elliot Regenstein
- The Best American School System —Tim Daly, The Education Daly
- The Nation’s Achievement Inequality Report Card: An Assessment of Test Score and Equality Trends in Traditional Public, Charter, Catholic, and Department of Defense Schools —M. Danish Shakeel, Misty Gallo, and Patrick J. Wolf, EdWorkingPapers (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, we’re joined by Karin Chenoweth, founder of Democracy and Education and author of Schools that Succeed, to talk about what she’s learned from years of visiting successful classrooms, schools, and districts across the country. We explore a deceptively simple question: Why don’t educators, policymakers, and researchers spend more time studying success?
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern highlights new evidence from New York City showing that small public high schools significantly boost graduation rates and college enrollment, especially for disadvantaged students.
Recommended content:
- Schools that Succeed —Karin Chenoweth
- Learning from greatness: The conversation continues —Holly Korbey, The Bell Ringer
- Best practices are the worst —Jay P. Greene, Education Next
- Effects of New York City’s small schools of choice on postsecondary degree attainment and employment —Rebecca Unterman and Miki Shih, MDRC (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, we’re marking National School Choice Week with a conversation with Shelby Doyle of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. We talk about why the movement emphasizes school choice rather than educational choice—and whether the growing focus on education savings accounts is a good development for the movement.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern breaks down new evidence on how disability identification varies by student family income, raising important questions about equity, access to services, and how schools classify and support students.
Recommended content:
- National School Choice Week 2026 — National School Choice Awareness Foundation
- Education savings accounts: Boffo or bonkers? | Episode 1002 of The Education Gadfly Show
- Educational choice is giving new hope to Catholic schools —Mike McShane for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- School-based disability identification varies by student family income — Nicholas Ainsworth, Christopher Cleveland, Leah R. Clark, Jacob Hibel, Quentin Brummet, Andrew Saultz, Emily Penner, Michelle Spiegel, Paul Yoo, Juan Camilo Cristancho, Paul Hanselman, and Andrew Penner, EdWorking Papers (2026)
- Minorities Are disproportionately underrepresented in special education —Morgan, Paul L.; Farkas, George; Hillemeier, Marianne M.; Mattison, Richard; Maczuga, Steve; Li, Hui; Cook, Michael, Educational Researcher (2015)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, Mike Petrilli goes solo. After recently playing ESA skeptic at an international school choice conference, Mike walks through where he now stands on Education Savings Accounts—laying out the strongest arguments in their favor and explaining why he’s increasingly unconvinced the tradeoffs are worth it.
Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern highlights new research using Michigan data to examine what happens when students with disabilities switch from traditional public schools to charter schools, focusing on changes in attendance and academic outcomes.
Recommended content:
- Joyful classrooms, but zero public transparency: Inside an ESA micro-school | Episode 987 of The Education Gadfly Show —Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Rethinking ESA policy design — Katherine Bathgate, EdChoice
- How Do Charter Schools Serve Students with Disabilities? Lessons from Michigan —Scott Imberman and Andrew Johnson, REACH (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, we’re joined by Liz Cohen, vice president of policy at 50CAN, to discuss her book, The Future of Tutoring. Mike and David ask her some tough questions on whether tutoring is worth the investment, and she provides some excellent answers.
Then on the Research Minute, Amber highlights new evidence showing that students’ family background plays a key role not just in college major choice, but also in who goes on to graduate school and how earnings unfold over time.
Recommended content:
- The Future of Tutoring, Lessons from 10,000 School District Tutoring Initiatives —Liz Cohen
- SCHOOLED: Should tutoring play a big role in America’s schools going forward? —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring —Mike Goldstein and Bowen Paulle for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Family Background and College Major Choice: Evidence on Major Earnings Growth —Margaret Leighton, Education Finance and Policy (2026)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, we’re marking a major milestone—Episode 1,000 of The Education Gadfly Show. Instead of focusing on a single topic, we’re branching out for a big-picture conversation about the state of education policy—past, present, and future—with Rick Hess and Tom Loveless, the original co-host of the show and its very first guest. In particular, we wonder whether we were too pessimistic back in the No Child Left Behind era, why education outcomes and other social indicators turned south in the 2010s, and how to kick start progress again.
Then, on the Research Minute, we’re thrilled to welcome Amber Northern back to the show after a long hiatus, as she reflects on what education research has taught us since we started podcasting in 2006—and how its use by policymakers has evolved.
Recommended content:
- SCHOOLED: Learning from Rod Paige, Jim Hunt, and Lou Gerstner —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Now’s a perfect time to catch up on episodes you may have missed. From advanced education and measuring school quality to reducing chronic absenteeism, you can find past episodes here:
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/resource-types/podcast
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show in 2026? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Mike Petrilli looks back at the highs and lows of education reform in 2025 as we wrap up our final episode of the year.
Then, on the Research Minute, David Griffith closes things out with a countdown of his top five studies of 2025—plus one bonus pick.
Recommended content:
- Wonkathon 2025: What will make science of reading laws succeed? —Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- 2025 Eddies —PIE Network
- Was 2025 a good year for education reform? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
Have you subscribed to Schooled? Don’t miss out on the education reform community’s hot takes! Click the link below:
https://schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/
David’s Top Research Minutes of 2025
5. Gender Gaps in the Early Grades: Questioning the Narrative that Schools are Poorly Suited to Young Boys
- Featured in Episode 988
4. How Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High-Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
- Featured in Episode 955
3. When Decentralization Works: Leadership, Local Needs, and Student Achievement
- Featured in Episode 985
2. The Effects of Universal School Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment: A National Analysis
- Featured in Episode 986
1. Who Wants to Be a Teacher in America?
- Featured in Episode 992
Bonus: The Impact of Cell Phone Bans in Schools: Evidence From Florida
- See also: Cutting the cord: Early evidence on cellphone policy implementation —Alicia Anderson, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
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This week, we’re joined by Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat’s Ideas editor, to unpack whether college enrollment is truly declining—or whether the national narrative has gotten ahead of the data.
Then, on the Research Minute, Fordham’s new national research manager Brian Fitzpatrick highlights evidence from D.C. Public Schools showing that teacher monitoring improves instruction and student outcomes—especially for teachers under pressure to raise test scores.
Recommended content:
- Is college enrollment really plummeting? — Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat Ideas
- It’s Too Early to Write Off College Degrees —Callum Borchers, The Wall Street Journal
- Does Monitoring Change Teacher Pedagogy and Student Outcomes? —Aaron Phipps, Journal of Labor Economics, The University of Chicago Press Journals (2025)
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This week, we’re joined by Wonkathon winner Eric Tucker—CEO and president of The Study Group—to talk about his first-place entry on what it will take for the science of reading laws to succeed.
Then, on the Research Minute, David Griffith highlights a study showing how much valuable information is lost when individual test questions are collapsed into a single score—and why states could produce better value-added measures by using the rich data they already collect.
Recommended content:
- Science of reading 2.0: Assessment in the service of learning as the backbone of science-powered reading improvement — Edmund W. Gordon and Eric Tucker for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Wonkathon 2025: What will make science of reading laws succeed? —Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Do Test Scores Misrepresent Test Results? An Item-by-Item Analysis —Jesse Bruhn, Michael Gilraine, Jens Ludwig, and Sendhil Mullainathan, EdWorkingPapers (2025)
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Don’t miss our December 4 webinar, Implementation Is Where It’s At: What’s Next for the Science of Reading?, happening at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Mike Petrilli returns for a solo episode to dig into artificial intelligence—not classroom tools or teaching tips, but the big-picture implications of AI for what students need to learn as work, citizenship, and even human flourishing rapidly evolve.
Then, on the Research Minute, David Griffith highlights a study linking the recent rise in child labor violations to declining school attendance—especially among Black youth and students living on farms.
Recommended content:
- A “Zero-Based Budgeting” Approach for High School Course Requirements in the Age of AI — Michael J. Petrilli for The Center on Reinventing Public Education
- The illusion of learning: The danger of artificial intelligence for education — Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- AI Will Transform The Workplace. Will Education Keep Up? — Matt Gandal, Forbes
- Contemporary Child Labor and Declining School Attendance in the U.S —Lucy C. Sorensen, Melissa Arnold Lyon, Ji Hyun Byeon, and Stephen B. Holt, EdWorkingPapers (2025)
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This week, we’re joined by longtime special education advocate Elizabeth Yancy Bostic to discuss what could happen for students with disabilities if federal oversight and enforcement of IDEA are scaled back. Drawing on more than two decades of experience supporting families, including her own, as they navigate services, Elizabeth explains why strong oversight matters and what is at risk for students and districts when those safeguards erode.
Then, on the Research Minute, David Griffith shares a study from Sweden that tracks the long-term outcomes of students attending for-profit versus nonprofit charter high schools.
Recommended content:
- ‘Educational exile’: How Trump’s layoffs threaten students with disabilities — Susan Haas, Education Week
- CRPE on special education: Great diagnosis, wrong prescription — Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Schooling for Profit: Long-run Effects of Private Providers in Public Education —Petter Berg (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, we’re joined by Ohio State’s Stéphane Lavertu, author of Fordham’s new study, The Leaky Pipeline: Assessing the college outcomes of Ohio’s high-achieving low-income students. The report examines the experiences of Ohio’s high-achieving, low-income—or “HALO”—students and finds that access to advanced learning opportunities plays a major role in whether they make it to four-year colleges.
Then, on the Research Minute, David Griffith spotlights a decades-long British study that followed the same individuals from childhood to age fifty—revealing how early cognitive skills shape lifelong outcomes, from education and occupation to wages.
Recommended content:
- The Leaky Pipeline: Assessing the college outcomes of Ohio’s high-achieving low-income students —Stéphane Lavertu, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Excellence Gaps by Race and Socioeconomic Status —Meredith Coffey and Adam Tyner, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners —The National Working Group on Advanced Education
- Cognitive Skills Beyond Childhood —Uta Bolt, The Economic Journal (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Fordham’s President Emeritus Checker Finn joins the show to unpack a troubling trend—the collapse of graduation standards—and why it matters for every American student.
Then, on David Griffith’s first Research Minute, a new study looks at the demographics of college applicants interested in teaching in America—and explores why some who enter similar “helping professions,” like nursing and social work, steer clear of the classroom.
Recommended content:
- High school graduation standards have collapsed. Does it matter? —Michael J. Petrilli, Schooled
- Are high school graduation standards too low? —Michael J. Petrilli, Schooled
- The end of MCAS is the end of an era. Now let’s figure out what comes next. —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Who wants to be a teacher? — Robert Chung, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Who wants to be a teacher? — Brendan Bartanen, Andrew Avitabile, and Andrew Kwok, EdWorking Papers (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, we’re joined by Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact, to discuss how redesigning school staffing—through models like Opportunity Culture—can boost both teacher retention and student success.
Then, on Adam Tyner’s final Research Minute, he shares a study on how ending compulsory religious education in German schools shaped students later in life—making them less religious, but more likely to work and earn higher incomes as adults.
Recommended content:
- Opportunity Culture —Public Impact
- Think Again: Do the returns to teacher experience fizzle out? —Anne Podolsky and Linda Darling-Hammond for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Here’s how we hold on to experienced teachers: Give them the support they need —Linda Darling-Hammond and Michael J. Petrilli for the Hechinger Report
- Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes? — Benjamin W. Arold, Ludger Woessmann and Larissa Zierow, The Journal of Human Resources (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Mike Petrilli flies solo to discuss New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to eliminate gifted education in the early grades—and how progressives can be persuaded to champion advanced learning opportunities for all students.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner reviews a new study on how parental education shapes excellence gaps among students.
Recommended content:
- How can we depolarize “gifted education”? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Building a wider, more diverse pipeline of advanced learners — The National Working Group on Advanced Education
- The war against gifted education continues, Zohran Mamdani edition —James Pethokoukis, Faster, Please
- Gifted, talented and Zohran Mamdani —The Wall Street Journal
- Five facts about the first-generation excellence gap —Uditi Karna, John A. List, Andrew Simon and Haruka Uchida, NBER 2025
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Aneesh Sohoni, CEO of Teach for America, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss TFA’s impact in the classroom and beyond, why teaching is a compelling opportunity for Gen Z college graduates, what corps members are saying about AI in the classroom.
Then, on a special Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares findings from Who’s on Board? School Boards and Political Representation in an Age of Conflict, Fordham’s brand new report by David Houston and Michael Hartney surveying school board members across the country.
Recommended content:
- Could an AI-driven “job apocalypse” push the best and brightest into teaching? —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Who’s on Board? School boards and political representation in an age of conflict —David M. Houston and Michael T. Hartney for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (October 2025)
Upcoming webinar on October 14 at 3:00 PM ET:
- Are school boards out of touch with their constituents?
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Fordham’s president emeritus Checker Finn and Laura Hamilton of the Center for Assessment join us for a polite debate on whether school quality should be judged by more than test scores.
On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner unpacks a massive study of ten million students that tracks how gender gaps in math and reading develop from kindergarten through fifth grade—and what that means for the narrative about boys and school.
Recommended content
- The mixed blessing of new school measures —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham
- Our assessment systems should reflect the purposes of public education —Laura Hamilton, Center for Assessment
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971: A “Quality Check” on school accountability, with Tom Toch and Lynn Olson —The Education Gadfly Show
- Do we know how to measure school quality? —Van Schoales, Education Week
- Gender Gaps in the Early Grades: Questioning the Narrative that Schools are Poorly Suited to Young Boys — Megan Kuhfeld and Margaret Burchinal, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2025)
- Redshirt the boys—Richard V. Reeves for The Atlantic
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Chandler Fritz, author of Harper’s Magazine’s cover story The Homemade Scholar, shares what he discovered when teaching in an ESA-funded micro-school—including a lackluster curriculum but undeniably joyful kids.
On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner unpacks California’s big school-spending surge—showing that despite major funding increases, starting teacher pay hasn’t risen and staffing levels have barely changed.
Recommended content
- The Homemade Scholar —Chandler Fritz, Harper’s Magazine
- The “à la carte education” accountability conundrum —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Student experience data is sending a message. Will we listen? —Dr. Deborah A. Gist for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Why I’m wary of universal education savings accounts —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Doing educational equity right: School finance —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham
- Teacher Staffing Trends in California: Assessing the Impact of Recent Spending —Julien Lafortune, Iwunze Ugo, and Brett Guinan, PPIC (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
This week, Mike Petrilli digs into the latest NAEP results—and explores whether the rise of smartphones and social media might help explain them. It’s another solo episode, just Mike and the mic.
On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares a new REACH study showing that school voucher programs have boosted private school enrollment by just 3 percent so far—but are already putting upward pressure on tuition.
Recommended content
- The Best Takes on the Worst NAEP Scores Ever —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Schools, but not states, should ban phones —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
- Cellphone bans are not enough —Henry Seton for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Student Test Scores Keep Falling. What’s Really to Blame? —Martin R. West, Education Week
- Pay Attention, Kid!—Daniel T. Willingham, EducationNext
- The Effects of Universal School Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment: A National Analysis —Douglas N. Harris and Gabriel Olivier, REACH (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Ashley Jochim, principal at the Center on Reinventing Public Education and mom of four, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith on the Education Gadfly Show to continue our debate on private school choice and regulation. She also discusses how Democrats’ defense of public schools often clashes with families’ real experiences, and why clear, consumer-facing information is essential to making choice work.
On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner highlights a new NBER study from Chicago showing that giving principals more autonomy can boost student achievement— though effects vary widely depending on leadership capacity.
Recommended content
- Unfettered Choice Has Not Delivered on Promises to Milwaukee Families —Ashley Jochim, Education Next
- Innovation, regulation, and school choice, with Mike McShane | Episode 984 of The Education Gadfly Show
- Overregulated charter schools: Fact or fiction? —Michael J. Petrilli
- The mixed blessing of new school measures—Chester E. Finn, Jr.
- When decentralization works: Leadership, local Needs, and student achievement—C. Kirabo Jackson, NBER (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
Mike McShane, Director of National Research for EdChoice, joins us on the Education Gadfly Show to debate tradeoffs when it comes to regulation and innovation in the charter school and private school choice sectors.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares a report from the Urban Institute looking at college and career indicators and how they relate to research on post-high school outcomes.
Recommended content:
On school choice:
Overregulated charter schools: Fact or fiction? —Michael J. Petrilli
School choice should take the road less traveled —Robert Enlow and Michael Q. McShane, Education Next
Charter school regulation means keeping the destination in sight —Thibaut Delloue
From the Research Minute:
Which college and career readiness standards best align with positive outcomes after high school? —Kristin Blagg, The Urban Institute (July 2025)
The vibes for career-tech programs are great. But they’re too rare. —Michael J. Petrilli
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ERS president and managing partner Jonathan Travers joins Mike Petrilli on The Education Gadfly Show to talk about school district budgeting during uncertain times.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality looking at district policies on pay bumps for teachers with master’s degrees, and how the money could be better spent.
Recommended content:
- The degree dilemma: School districts spend millions on ineffective master’s degree premiums —Katherine Bowser, National Council on Teacher Quality (August 2025)Close bad schools and expand good ones —Chad Aldeman
- When—and why—legislated school finance reforms don’t increase state education spending —Amber Northern and Jeff Murray
- An in-depth look at how Texas makes teacher merit pay work —Jessica Poiner
- The ESSER hangover is here —Marguerite Roza
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org
On this week’s solo episode, Mike shares his thoughts on whether it’s ever okay to let schools opt out of state standardized tests and use nationally normed assessments instead.
Then, on a special Research Minute, Fordham’s own Adam Tyner and David Griffith share results from their brand new report about the pressure on teachers to give higher grades in the name of equity.
Recommended content:
Welcome to Lake Wobegon, Oklahoma —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
When private schools take public dollars: What's the place of accountability in school voucher programs? — Michael J. Petrilli, Chester E. Finn, Jr., Christina Hentges, and Amber M. Northern for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2009)
Evaluating the content and quality of next generation assessments —Nancy Doorey and Morgan Polikoff for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2016)
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“Equitable” grading through the eyes of teachers —David Griffith and Adam Tyner for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2025)
Grade inflation: Why it matters and how to stop it —Adam Tyner, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
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Don’t forget to sign up for a special webinar on equitable grading practices hosted by Jessica Grose of the New York Times on Wednesday, September 10 from 12-1 pm ET:
Does "equitable" grading lower expectations for students?
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Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to Alicia Anderson at aanderson@fordhaminstitute.org.
This week, Matthew Kraft, professor of education and economics at Brown University, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the intersection of education policy and climate change.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines whether an elite “exam school” led to better educational outcomes for its students.
Recommended content:
On education and climate change
- Education and climate change: Synthesizing the evidence to guide future research —Matthew Kraft, Sohil Malik, and Grace Falken, Anneberg Institute EdWorkingPaper (2025)
- Does spending on school facilities raise student test scores? —Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- How school HVAC systems affect learning —Ali Schalop, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
The Research Minute
- Optimal school system and curriculum design: Theory and evidence —Glenn Ellison & Parag A. Pathak, National Bureau of Economic Research (2025)
- Threading the needle on selective enrollment public schools —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Feedback welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to Alicia Anderson at aanderson@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Ben Austin, Founding Director of Education Civil Rights Now, joins us to discuss why the Democratic Party lost its way on education policy—and what it must do to rebuild credibility and improve its chances in national elections.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a new study on state takeovers of school districts, examining who benefits and how these interventions impact district finances.
Recommended content:
- “Democrats have lost their way on education policy. Here’s how to get back on track.” —Ben Austin, The Hill
- “Democrats need to break up with Randi Weingarten” —Ben Austin, The Hill
- “Trump’s school choice initiative puts Democratic governors in a bind” —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Help wanted: Ed-reform governors needed (again)” —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “How state takeovers of school districts affect education finance, 1990 to 2019”—Melissa Arnold Lyon, Joshua Bleiberg, and Beth Schueler, Education Finance and Policy (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Alicia Anderson at aanderson@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Vlad Kogan—professor and director of undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University—joins us to discuss his forthcoming book, No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids (out August 21).
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam highlights new findings from the National Bureau of Economic Research on the long-term benefits of participation in scholastic sports.
Recommended content:
- “No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids” —Vladimir Kogan
- “When School Board Elections Lose Their Voice” —Anna J. Egalite, Education Next
- “The Benefits of Scholastic Athletics” — James J. Heckman, Colleen P. Loughlin, and Haihan Tian, NBER (July 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Mike returns for another solo episode, reflecting on the role of regulation in school choice—is it stifling innovation or saving us from bad schools?
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam covers a study looking at the relationship between timed math testing and anxiety among fourth- and fifth-grade students.
Recommended content:
- “Democrats’ School Choice Dilemma” —Michael J. Petrilli, for the Wall Street Journal
- “Seizing educational dynamism” —Stéphane Lavertu and Tim Rosenberger, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “School Choice Should Take the Road Less Traveled” —Robert Enlow and Michael Q. McShane, Education Next
- “Of School Choice, Regulation, and the Real Road-Least Traveled” —Jed Wallace, CharterFolk
- “It’s One Small, Ugly School Choice Expansion” —Michael Q. McShane, for the Wall Street Journal
- “Math anxiety in elementary students: Examining the role of timing and task complexity” —Kathrin E. Maki, Anne F. Zaslofsky, Robin Codding, and Breanne Woods, ScienceDirect (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Brian Jodice, National Press Secretary for the American Federation for Children joins us for a lively debate on the federal school choice provision embedded in the newly enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill”—including its potential impact in blue states.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reviews a new Education Next study showing that a low-cost college-planning course can boost success for high-achieving, low-income students.
Recommended content:
- “Democrats’ School Choice Dilemma” —Michael J. Petrilli, for The Wall Street Journal
- “Federal school choice skeptics are tilting at windmills” —Shaka Mitchell, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “College Counseling in the Classroom” —Joshua Hyman, Education Next
- “#974: The Risks of the Educational Choice for Children Act, with Jon Valant” —Education Gadfly Show, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Education Gadfly Show #974: The Risks of the Educational Choice for Children Act, with Jon Valant
- Education Gadfly Show #963: All about the Educational Choice for Children Act, with Jim Blew
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Doug Harris, director of the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH), joins us to discuss a new website aimed at advancing evidence-based education policy and supporting more effective decision-making in schools.
Then, on the Research Minute, Meredith Coffey examines new data from Massachusetts that reveal lasting post-pandemic shifts in school enrollment, particularly in the middle grades and in higher-income districts.
Recommended content:
- “AEFP Live Handbook of Education Policy Research” —Association for Education Finance & Policy (AEFP)
- “School Enrollment Shifts Five Years After the Pandemic” —Abigail Francis and Joshua Goodman, EdWorkingPapers (June 2025)
- “Analyzing homeschooling demographics and families’ definitions of student success” —Jeff Murray, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Fixing IES” —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike flies solo to reflect on what’s happening across the education reform landscape—from the private school choice debate to the question of whether education reform has successfully scaled.
Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining four-day school weeks and their (paltry) impact on teacher recruitment and retention.
Recommended content:
- “Maine Case Opens New Battleground for School Choice: The Right to Discriminate” —Linda Jacobson, The 74
- “What Betsy DeVos should say about vouchers, LGBT rights, and religious liberty” —Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “John Arnold’s Instructive Retreat from Ed Reform” —Mike Goldstein, Education Next
- “Fewer Children Left Behind: Lessons From the Dramatic Achievement Gains of the 1990s and 2000s” —Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “The Effects of the Four-Day School Week on Teacher Recruitment and Retention” —Andrew M. Camp, J. Cameron Anglum, Cory Koedel, Se Woong Lee, and Tuan D. Nguyen, CALDER (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jon Valant —director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings—joins Mike to discuss his recent analysis of the federal tax credit scholarship initiative included in the Republican budget bill and its potential to open the door to waste, fraud, and discriminatory practices. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a Belgian study comparing the cognitive and non-cognitive effects of work-based learning within different vocational education arrangements.
Recommended content:
- “The Educational Choice for Children Act opens the door to waste, fraud, and abuse” —Jon Valant, Brookings Institution
- “Federal school choice skeptics are tilting at windmills” —Shaka Mitchell, for Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “The impact of work-based versus school-based learning on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes in vocational secondary education” —Ilse Tobback, Dieter Verhaest, and Kristof De Witte, Economics of Education Review (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Linda Darling-Hammond and Anne Podolsky of the Learning Policy Institute—authors of our latest Think Again brief, “Do the Returns to Teacher Experience Fizzle Out?”—join Mike and David to discuss whether teachers really stop improving after just a few years on the job. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining the extent of school board turnover and whether it is linked to school performance.
Recommended content:
- “Think Again: Do the returns to teacher experience fizzle out?” —Anne Poldolsky and Linda Darling-Hammond, Learning Policy Institute, for Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Effective Teacher Professional Development” — Linda Darling-Hammond, Maria E. Hyler, and Madelyn Gardner, Learning Policy Institute
- “The voices we don't hear: Teachers who gave up” —Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “High Turnover with Low Accountability: Local School Board Elections in 16 States” — Vladimir Kogan, Stéphane Lavertu, and Zachary Peskowitz, EdWorking Paper (May 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, joins Mike to explain why charter school advocates keep winning in red states—and how others might follow Indiana’s lead. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a new study documenting the sharp rise in teacher absences post-pandemic—and why it matters for schools and students.
Recommended content:
- “Charter school advocates keep winning—at least in red states” —Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, for Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Education reform in red versus blue states” — Michael Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Five ways to ensure that charter schools have a political future” —Brandon Brown, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Ed in ‘28: A playbook for Democratic education reformers” —Dale Chu, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “State data shows K–12 teacher absences surged post-pandemic” —Michael Hansen, Purnima Aggarwal, and Rebecca Wagner, Brookings Institute (May 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Toch, director of FutureEd, and Lynn Olson, former deputy director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, join Mike and David to discuss Lynn’s new paper, “Quality Check: The New, Best Way to Measure School Performance.” Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the economic effects of Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, showing that UPK boosted workforce participation across nine states and cities.
Recommended content:
- “Quality Check: The New, Best Way to Measure School Performance” —Lynn Olson, FutureEd
- “A New, Bipartisan Agenda for Raising Student Achievement” —Tom Toch, FutureEd
- “The Full Measure of a School” —Erik W. Robelen, Education Next
- “Ready or Not? A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality” — Jing Liu, Seth Gershenson, and Max Anthenelli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Universal Pre-K as Economic Stimulus: Evidence from Nine States and Large Cities in the U.S” — C. Kirabo Jackson, Julia A. Turner, and Jacob Bastian, NBER (May 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Genevieve Collins, Texas State Director for Americans for Prosperity, joins us to discuss Texas’s newly passed Education Savings Account bill—an ambitious policy that could position the Lone Star State as a national leader in school choice. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a Michigan study showing that simply being flagged for third-grade retention can boost students’ reading scores—even if they aren’t actually held back.
Recommended content:
- “A Texas-Sized Win for Families in the Trump Education Era” —Genevieve Collins, RealClear Policy
- “Jeb Bush: Texas’ Education Savings Account Victory Can Set Nationwide Standard” —Jeb Bush, The74
- “How Genevieve Collins, Americans for Prosperity, Are Shaping Texas’s Future” —Daily Caller
- “The Impacts of Grade Retention Policy With Minimal Retention” —Jordan S. Berne, Brian A. Jacob, Christina Weiland, Katharine O. Strunk. EdWorking Papers (May 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Starlee Coleman, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike and David to discuss the religious charter schools case currently before the U. S. Supreme Court. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study out of Dallas on whether an automatic Algebra enrollment policy boosted participation among underserved students.
Recommended content:
- “SCOTUS should mandate state support for religious education, but not via charter schools”—Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Landscape for Charter and Religious Schools”—Mark Walsh, Education Week
- “The religious charter schools case is a bigger deal than you think”—Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Why SCOTUS should—and will—approve faith-based charter schools”—Andy Smarick, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Closing the Gaps: An Examination of Early Impacts of Dallas ISD’s Opt-out Policy on Advanced Course Enrollment”—Daniel Vargas Castaño, Dareem K. Antoine, and Trey Miller, EdWorkingPapers (May 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
#968: Are school inspections the accountability tool we’ve overlooked? with Erik Robelen
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, former Education Week reporter Erik Robelen joins Mike and David to discuss school inspections—what they are, how they might fit into accountability systems, and who’s actually using them in U.S. schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a study on how AI tools can help middle school math teachers personalize their lessons.
Recommended content:
- Erik Robelen, “The Full Measure of a School,” Education Next (Spring 2025).
- Erik Robelen, “England’s School Inspections Get a Makeover,” Education Next (Spring 2025).
- Maryland State Department of Education, Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: Expert Review Team
- Colorado Department of Education, State Review Panel: School Review Protocol, SchoolWorks LLC (2024).
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Charter School Site Visit Protocol, (2024)
- Rizwaan Malik, Dorna Abdi, Rose E. Wang, and Dorottya Demszky, Scaffolding Middle-School Mathematics Curricula With Large Language Models, EdWorking Papers (April 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rachel Canter, the founding executive director of Mississippi First and the new director of education policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss what really fueled Mississippi’s dramatic gains in student achievement. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining the impact of Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program on college enrollment and graduation rates.
Recommended content:
- Rachel Canter, The Truth About Mississippi’s NAEP Gains, Mississippi First (July 5, 2023)
- Emily Freitag, “A bold state move to improve reading,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 20, 2025).
- Aaron Churchill, “Ohio’s EdChoice scholarship program improved college outcomes,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (April 25, 2025).
- Matthew Chingos, David Figlio and Krzysztof Karbownik, The Effects of Ohio’s EdChoice Voucher Program on College Enrollment and Graduation, Urban Institute (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Matt Giani, professor and researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, joins Mike and David to discuss whether there’s a one-size-fits-all math pathway for students, as explored in Calculus or Statistics: Does It Matter?—a new study he coauthored for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study that examines whether Indiana’s statewide private school voucher program has had any competitive effects on public school student outcomes.
Recommended content:
- Matt Giani, Franchesca Lyra, and Adam Tyner. Calculus or Statistics: Does it Matter?, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (April 2025).
- Coming Soon: Heena Kuwayama and Adam Tyner. Advanced Math Pathways in New England, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (April 2025).
- The National Working Group on Advanced Education, Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (June, 2023).
- Anna J. Egalite and Andrew D. Catt, Effects of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program on Public School Students’ Achievement and Graduation Rates, Sage Journals (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Anne Hyslop, Director of Policy Development at All4Ed, joins Mike and David to discuss the evolving federal role in K–12 education—particularly how the Secretary of Education’s waiver authority may—and may not--impact state flexibility on spending and testing under ESSA (the current iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act). Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a new study out of Massachusetts that examines whether students in departmentalized elementary schools perform better in middle school.
Recommended content:
- Anne Hyslop and Dave Powell, ESEA Waivers 101: Explaining the Secretary of Education’s Waiver Authority, All4Ed and Education First (2025)
- Dale Chu, “Waiver and out: How red states plan to push the limits of federal ed policy,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (April 3, 2025).
- Andy Smarick, “Trump needs to call Lamar,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (March 20, 2025).
- Benjamin Backes, James Cowan, Dan Goldhaber, Building Bridges to Middle School? Elementary School Departmentalization and Academic Achievement in the Upper Grades, CALDER (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Scott Marion, Executive Director of the Center for Assessment, joins Mike and David to discuss why states should maintain annual assessments—even if the Trump Administration waives some federal testing requirements. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reviews a study comparing surveys and test scores as measures of school quality and predictors of long-term student success.
Recommended content:
- The Case for State Testing, The National Center for the Improvement of Education Assessment, Inc., (March 2025).
- The Case for Statewide School Accountability Systems, The National Center for the Improvement of Education Assessment, Inc., (March 2025).
- Victoria McDougald, “The case for standardized testing,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (August 1, 2024).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “The best colleges for political diversity,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (April 3, 2025).
- Joshua Angrist, Peter Hull, Russell Legate-Yang, Parag A. Pathak and Christopher R. Walters, Putting School Surveys to the Test, NBER (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jim Blew, co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute, joins Mike and David to talk about his work on the Educational Choice for Children Act—a federal proposal that could expand educational options for families through school vouchers. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study on how expanding broadband access for Chicago families during the pandemic benefitted high achieving students but hurt their lower-performing peers.
Recommended content:
- Children’s Tuition Fund, Federal Tax Credit: What You Need to Know About the Educational Choice for Children Act (2025).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “Education reform in red versus blue states,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (January 9, 2025).
- Dale Chu, “Education at an inflection point,” PPI (March 20, 2025).
- Jared N. Schachner, Julia A. Gwynne, Nicole P. Marwell, Elaine Allensworth, and Marisa de la Torre, Heterogeneous Effects of Closing the Digital Divide During COVID-19 on Student Engagement and Achievement, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Richard Kahlenberg, author of Class Matters: The Fight to Get Beyond Race Preferences, Reduce Inequality, and Build Real Diversity at America’s Colleges, joins Mike and David to discuss how Democrats can move beyond DEI and embrace “integration, equal opportunity, and belonging.” Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study on the relationship between standardized test scores, high school GPA, and first-year college performance at Ivy-Plus universities.
Recommended content:
- Richard Kahlenberg, “Time to Ditch DEI in Favor of Something Better,” The Liberal Patriot, (March 5, 2025).
- Richard Kahlenberg, A Way Out of the DEI Wars, PPI (February2025).
- Richard Kahlenberg, “Class Matters: The Fight to Get Beyond Race Preferences, Reduce Inequality, and Build Real Diversity at America’s Colleges,” (March 25, 2025).
- John N. Friedman, Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas O. Staiger, and Michele Tine, Standardized test scores and academic performance at Ivy-Plus colleges, NBER (March 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Steven Wilson, senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute, joins Mike to discuss his new book The Lost Decade: Returning to the Fight for Better Schools in America, which argues that the push for so-called Antiracist education derailed reform and harmed marginalized students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study on how educators divide their attention during virtual tutoring—and how achievement, gender, race, and English learner status influence those interactions.
Recommended content:
- Steven Wilson, “The Lost Decade: Returning to the Fight for Better Schools in America,” Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, 2024.
- Wilson, Steven F. “The Promise of Intellectual Joy,” June 4, 2019.
- Robert Pondiscio, “After a “lost decade,” let’s restore high expectations for students,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (December 12, 2024).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “11 thoughts about the massive layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (March 11, 2025).
- Frederick M. Hess, “Defunding the teacher trainers,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (March 6, 2025).
- Qingyang Zhang, Rose E. Wang, Ana T. Ribeiro, Dorottya Demszky, and Susanna Loe, Educator Attention: How computational tools can systematically identify the distribution of a key resource for students, Annenberg Institute (March 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Charles Barone, Senior Director of the Center for Innovation at the National Parents Union, joins Mike and David to discuss the future of federal assessment and accountability policies under the Trump Administration. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study on student loan forgiveness and its impact on work, earnings, and borrowing.
Recommended content:
- Charles Barone, “The Future of Assessment and Accountability | Part 1 | Goodbye Federal Assessment Guardrails?,” National Parents Union (2025).
- Dale Chu, “Are states ready to lead on education? Could Trump’s policies set them up to fail?,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (March 6, 2025).
- Victoria McDougald, “The case for standardized testing,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (August 1, 2025).
- Michael Dinerstein, Samuel Earnest, Dmitri K. Koustas and Constantine Yannelis, Student Loan Forgiveness, NBER (February 2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jing Liu (University of Maryland) and Seth Gershenson (American University), authors of our latest report, Ready or Not? A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality, join Mike and David to explore how tracking students’ future GPAs could offer a clearer measure of school quality. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a new study on young children’s evolving media consumption habits and their effects.
Recommended content:
- Jing Liu, Ph.D. Seth Gershenson, Ph.D. and Max Anthenelli, Ready or Not? A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 20, 2025).
- David Griffith and Amber Northern, “Make room, test scores: Introducing “indicators of high school and middle school readiness,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 20, 2025).
- Supreet Mann, Angela Calvin, Amanda Lenhart, and Michael Robb, The 2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight, Common Sense Media (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, John White, former Louisiana superintendent of education and current CEO of Great Minds PBC, joins David and Amber to discuss the reforms he led in Louisiana and their role in the state’s significant NAEP gains. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a study on the expansion of “transitional kindergarten” in Michigan and its impact on early learning access and socioeconomic gaps.
Recommended content:
- Kevin Mahnken, “New NAEP Scores Dash Hope of Post-COVID Learning Recovery,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (January 29, 2025).
- Emily Freitag, “A bold state move to improve reading,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 20, 2025).
- Sara Schwartz, “Why Are Reading Scores Still Falling on the Nation’s Report Card?,” EducationWeek (January 29, 2025).
- Sonia Q. Cabell, James S. Kim, Thomas G. White, Charles J. Gale, Ashley A. Edwards, HyeJin Jordan Berne, Katia Córdoba García, Brian A. Jacob, Tareena Musaddiq, Samuel Owusu, Anna Shapiro, and Christina Weiland, Transitional Kindergarten: The New Kid on the Early Learning Block, SAGE Journals (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike and David discuss what’s really going on with DOGE, including its cuts to IES research grants and the implications for education policy. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a study on whether the Core Knowledge curriculum helped strengthen kindergarteners’ vocabulary and knowledge.
Recommended content:
- Chester E. Finn, Jr., “Easy, DOGE. IES matters.,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 11, 2025).
- Robert Pondiscio, “Culture war vs. competence: Why conservatives should support Penny Schwinn,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 6, 2025).
- Chester E. Finn, Jr., “Trump should stay out of what students learn in school,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (January 30, 2025).
- Sonia Q. Cabell, James S. Kim, Thomas G. White, Charles J. Gale, Ashley A. Edwards, HyeJin Hwang, Yaacov Petscher, and Rhonda M. Raines, Impact of a Content-Rich Literacy Curriculum on Kindergarteners’ Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension, and Content Knowledge, Journal of Educational Psychology (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Delia Pompa, Senior Fellow for Education Policy at MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, joins Mike and David to discuss how the potential threat of immigration agents at school doors is affecting students—and what can be done to keep them coming to class. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study on the impact of a Hawaii Public Schools policy that raised special education teacher salaries by $10,000.
Recommended content:
- Alexander Russo, “Threat Assesment: Ice raids in schools,” The Grade (February 5, 2025).
- Ileana Najarro, “How Schools Can Navigate Trump’s Immigration Policies,” Education Week (January 23, 2025).
- Liz Willen, “In just one week, Trump created a new culture of anxiety in education,” The Hechinger Report (January 27, 2025).
- Roddy Theobald, Zeyu Xu, Allison Gilmour, Lisa Lachlan-Hache, Elizabeth Bettini and Nathan Jones, The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on Special Education Teacher Shortages in Hawai‘i, Sage Journals (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brian Kisida, Associate Professor at the Truman School of Government & Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, joins Mike and David to discuss his recent Education Next article, which reports on what high school students are hearing from their teachers about racism in America. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study about how test-optional policies at elite universities hurt high-achieving, disadvantaged students.
Recommended content:
- Brian Kisida, Gary Ritter, Jennifer Gontram, J. Cameron Anglum, Heidi H. Erickson, Darnell Leatherwood, and Matthew H. Lee., “Bridging the Divide over Critical Race Theory in America’s Classrooms,” Education Next (November 1, 2024).
- Frederick Hess, “It’s a Crisis! It’s Nonsense! How Political Are K–12 Classrooms?,” Education Next (Winter 2025).
- Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas O. Staiger & Michele Tine, How Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, NBER (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tim Daly, CEO of EdNavigator, joins Mike and David to discuss whether America should refocus its efforts on helping our lowest-performing students and explore the best ways to address this challenge. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on how students prepare for tests and the effectiveness of their strategies.
Recommended content:
- Tim Daly, “We’re living through an education depression,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (November 1, 2024).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “Get ready for more bad news from NAEP 2024” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (January 16, 2025)
- Robert Pondiscio, “After a “lost decade,” let’s restore high expectations for students,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (December 12, 2024).
- Fatema Sultana, Richard C. Watkins, Tarek Al Baghal and John Carl Hughes, An Evaluation of Secondary School Students’ Use and Understanding of Learning Strategies to Study and Revise for Science Examinations, Education Sciences (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss education reform (or the lack thereof) during former President Biden’s term and what we might expect from President Trump. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a study on the implementation of college- and career-readiness policies, focusing on the alignment between career and technical education courses and industry-based certifications.
Recommended content:
- Rick Hess, “Miguel Cardona Is America’s Worst Education Secretary,” American Enterprise Institute (October 25, 2024)
- Dale Chu, “Fault lines in the MAGA coalition and what they mean for education,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (January 16, 2025).
- Matt S. Giani, Madison E. Andrews, Tasneem Sultana, Fortunato Medrano, Curricular-Credential Decoupling: How Schools Respond to Career and Technical Education Policy, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Barbara Biasi, assistant professor at the Yale School of Management, joins Mike and David to discuss Wisconsin’s Act 10 and its impact on teacher compensation. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a study on the underrepresentation of certain racial and socioeconomic groups in gifted education.
Recommended reading:
- Barbara Biasi, “Wisconsin’s Act 10, Flexible Pay, and the Impact on Teacher Labor Markets,” Education Next (April 25, 2023).
- Shawn Johnson, “Wisconsin’s Act 10 is back in court. Here’s what to know about the controversial law.,” Wisconsin Public Radio (December 4, 2024).
- Dante D. Dixson, Scott J. Peters, Jonathan A. Plucker, Carolyn M. Callahan, The (Conference) Room Where it Happens: Explaining Disproportional Representation in Gifted and Talented Education, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2025)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alyson Klein, assistant editor at Education Week, joins Mike and David to discuss how President Trump could weaken the U.S. Department of Education without dismantling it entirely. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining the impact of early math intervention on student outcomes in Kentucky.
Recommended content:
- Alyson Klein, “How Trump Can Hobble the Education Department Without Abolishing It,” Education Week (December 12, 2024).
- Chester E. Finn, Jr., “Will Trump eliminate the federal role in education or weaponize it?,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (December 12, 2024).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “How much blame does the federal government deserve for America’s mediocre schools?,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (November 21, 2024).
- Zeyu Xu, Umut Özek, Jesse Levin and Dong Hoon Lee, Effects of Large-Scale Early Math Interventions on Student Outcomes: Evidence From Kentucky’s Math Achievement Fund, SAGE Journals (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
New for 2025! You can now watch this episode on YouTube.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Checker Finn, Fordham’s president emeritus—and the original Education Gadfly—joins Mike and David to discuss the best and worst news in education reform in 2024. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares the top five research studies of the year.
Recommended content:
Michael J. Petrilli, “How much blame does the federal government deserve for America’s mediocre schools?,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (November 21, 2024).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “The end of MCAS is the end of an era. Now let’s figure out what comes next.,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (December 5, 2024).
- David Griffith and Daniel Buck, “It’s time for tough love to address chronic absenteeism,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 5, 2024).
- Dan Goldhaber and Grace Falken, ESSER and Student Achievement: Assessing the Impacts of the Largest One-Time Federal Investment in K12 Schools, CALDER (2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Philip K. Howard, chair of Common Good and a bestselling author, joins Mike and David to discuss what it takes to create positive school environments, as outlined in his recent Hoover Institution essay, “The human authority needed for good schools.” Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares an Urban Institute report analyzing states’ demographically adjusted 2022 NAEP performance.
Recommended content:
- Philip K. Howard, “The human authority needed for good schools,” Hoover Institution (November 19, 2024).
- Ashley Berner, “3 ways to increase choice and decrease polarization in U.S. schools,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 23, 2024).
- Jeff Murray, “Digging into the 2024 survey of American public school teachers,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (July 25, 2024).
- Matthew Chingos, States’ Demographically Adjusted Performance on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card, Urban Institute (2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Colleen Hroncich, a policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, joins Mike and David to discuss why pro–school choice ballot measures failed in Kentucky, Nebraska, and Colorado—and what it means for the future. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining 100 years of data on elite private and public colleges, revealing persistent gaps in socioeconomic diversity despite changes in racial and geographic representation.
Recommended content:
- Colleen Hroncich, Neal McCluskey, “Referendum Losses Are No Mandate against School Choice,” Real Clear Education (November 8, 2024).
- Juan Perez Jr., “Republicans’ big idea for remaking public education hits voter resistance,” Politico (November 27, 2024).
- Michael McShane “Op-ed: Despite blows, school choice swept the ballot this election,” Chalkboard News (November 14, 2024).
- Ran Abramitzky, Jennifer K. Kowalski, Santiago Pérez & Joseph Price, The G.I. Bill, Standardized Testing, and Socioeconomic Origins of the U.S. Educational Elite Over a Century, NBER (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jim Peyser, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education, joins Mike and David to discuss voters’ recent decision to eliminate the MCAS graduation requirement and what it means for the future of high school. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares reports exploring the changing landscape of homeschooling in America.
Recommended content:
- James A. Peyser, “Don’t Abandon Common High School Graduation Exams” Education Next (2024).
- Frederick M. Hess, “Why Did Massachusetts Just Pull the Plug on 30 Years of K–12 Success?” AEI (November 6, 2024).
- Angela R. Watson, Homeschool Participation: Post-Pandemic Persistence and Growth Trends, Journal of School Choice (2024)
- Alanna Bjorklund-Young and Angela R. Watson, The Changing Face of American Homeschool: A 25-Year Comparison of Race and Ethnicity, Journal of School Choice (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dale Chu, a senior visiting fellow at the Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss how the election results could impact education and whether there’s reason for optimism. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining how geographic access to public colleges affects enrollment decisions across different races and socioeconomic groups.
Recommended content:
- Matt Barnum, “Trump Gears Up for Assault on Wokeness With Education Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal (November 11, 2024).
- Alia Wong, “A push for school choice fell short in Trump’s first term. He may now have a more willing Congress,” Associated Press (November 8, 2024).
- Tim Daly, “We’re living through an education depression,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (November 1, 2024).
- Riley Acton, Kalena E. Cortes, and Camila Morales, Distance to Opportunity: Higher Education Deserts and College Enrollment Choices, Annenberg Institute (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jill Barshay, author of The Hechinger Report’s “Proof Points” column, joins Mike and David to discuss her recent article on the surprising effects of colleges eliminating remedial courses. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining the impact of Washington’s academic acceleration policies on high school students.
Recommended content:
- Jill Barshay, “A decade of data in one state shows an unexpected result when colleges drop remedial courses,” The Hechinger Report (September 23, 2024).
- Michael J. Petrilli, “‘Kid, I’m Sorry, but You’re Just Not College Material’ Is exactly what we should be telling a lot of high school students,” Slate (March 18, 2014).
- Chester E. Finn, Jr., “What's the point of high school?” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 5, 2024).
- Megan Austin, Ben Backes, Dan Goldhaber, Dory Li, and Francie Streich, Leveling Up: An Academic Acceleration Policy to Increase Equity in Advanced High School Course Taking, American Educational Research Journal (2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brandon Wright, Fordham’s Editorial Director and author of the latest Think Again brief, “Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitable?” joins Mike and David to explain why the answer to that question is “no” and why such programs are important. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining how individual teachers’ effectiveness shifted when instruction went from in-person to on-line during the 2020-21 school year.
Recommended content:
- Brandon L. Wright, Think Again: Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitable? Thomas B. Fordham Institute (October 2024).
- Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners: Final Report of the National Working Group on Advanced Education, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (June 2023).
- Brandon L. Wright, “Hope and progress for gifted education,” Advance (July 5, 2022).
- Jonathan Plucker, “Do programs for advanced learners work?” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (June 24, 2020).
- M. Cade Lawson and Tim R. Sass, Teacher Effectiveness in Remote Instruction, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marc Porter Magee, CEO and Founder of 50CAN, joins Mike and David to discuss “The State of Educational Opportunity in America," 50CAN’s new report based on a survey of over 20,000 parents from all 50 states and D.C. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining how teacher strikes affect compensation, working conditions, and student achievement.
Recommended content:
- The State of Educational Opportunity in America, 50CAN (2024).
- “Student enrollment is dropping. The charter sector should keep growing anyway.” —Michael J. Petrilli
- State of Educational Opportunity: Ohio Survey of Ohio Parents, Thomas B. Fordham Institute and 50CAN (2024).
- Melissa Arnold Lyon, Matthew A. Kraft, and Matthew P. Steinberg, The Causes and Consequences of U.S. Teacher Strikes, NBER (2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Deming, a professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School, joins Mike and David to discuss his article in The Atlantic arguing that it’s not enough for governments and the private sector to eliminate college-degree requirement for good-paying jobs. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study investigating the “fade-out effect” in early childhood education programs.
Recommended content:
- “We need supply-side education policy” —David Deming
- “The vibes for career-tech programs are great. But they’re too rare.” —Michael J. Petrilli
- “What Kamala Harris should do on education and training” —Bruno V. Manno
- John A. List and Haruka Uchida, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Toward an Understanding of Fade-out in Early Childhood Education Programs, NBER (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Parker Baxter, Director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado, joins Mike and David to discuss his new report on the impact of Denver’s education reforms. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a RAND survey on teachers’ experiences with school violence and lockdown drills.
Recommended content:
- Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, David Stuit, Margot Plotz, Todd Ely, and Paul Tesk, Systemwide and Intervention-Specific Effects of Denver Public Schools’ Portfolio District Strategy on Individual Student Achievement, Thomas B. Fordham Institute(September 2024)
- “Denver doesn’t spell doom for portfolio-style reform” —Paul T. Hill
- “With student enrollment plummeting, which schools should be considered candidates for closure?” —Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli
- Pauline Moore, Melissa Kay Diliberti, Brian A. Jackson, Teachers’ Experiences with School Violence and Lockdown Drills, RAND (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Devon Nir, a research assistant at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the complexities of ensuring accountability for education savings accounts. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study exploring the financial returns of various non-degree credentials and degree programs.
Recommended content:
- “The ‘à la carte education’ accountability conundrum”—Michael J. Petrilli and Devon Nir
- “Finding the sweet spot on accountability”—Dale Chu
- " When Only Some Kids Can Afford Summer Camp — Why We Must Close the ‘Enrichment Gap’” —Michael J. Petrilli
- Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Xueying Mei, Stephen Roll, More Money for Less Time? Examining the Relative and Heterogenous Financial Returns to Non-Degree Credentials and Degree Programs, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Hamilton Project, joins Mike and David to discuss the Fordham report he just authored, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the effects of Zearn Math on third through fifth grade math performance in Louisiana.
Recommended content:
- Sofoklis Goulas, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era, Thomas B. Fordham Institute(September 2024)
- “The case for closing underenrolled, low-performing schools” —Michael J. Petrilli
- “We need to prepare now for the school closures that are coming” —Tim Daly
- Shirin Hashim, Measuring the Efficacy of Zearn Math in Louisiana, AERA Open (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Michael Goldstein, co-founder of the Math Learning Lab in Boston, joins Mike and David to discuss the track record of high-dosage tutoring in mitigating pandemic learning loss. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the long-term effects of the METCO program, which aims to increase diversity and reduce racial isolation by busing students from Boston to surrounding suburbs.
Recommended content:
- Mike Goldstein and Bowen Paulle, The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring, Thomas B. Fordham Institute(March 2021)
- “Students aren’t benefiting much from tutoring, one new study shows” —JillBarshay
- Matthew A. Kraft, Danielle Sanderson Edwards, and Marisa Cannata, The Scaling Dynamics and Causal Effects of a District-Operated Tutoring Program, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (August 2024)
- Elizabeth Setren, Busing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the METCO Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of Color, NBER (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul Bruno, an assistant professor of education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joins Mike and David to discuss the pros and cons of universal free lunch. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber explores how mandating Advanced Placement course offerings and waiving AP exam fees impact student participation.
Recommended content:
- “Should All School Meals Be Free?”—Tim Daly
- “Make School Lunches Great Again”—Max Eden
- Ian Callen and Christiana Stoddard, “Putting the ‘A’ in AP: The effect of advanced placement state policies on student participation and performance,” Economics of Education Review (2024)
Feedback Welcome: This week, we're trying something new on the Education Gadfly Podcast! After nearly 20 years of keeping our episodes short and snappy, we're experimenting with a longer format to explore topics in greater depth. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this change—whether you love it or hate it. If you enjoy the podcast, please share it with your friends and colleagues; your support helps us reach more listeners!
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
#936: How socioeconomic factors explain achievement gaps, with Eric Hengyu Hu and Paul L. Morgan
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, SUNY Albany’s Eric Hengyu Hu and Paul L. Morgan, authors of Fordham’s recently released report Explaining Achievement Gaps: The Role of Socioeconomic Factors, joins Mike and David to discuss their findings. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a study of differences in grading practices between international and domestic instructors at U.S. public universities.
Recommended content:
- Eric Hengyu Hu and Paul L. Morgan, Explaining Achievement Gaps: The Role of Socioeconomic Factors, Fordham Institute (August 2024)
- “America’s highest-achieving students are disproportionately Asian. Let’s not be afraid to investigate why.”—Michael J. Petrilli and Amber M. Northern
- Meredith Coffey and Adam Tyner, Excellence Gaps by Race and Socioeconomic Status, Fordham Institute (August 2023)
- Trang Pham and Stephanie Potochnick, Undergraduate Grading Practices of International and Domestic Faculty: Evidence From Three Large U.S. Public Universities, AERA Open (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Starlee Coleman, newly named President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike and David to discuss how the charter sector can find success with a Trump or Harris presidency. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a study of how nearby charter schools impact Catholic school enrollment.
Recommended content:
- “How Kamala Harris can move to the center on education”— Michael J. Petrilli
- “What could a Vice President Vance do to advance rural and small town education?”—Aaron Churchill
- “Will next month’s Harris-Trump debate even mention education?”— Dale Chu
- Shaun M. Dougherty, Andrew Miller, and Yerin Yoon, “Charter School Expansion, Catholic School Enrollment, & the Equity Implications of School Choice,” EdWorkingPaper 24-1027, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kelly James, a partner at Education First Consulting and Fordham’s 2024 Wonkathon winner, joins Mike and David to discuss how policymakers and practitioners can reduce chronic absenteeism in schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reports on a study about the fiscal effects of states paying districts for the costs of students they no longer serve.
Recommended content:
- “‘Everything, everywhere, all at once’ solutions to chronic absenteeism”—Kelly James and Brad Bernatek
- “To fix chronic absenteeism, we must ask why kids don’t want to go to school” —Leslie Colwell
- “How does teacher experience impact student absenteeism in early elementary school?” —Heena Kuwayama
- Aaron Garth Smith and Christian Barnard, “Billions: The Cost of State Hold Harmless Policies in K-12 Education,” Reason Foundation, (June 2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Othiniel Mahone, the principal at GEO Academies 21st Century School in Gary, Indiana, joins Mike and David to discuss effective strategies for implementing and enforcing an “away for the day” school cellphone policy. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reports on a study about the impact of middle school principals on various long-term outcomes for students.
Recommended content:
- “How to implement a cellphone ban in schools” —Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Fordham Institute
- “LAUSD approves cellphone ban as Newsom calls for statewide action” —Howard Blume and Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times
- “New York City Schools Should Be Next to Ban Mobile Phones” —Michael R. Bloomberg, Bloomberg
- Eric A. Hanushek, Andrew J. Morgan, Steven G. Rivkin, Jeffrey C. Schiman, Ayman Shakeel, and Lauren Sartain, “The Lasting Impacts of Middle School Principals,” NBER Working Paper No. 32642 (July 2024)
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Fordham’s Checker Finn joins Mike and David to discuss the changes in how the College Board is scoring Advanced Placement exams. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a meta-analysis examining the effectiveness of robot-assisted foreign language learning.
Recommended content:
- “Are AP exams getting easier?” —Chester E. Finn, Jr.
- “The Great Recalibration of AP exams” —John Moscatiello
- “The College Board’s new method for raising AP scores” —John Moscatiello
- Ali Derakhshan, Timothy Teo, Esmaeel Saeedy Robat, Mostafa Janebi Enayat, and Akbar A. Jahanbakhsh, “Robot-Assisted Language Learning: A Meta-Analysis,” Review of Educational Research (May 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Vlad Kogan, a professor at Ohio State University, joins Mike and David to discuss what role race, achievement, and enrollment play in a district’s decision to close a school. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new report that investigates the staffing difficulties and potential academic effects of class size reduction policies in New York City.
Recommended content:
- “Flawed work to close city schools will hurt Columbus for years to come. It must be fixed.” —Vlad Kogan, The Columbus Dispatch
- “Schools Will Have to Start Closing Again” —Michael Petrilli, Wall Street Journal
- “Enrollment down. Achievement lackluster. Should this school close?” —Francis Pearman, Education Week
- Matthew Chingos, Ariella Meltzer, and Jay Carter, “Will implementing class size caps exacerbate hiring challenges in New York City’s highest-poverty schools?,” Urban Institute (July 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dale Chu, a senior visiting fellow at the Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss how Biden passing the torch and Trump picking J.D. Vance could affect U.S. school policy. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study that compares the academic impacts of urban versus suburban charter schools.
Recommended content:
- “Vance vs. Pence: How Trump’s VP picks compare on education” —Dale Chu, Fordham Institute
- “The Democratic replacement candidates on education” —Daniel Buck, Fordham Institute
- Sarah Cohodes and Astrid Pineda, “Diverse paths to college success: The impact of Massachusetts’ urban and nonurban charter schools on college trajectories,” National Bureau of Economic Research (July 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Francis Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, joins Mike and David to debate the impact that budgets, enrollment, and race play in closing schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the efficacy of learning-loss-recovery interventions across eight districts.
Recommended content:
- "Enrollment down. Achievement lackluster. Should this school close?” —Francis Pearman, Education Week
- “Schools will have to start closing again” —Michael Petrilli, Wall Street Journal
- “Doing educational equity right: School closures” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- Maria V. Carbonari et al., “Impacts of Academic Recovery Interventions on Student Achievement in 2022-23,” CALDER Working Paper (July 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kristen Huff, the vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, joins Mike and David to discuss the academic performance our youngest students in the wake of the pandemic. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the demographic effects of test-optional policies at selective universities.
Recommended content:
- “The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School, and Struggling” —New York Times
- Ethan Young and Kelsey Young, “Student growth in the post-COVID era,” Curriculum Associates (June 2024).
- “The Democratic replacement candidates on education” —Daniel Buck, Fordham Institute
- Adam Tyner, “Think Again: Do College Admissions Exams Drive Higher Education Inequities?” Fordham Institute (February 2023).
- Kelly Rosinger, Dominique J. Baker, Joseph Sturm, Wan Yu, Julie J. Park, OiYan Poon, Brian Heseung Kim, and Stephanie Breen, “Exploring the relationship between test-optional admissions and selectivity and enrollment outcomes during the pandemic,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (June 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marguerite Roza, the director of the Edunomics Lab and a research professor at Georgetown University, joins Mike and David to discuss how schools and school systems can downsize in response to declining enrollment. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam examines a new study investigating the academic impacts of ESSER funding, the largest one-time federal investment in public schools in history.
Recommended content:
- “The math of school closures: How district leaders should navigate the perfect storm of budget shortfalls and declining student enrollment” —Marguerite Roza & Aashish Dhammani, The 74
- “Schools will have to start closing again” —Michael Petrilli, Wall Street Journal
- “Doing educational equity right: School closures” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- Dan Goldhaber and Grace Falken, “ESSER and student achievement: Assessing the impacts of the largest one-time federal investment in K12 schools,” CALDER (June 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alina Adams, a New York Times best-selling author, joins Mike and David to discuss the parenting lessons she learned from watching “Young Sheldon.” Then, on the Research Minute, Adam examines a new study investigating the rigor (or lack thereof) of online credit recovery courses.
Recommended content:
- “I watched the parenting on ‘Young Sheldon’… and did the exact opposite” —Alina Adams, Education Next
- “Fun fact: ‘Young Sheldon’ provides insight into parenting bright children” —Jonathan Plucker, Education Next
- “Time to press ‘pause’ on credit recovery” —Adam Tyner, Fordham Institute
- Jennifer Darling-Aduana, Carolyn J. Heinrich, Jeremy Noonan, Jialing Wu, and Kathryn Enriquez, “Failing to learn from failure: The facade of online credit recovery assessments,” Education Finance and Policy (March 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at Fordham and the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the lack of curriculum oversight in American schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study of whether aspiring teachers’ professional references predict their later performance.
Recommended content:
- “How public schools became ideological boot camps” —Robert Pondiscio, The Free Press
- “Taking curriculum implementation seriously” —Robert Pondiscio, Fordham Institute
- Dan Goldhaber, Cyrus Grout, and Malcolm Wolff, “How well do professional reference ratings predict teacher performance?” Education Finance and Policy (March 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Houston, an assistant professor at George Mason University, joins Mike and David to discuss how presidents polarize voters when they weigh in on education debates. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating whether performance incentives improve teacher skills and so the academic growth of their students.
Recommended content:
- “Polling data: Presidents split the public on schools” —Kevin Mahnken, The 74
- “Let’s talk about bad teachers” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- David Houston and Alyssa Barone, “How the engagement of high-profile partisan officials affects education politics, public opinion, and polarization,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (March 2024).
- Eric Taylor, “Employee evaluation and skill investments: Evidence from public school teachers,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (May 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alex Spurrier, an associate partner at Bellwether, joins Mike and David to discuss whether schools in low-income neighborhoods receive less funding than their affluent counterparts. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating state finance reforms that secure lasting budget increases for districts.
Recommended content:
- Alex Spurrier, Bonnie O’Keefe, and Biko McMillan, “Leveling the landscape: An analysis of K–12 funding inequities within metro areas,” Bellwether (May 2024).
- "Low- and high-income schools now receive equal funding” —Adam Tyner, Fordham Institute
- “Doing educational equity right: School finance” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- Shelby M. McNeill and Christopher A. Candelaria, “Paying for school finance reforms: How states raise revenues to fund increases in elementary-secondary education expenditures,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (May 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dr. Katie Jenner, the Indiana secretary of education, joins Mike and David to discuss a proposed, alternative high school diploma in the Hoosier state. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating early indicators for college readiness.
Recommended content:
- “Indiana’s new diplomas emphasize flexibility for older students, but some requirements are controversial”—Chalkbeat
- “We all agree that college isn’t for everyone. We should start acting like it.” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- Brian Holzman and Horace Duffy, “Empowering educational leaders: On-track indicators for college enrollment,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (May 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Daniel Buck, Fordham’s policy and editorial associate, joins Mike and David to discuss whether and how elementary schools should teach reading comprehension. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the short- and long-term impacts of school closures in the 1990s.
Recommended content:
- Daniel Buck, “Think again: Should elementary schools teach reading comprehension?” Fordham Institute (May 2024).
- "At long last, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. gets his due: New research shows big benefits from Core Knowledge” —Robert Pondiscio, Fordham Institute
- “We need to prepare now for the school closures that are coming” —Tim Daly, Fordham Institute
- Jeonghyeok Kim, “The long shadow of school closures: Impacts on students’ educational and labor market outcomes,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (May 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
In a special National Charter Schools Week Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brian Kisida, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, joins Mike and David to discuss whether charters have impeded racial integration in American schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating if intensive English learner programs benefit students.
Recommended content:
- “70 years after Brown v. Board of Education, new research shows rise in school segregation”—Carrie Spector, Stanford Education
- Tomas Monarrez, Brian Kisida, and Matthew M. Chingos. “The effect of charter schools on school segregation,” EdWorkingPaper No. 20-308, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2020).
- Camila Morales and Monica Mogollon, “The effects of a newcomer program on the academic achievement of English Learners,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (May 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marian Tupy, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the founder and editor of HumanProgress.org, joins Mike and David to discuss the incredible progress that humanity has made over millennia, and what schools might do to better teach kids that our past, present, and future is not all doom and gloom. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating if education savings accounts increase tuition costs at private schools.
Recommended content:
- Ten global trends every smart person should know: And many others you will find interesting —Marian Tupy and Ronald Bailey
- “Progress, rediscovered” —Ronald Bailey, Reason Magazine
- “School choice need not mean an expensive windfall for the rich” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- “Name Fordham’s boy band!” —Eduwonkette, Education Week
- Jason Fontana and Jennifer L. Jennings, “The effect of taxpayer-funded education savings accounts on private school tuition: Evidence from Iowa,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (April 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Tyner, Fordham’s national research director, joins Mike and David to discuss his latest study on advanced education policies across the country. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines new research on how the decentralization of teacher accountability under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act affected student achievement.
Recommended content:
- The broken pipeline: Advanced education policies at the local level —Adam Tyner, Fordham Institute
- Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners —The National Working Group on Advanced Education, Fordham Institute
- “Teacher evaluation reform was very successful—on paper” —Tim Daly, Fordham Institute
- “Jayden Daniels to Commanders with No. 2 pick in NFL draft” —ESPN
- Eric A. Hanushek, Patricia Saenz-Armstrong, and Alejandra Salazar, Balancing federalism: The impact of decentralizing school accountability, National Bureau of Economic Research (April 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Joshua Dunn, Executive Director of the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee, joins Mike and David to discuss how public schools will be affected by the end of the Chevron deference—the judicial doctrine in which courts defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new paper criticizing the famous STAR class size study.
Recommended content:
- “Fishing for rules” —Joshua Dunn, Education Next
- “The case for the supreme court to overturn Chevron Deference” —Wall Street Journal
- “The Chevron deference is desperately needed” —David Martin, Washington Post
- Karun Adusumilli, Francesco Agostinelli, and Emilio Borghesan, “Heterogeneity and endogenous compliance: Implications for scaling class size interventions,” National Bureau of Economic Research (April 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at Fordham and the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the state of curricular reform. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines new data from the Institute of Education Sciences’ Condition of Education Report.
Recommended content:
- “40 years after ‘A nation at risk,’ could curriculum reform finally move the needle on academic improvement?” —Robert Pondiscio, The 74
- “The ‘case for curriculum’ is about reducing teachers’ workload” —Robert Pondiscio, Fordham Institute
- Véronique Irwin et. al., “Report on the Condition of Education 2023,” National Center for Education Statistics (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Derrell Bradford, the president of 50CAN, joins Mike and David to discuss a new coalition called No More Lines that seeks to end residency requirements for public schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining whether ESSER funding influenced spending on school personnel.
Recommended content:
- “Coalition Challenges Residency Requirements for Public Schools” —Jo Napolitano, The 74
- “America’s private public schools” —Michael Petrilli and Janie Scull, Fordham Institute
- Dan Goldhaber, Grace Falken, and Roddy Theobald, “ESSER funding and school system jobs: Evidence from job posting data,” CALDER (April 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss his new book, Getting Education Right. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining how civics educators taught about and framed the 2020 election.
Recommended content:
- "Getting education right: A conservative vision for improving early childhood, K–12, and college” —Frederick Hess and Michael McShane
- “Four states are leading the charge for conservative education reform” —Frederick Hess and Michael McShane, Fordham Institute
- Paul Fitchett, Brett Levy, & Jeremy Stoddard, “How and Why Teachers Taught About the 2020 U.S. Election: An Analysis of Survey Responses From Twelve States,” American Educational Research Association (March 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Lorén Cox, the policy director for the Education and Society program at the Aspen Institute, and Karen Nussle, the founder and CEO of Ripple Communications, join Mike and David to discuss how cross-partisanship—both sides agreeing on the same conclusion for disparate reasons—benefits education. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining how college achievement and retention is affected by “corequisite” remedial classes—meaning those taken at the same time as, not before, the course requiring the remediation.
Recommended content:
- “Crossing the partisan divide in education policy” — Lorén Cox and Karen Nussle, Aspen Institute
- “A bridge back to bipartisan education reform” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
- Florence Xiaotao Ran and Hojung Lee, “Does corequisite remediation work for everyone? An exploration of heterogeneous effects and mechanisms,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (March 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Kho, an assistant professor at the Rossier School of Education, and Alex Quigley, the executive director of the Durham Charter School, join Mike and David to discuss whether charter authorizers can determine the quality of prospective charter schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining the effects of including parental preferences in algorithms that assign students to schools in New York City.
Recommended content:
- “Do authorizer evaluations predict the success of new charter schools?” —Adam Kho, Shelby Leigh Smith, and Douglas Lee Lauen, Fordham Institute
- “Three signs that a proposed charter school is at risk of failing” —Anna Nicotera & David Stuit, Fordham Institute
- Rebecca J. Shmoys, Sierra G. McCormick, and Douglas D. Ready, “Constrained Agency and the Architecture of Educational Choice: Evidence from New York City,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (March 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rebecca Sibilia, the executive director of EdFund, joins Mike and David to debate whether we’ve fixed school funding in America. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining the effects of school shootings on survivors’ test scores, attendance, and long-term health.
Recommended content:
- "School finance data 'sucks.' Rebecca Sibilia's new org is offering $ to fix it" —Greg Toppo, The 74
- “Think Again: Is education funding in America still unequal?” —Adam Tyner, Fordham Institute
- “The policies promoting school shootings” —Max Eden, Fordham Institute
- EdFund Website
- Phillip Levine and Robin McKnight, “The consequences of high-fatality shootings for surviving students,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (February, 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Miles, the superintendent of Houston ISD, joins Mike and David to discuss the reforms he’s implementing in the Lone Star State’s largest district. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study of how increased learning time affects reading and math achievement.
Recommended content:
- “Back to the future: Houston takes a page from ed reform’s recent past” —Dale Chu, Fordham Institute
- “Texas’s controversial takeover of Houston’s schools” —Daniel Buck, Fordham Institute
- Matthew Kraft and Sarah Novicoff, “Time in School: A Conceptual Framework, Synthesis of the Causal Research, and Empirical Exploration,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Tyner and Meredith Coffey, the national research director and a senior research associate at the Fordham Institute, join Mike and David to discuss their new Think Again report on whether “equitable” grading benefits students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating how extreme temperatures affect student performance on standardized tests.
Recommended content:
- “Think Again: Does ‘equitable’ grading benefit students?” —Adam Tyner and Meredith Coffey, Fordham Institute
- “Traditional grading may not be as straightforward as it seems” —Rick Hess and Joe Feldman, Education Week
- "A ‘no zeroes’ grading policy is the worst of all worlds” —Daniel Buck, Fordham Institute
- Deven Carlson and Adam Shepardson, “Under the Weather? The Effects of Temperature on Student Test Performance,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Chad Aldis, Fordham’s Vice President of Ohio Policy, joins Mike and David to discuss the impending cessation of federal ESSER funds. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study investigating the competitive effects of charter schools on traditional public schools in Florida.
Recommended content:
- “ESSER’s sunset: Not a cut, but a return to normalcy” —Chad Aldis, Fordham Institute
- “The fiscal cliff and teacher layoffs” —Chad Aldeman, Fordham Institute
- “Federal pandemic funds should not disappear just when we need them most” —Hamlet Michael Hernandez, Hechinger Report
- David Figlio, Cassandra Hart, and Krzysztof Karbownik, “Competitive Effects of Charter Schools,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alan Safran, the CEO and co-founder of Saga Education, joins Mike and David to discuss best practices for high-impact tutoring. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reports on a new study investigating the impacts of computer science education on early career outcomes.
Recommended content:
- “Could tutoring be the best tool for fighting learning loss?” —Anna Nordberg, The New York Times
- “White house calls for focus on tutoring, summer school, absenteeism as pandemic aid winds down” —Chalkbeat
- Liu, Jing, Cameron Conrad, and David Blazar, “Computer Science for All? The Impact of High School Computer Science Courses on College Majors and Earnings,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (January 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Chad Aldeman, the founder of Read Not Guess and a columnist for The 74, joins Mike and David to discuss whether the pandemic-era waiving of teacher licensure rules affected student outcomes. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner reports on a new paper investigating if school choice can meet the conditions necessary for efficient market functioning.
Recommended content:
- “Emergency-hired teachers do just as well as those who go through normal training” —Chad Aldeman, The 74
- “The pandemic’s lesson on teacher licensure” —Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring
- Douglas Harris, “How free market logic fails in schooling—And what it means for the role of government,” Educational Researcher (December 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Lindsey Burke, the director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, joins Mike and David to discuss what a second Trump term could mean for federal education policy. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study investigating the impacts of licensure and certification on CTE teacher retention.
Recommended content:
- “If Trump returns…” —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Fordham Institute
- “Department of Education” —Lindsey M. Burke, chapter in Mandate for leadership
- Hannah Kistler, Shaun Dougherty, and S. Colby Woods, “Teacher exit and educational opportunity: Lessons from career and technical education,” Educational Researcher (January 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Douglas Lauen, a professor of public policy and sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins Mike to discuss residential mobility, academic achievement, and charter schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a study investigating how school facilities funding impacts test scores and housing prices.
Recommended content:
- “New home, same school: Charter schools and residentially-mobile students” —Doug Lauen
- “The charter-school movement just keeps on keepin’ on” —Jed Wallace, Education Next
- Barbara Biasi, Julien M. Lafortune, and David Schönholzer, “What works and for whom: Effectiveness and efficiency of school capital investments across the U.S.,” National Bureau of Economic Research (January 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Angela Rachidi, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike to discuss whether a reformed and refundable child tax credit can reduce poverty. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a study investigating a cost-effective high-dosage tutoring intervention.
Recommended content:
- “How to actually triumph over poverty” —Angela Rachidi, National Review
- “The child tax credit: 25 years later” —Angela Rachidi, Senate Committee on Finance
- “Congress is about to do something amazing: agree to invest in kids” —Catherine Rampell, Washington Post
- Kalena Cortes, Karen Kortecamp, Susanna Loeb, and Carly D. Robinson, “A Scalable Approach to High-Impact Tutoring for Young Readers: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (January 2024).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Ray Domanico, the director of education policy at the Manhattan institute, joins Mike to discuss whether New York should eliminate the Regents Exams as high school graduation requirements. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a study investigating the trends in parental school involvement over the past two and a half decades.
Recommended content:
- “Revising graduation requirements could improve academic rigor in New York” —Ray Domanico, Education Next
- “End-of-course exams and student outcomes” —Adam Tyner and Matthew Larsen
- “The accountability conundrum” —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Fordham Institute
- Ariel Kalil, Samantha Steimle, and Rebecca Ryan, “Trends in Parents’ Time Investment at Children’s Schools During a Period of Economic Change,” AERA (April 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Debbie Veney, a senior vice president at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike to discuss the growth in the charter sector since 2019. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a new study investigating the effects of mock instruction and coaching on pre-service teacher performance.
Recommended content:
- “Believing in public education: A demographic and state-level analysis of public charter school and district public school enrollment trends” —Drew Jacobs and Debbie Veney, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
- “Which large school districts provide fertile terrain for charter growth?” —Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Julie Cohen, Anandita Krishnamachari, Vivian C. Wong, and Steffen Erickson, “Experimental Evidence on the Robustness of Coaching Supports in Teacher Education,” Educational Researcher (December 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Checker Finn, Fordham’s president emeritus—and the original Education Gadfly—joins Mike and David to discuss the best and worst developments in education reform in 2023. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews the best education research of the year.
Recommended content:
- “Standards-based reform | A Nation At Risk +40” —Michael Petrilli, Hoover Institution
- “What would another Trump term mean for education?” —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Fordham Institute
- Preeya Mbekeani, John Papay, Ann Mantil, and Richard J. Murnane, “Understanding High Schools’ Effects on Longer-Term Outcomes,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kara Arundel, a senior reporter at K-12 Dive, joins Mike to discuss two decades of private school choice in D.C. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study investigating the success of science-of-reading interventions in California.
Recommended content:
- “‘Opportunity’ knocked—and stayed: Two decades of private school vouchers in the nation’s capital” —Kara Arundel, K–12 Dive
- “‘Opportunity’ knocked—and stayed: Successes and flaws of D.C.’s private school voucher program” —Kara Arundel, K–12 Dive
- Sarah Novicoff and Thomas S. Dee, “The Achievement Effects of Scaling Early Literacy Reforms,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (December 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jeanette Luna, a production and research associate at the Fordham Institute, joins Mike to discuss the competitive pressures facing America’s largest school districts. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study investigating whether post-Covid grade inflation has begun to recede.
Recommended content:
- “The education competition index: Quantifying competitive pressure in America’s 125 largest school districts” —David Griffith and Jeanette Luna, The Fordham Institute
- “School choice isn’t killing traditional public schools. It’s making them better.” —Michael Petrilli, The Fordham Institute
- Dan Goldhaber and Maia Goodman Young, “Course Grades as a Signal of Student Achievement: Evidence on Grade Inflation Before and After COVID-19,” Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (November 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tim Daly, the CEO of Ed Navigator, joins Mike to discuss the causes and harms of grade inflation—and how to fix it. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study that investigates whether exposure to certain peers and teachers explains achievement gains resulting from enrollment in early algebra.
Recommended content:
- “Grade inflation is locking in learning loss, part one” —Tim Daly, The Education Daly
- “How to fix grade inflation” —Tim Daly, The Education Daly
- Quentin Brummet et al., “Early Algebra Affects Peer Composition,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (November 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Chad Aldeman, the founder of Read Not Guess and a columnist for The 74, joins Mike to discuss how the end of COVID relief funds could cause a wave of teacher layoffs. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study investigating whether schools gamed their academic gains during No Child Left Behind.
Recommended content:
- “Schools could lose 136,000 teaching jobs when federal COVID funds run out” —Chad Aldeman, The 74
- “Fiscal cliff could force layoffs of the best teachers” —Michael Petrilli, Education Next
- John Gregg and Stéphane Lavertu, “Test-based accountability and educational equity: Breaking through local district politics?” Economics of Education Review (December 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Natalie Wexler, host of the Knowledge Matters podcast, joins Mike to discuss the connection between knowledge building and reading comprehension. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber covers a new study on the efficacy of college and workforce partnerships in the P-Tech high school model.
Recommended content:
- “The science of reading isn’t just ‘phonics,’ but what else is it?” —Natalie Wexler, Forbes
- "Knowledge matters podcast” —Natalie Wexler
- “Social studies instruction and reading comprehension: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study” —Adam Tyner, The Fordham Institute
- Rachel Rosen, Emma Alterman, Louisa Treskon, Leigh Parise, Michelle Dixon, and Cassie Wuest, “P-TECH 9-14 Pathways to Success,” MDRC (October 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tim Donahue, an English teacher at the Greenwich Country Day School, joins Mike to discuss who loses when grades are inflated. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study that examines if Tennessee’s new school funding law really is progressive.
Recommended content:
- “If everyone gets an A, no one gets an A” —Tim Donahue, New York Times
- “Grade inflation is not a victimless crime” —Frederick Hess, The Education Gadfly
- Christopher Candelaria, Ishtiaque Fazlul, Cory Koedel, and Kenneth Shores, “Weighting for Progressivity? An Analysis of Implicit Tradeoffs Associated with Weighted Student Funding in Tennessee,” Annenberg Institute (October 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Umut Özek and Louis Mariano, researchers at the Rand Corporation, join Mike to discuss whether grade retention helps or harms students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study that examines if cash payouts can improve student attendance.
Recommended content:
- “Think Again: Is grade retention bad for Kids?” — Umut Özek and Louis Mariano, The Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- “Retaining struggling readers in third grade sounds good–but it’s too little, too late, too often” —Kalman R. Hettleman, The Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Damien de Walque and Christine Valente, “Incentivizing school attendance in the presence of parent-child information frictions,” American Economic Journal (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kirsten Baesler, the superintendent of North Dakota, joins Mike to discuss her state’s new teacher and principal apprenticeship programs. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a study that examines the accuracy and efficacy of school rating systems.
Recommended content:
- “North Dakota to launch principal apprenticeship program” —The Bismarck Tribune
- “An overview of Ohio’s new teacher apprenticeship program” —Jessica Poiner, The Fordham Institute
- “Why states should use student growth, and not proficiency rates, when gauging school effectiveness” —Michael Petrilli and Aaron Churchill, The Fordham Institute
- Erica Harbatkin and Betsy Wolf, “State accountability decisions under the Every Student Succeeds Act and the validity, stability, and equity of school ratings,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (October 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Denisha Allen, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, joins Mike to discuss if school choice can win a victory in Texas’s special legislative session. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study that examines the shrinking wage premium for college degrees.
Recommended content:
- “Advance school choice, because Black minds matter, too” —Denisha Allen
- “School choice faces special session fight in Texas” —The Hill
- “What you make depends on where you live: College earnings across states and metropolitan areas” —Fordham Institute
- Leila Bengali, Marcus Sander, Robert Valletta, and Cindy Zhao, “Falling college wage premiums by race and ethnicity,” The Federal Research Bank of San Francisco (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, joins Mike to discuss how zoning policies price poor people out of high quality schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses new research that examines how up-front cash payments affect teacher recruitment and retention.
Recommended content:
- “Excluded: How snob zoning, NIMBYism, and class bias build the walls that we don’t see” —Richard Kahlenberg
- “Liberal suburbs have their own border wall” —Richard Kahlenberg
- “74 interview: Richard Kahlenberg says liberal ‘elitism’ is hurting school equity” —The 74
- Lucas C. Coffman, John J. Conlon, Clayton R. Featherstone, Judd B. Kessler, and Jessica Mixon, “Liquidity for teachers: Evidence from Teach For America and LinkedIn,” Economics of Education Review (September 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike to discuss the state of charters as she plans to step down after eleven years at the helm. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a new study on the power of teacher union endorsements in school board elections.
Recommended content:
- “Gratitude for Nina Rees, our lead CharterFolk who overcame immense challenge to elevate us all” —Jed Wallace
- “Our next chapter” —Nina Rees
- Michael Hartney and Vladimir Kogan, “The politics of teachers’ union endorsements,” Annenberg Institute(September 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Frances Messano, the CEO of NewSchools Venture fund, joins Mike to discuss the Building Bridges Initiative and its call to action, A Generation at Risk. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses new research that finds that attending KIPP middle and high schools dramatically increases students’ rate of college completion.
Recommended content:
- A Generation at Risk: A Call to Action —The Building Bridges Initiative
- “How to meet students’ social-emotional and academic needs when schools reopen” —Frances Messano
- “A bridge back to bipartisan education reform” —Michael Petrilli
- “An expanded definition of student success should guide the pandemic-era learning recovery” —Jason Atwood
- Alicia Demers, Ira Nichols-Barrer, Elisa Steele, Maria Bartlett, and Philip Gleason, “Long-term impacts of KIPP middle and high schools on college enrollment, persistence, and attainment,” Mathematica (September 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Checker Finn, Fordham’s president emeritus, joins Mike to discuss why and how to bring accountability back to American schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a new study that measures the differences in teacher effectiveness across generations.
Recommended content:
- “The accountability conundrum” —Checker Finn
- “We can fight learning loss only with accountability and action” —Michael Petrilli
- Nhu Nguyen, Ben Ost, and Javaeria Qureshi, “OK boomer: Generational differences in teacher quality,” Annenberg Institute (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Tyner, Fordham’s national research director, joins Mike to discuss disparities by race and socioeconomic status among America’s highest achieving students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a new report from the ACT that analyzes the evidence of grade inflation since 2010.
Recommended content:
- “Excellence gaps by race and socioeconomic status” —Meredith Coffey and Adam Tyner
- “America’s highest-achieving students are disproportionately Asian. Let’s not be afraid to investigate why.” —Michael Petrilli and Amber M. Northern
- Edgar L. Sanchez, “Evidence of grade inflation since 2010 in high school English, mathematics, social studies, and science courses,” ACT(August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Linda Jacobson, a senior writer at The 74, joins Mike to discuss why more students are attending in-person classes with a virtual teacher. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a new study on the minimally positive effect of summer school interventions designed to mitigate pandemic learning loss.
Recommended content:
- “Exclusive data: Fueled by teacher shortages, ‘Zoom-in-a-room’ makes a comeback” —Linda Jacobson
- “Welcome back to school. Your teacher is 2000 miles away.” —Wall Street Journal
- Ian Callen et al., “Summer school as a learning loss recovery strategy after COVID-19: Evidence from summer 2022,” National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, William McKenzie, a senior editorial advisor at the George W. Bush Institute, joins Mike to discuss the state takeover of Houston ISD and its crusading new superintendent. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a study that finds a Los Angeles public school choice policy increased academic achievement.
Recommended content:
- “What Mike Miles can do to transform Houston ISD” —William McKenzie
- “Texas revamps Houston schools, closing libraries and angering parents” —New York Times
- “Texas Education Agency will take control of Houston ISD in June” —Texas Tribune
- “What does Gadfly say?” —Fordham Staff
- Christopher Campos and Caitlin Kearns, “The impact of public school choice: Evidence from Los Angeles’ Zones of Choice,” National Bureau of Economic Research (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Daniel Buck, Fordham’s editorial and policy associate, joins Mike and David to discuss the behavioral chaos in American schools post-pandemic. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a new study finding that pandemic-era declines in public school enrollment are likely to persist.
Recommended content:
- “The school discipline disaster” —Daniel Buck
- “‘There were fists everywhere.’ Violence against teachers is on the rise.” —Wall Street Journal
- Andrew Backer-Hicks et al., “The stickiness of pandemic-driven disenrollment from public schools,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (August 2023).
Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rachel Canter, the executive director of Mississippi First, joins Mike to debunk the allegations that her state fudged its notable gains in reading achievement. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines the failure of a federal student loan forgiveness program for teachers.
Recommended content:
- “The truth about Mississippi’s NAEP gains” —Rachel Canter
- “Mississippi didn’t cheat. Its reading gains are real.” —Todd Collins
- Brian Jacob, Damon Jones, and Benjamin Keys, “The Value of Student Debt Relief and the Role of Administrative Barriers: Evidence from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program,” National Bureau of Economic Research (June 2023).
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Aaron Churchill, Fordham’s Ohio research director, joins David to discuss how the Buckeye State’s latest omnibus bill benefits education. Then, on Research minutes, Amber examines a study on whether attending high-performing charter schools reduces risky behaviors like drug use.
Recommended content:
- “Ohio lawmakers pass historic policies on charter schools, private school choice, governance, and literacy” —Aaron Churchill
- “More dollars follow Ohio students” —Wall Street Journal
- Rebecca N. Dudovitz et al., “Assessment of Exposure to High-Performing Schools and Risk of Adolescent Substance Use: A Natural Experiment,” JAMA Pediatrics (2018).
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Loveless, a former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, joins Mike to discuss the problematic practices and research in California’s new mathematics framework. Then, on Research minutes, Amber discusses a depressing new report that finds a degradation in instructional quality that’s making it difficult to recover pandemic-era learning loss.
Recommended content:
- “California’s new math framework doesn’t add up” —Tom Loveless
- “California adopts controversial new math framework. Here’s what’s in it.” —Education Week
- Lydia Rainey, Paul Hill, and Robin Lake, “Teach recovery? Three years in, school system leaders report that the pandemic weakened instruction,” Center for Reinventing Public Education (July 2023).
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Perpetual Baffour, the research director at the Learning Agency Lab, joins Mike to discuss her creation of an AI Chatbot designed to give teachers and school leaders research-based advice. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a study covering the negative impacts on teacher pay of a Texas policy to expand alternative teacher certification.
Recommended content:
- “Creating a custom Chabot to give evidence-based education advice”—Learning Agency Lab
- “The promise of personalized learning never delivered. Today’s AI is different.”—John Bailey
- “AI won’t replace teachers, but it can make them more effective.” —Nathaniel Grossman
- Sarah Guthery and Lauren Bailes, “Unintended Consequences of Expanding Teacher Preparation Pathways: Does Alternative Licensure Attenuate New Teacher Pay?” American Education Research Association (March 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Fordham’s Adam Tyner joins Mike to discuss his latest report on the inequalities or lack thereof in education funding. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews an evaluation of a teacher-led course for college advising.
Recommended content:
- “Think Again: Is Education Funding in America Still Unequal?”—Adam Tyner
- “Another Nail in the Money Doesn’t Matter Coffin”—Adam Tyner
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Joshua Hyman, “College Counseling in the Classroom: Randomized Evaluation of a Teacher-Based Approach to College Advising,” Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University (June 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Jim Peyser joins Mike to discuss education reform’s tendency to overpromise, and how we can avoid that in the fight against learning loss. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam discusses a study on how the pandemic affected the academic growth of high- and low-achieving students.
Recommended content:
- “Settle for better”— James Peyser
- “Education reform is alive and well, even if the Washington Consensus is dead for now”—Michael Petrilli
- “Let’s forge a new K–12 political coalition—without political extremists” —Bruno Manno
- The study that Adam reviewed on the Research Minute: Scott J. Peters et al., “Unequal Learning Loss: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Influenced the Academic Growth of Learners at the Tails of the Achievement Distribution,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (June 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Jeanette Luna at jluna@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alia Wong of USA Today joins Mike and David to discuss what’s causing chronic absenteeism and ways to fix it. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a California study that investigates the extent to which a small group of teachers exacerbates racial gaps in school discipline.
Recommended content:
- “Showing up to school was hard amid COVID. Why aren’t kids (or teachers) returning to class?” — Alia Wong
- “When students feel unsafe, absenteeism grows” —Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. and Christian Eggers
- “Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism” —Jing Liu
- “3 years since the pandemic wrecked attendance, kids still aren't showing up to school” —NPR
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Jing Liu, Emily K. Penner and Wenjing Gao, Troublemakers? The Role of Frequent Teacher Referrers in Expanding Racial Disciplinary Disproportionalities, American Educational Research Association (June 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kevin Teasley, of the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss his charter high schools where students take dual-enrollment courses at local colleges and earn associate degrees. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a study that investigates how states’ early literacy policies affect reading and math achievement.
Recommended content:
- “Case Study: Delivering K-16 Outcomes with K-12 Dollars” — The 74
- “Attend These Charter Schools. Leave With College Credentials”—Rick Hess Straight Up
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: John Westall and Amy Cummings, “The Effects of Early Literacy Policies on Student Achievement,” Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (June 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Nick Colangelo of the University of Iowa joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the recommendations in the new report from the National Working Group on Advanced Education. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a California study that investigates how within-school differences in school quality contribute to educational achievement gaps.
Recommended content:
- The National Working Group on Advanced Education’s new report: “Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners”
- “The case for gifted education” —Brandon L. Wright
- “Research Deep Dive: What we know about gifted education”—Michael J. Petrilli, Jonathan Plucker, and Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
- “Because equity” is not a good reason to lower standards” —Michael J. Petrilli
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Matthew Naven, Within-School Heterogeneity in Quality: Do Schools Provide Equal Value Added to All Students?, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (May 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul DiPerna of EdChoice joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the results from the EdChoice survey on teacher satisfaction and wellness across the district, charter, and private school sectors. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a study that investigates the negative long-term effects of Reading Recovery.
Recommended content:
- “Where are teachers thriving?”—Mike McShane
- “Teacher job satisfaction rebounds from last year’s low. But there’s still a ways to go” —Education Week
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Henry May et al., Long-Term Impacts of Reading Recovery through 3rd and 4th Grade: A Regression Discontinuity Study, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness (May 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kathleen Porter-Magee of Partnership Schools—a network of Catholic schools in New York City and Cleveland—joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the debate over religious charter schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a Virginia study that compares labor market outcomes between community college students from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Recommended content:
- “3 reasons why religious charter schools should give us pause” —Kathleen Porter Magee
- “Proposal for first religious charter school in US shot down by Oklahoma education board” —USA Today
- “Supreme Court opens a path to religious charter schools: But the trail ahead holds twists and turns” —Education Next
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Brian Heseung Kim et al., Crossing the Finish Line but Losing the Race? Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Labor Market Trajectories of Community College Graduates , Education Finance & Policy (April 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Kane of Harvard University joins Mike Petrilli to discuss his findings from The Education Recovery Scorecard Project. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a New York City study that investigates how external principal hires and internal principal promotions affect various measures of school quality.
Recommended content:
- “Parents don’t understand how far behind their kids are in school” —Tom Kane and Sean Reardon
- “Pandemic learning loss: The role remote education played” —New York Times
- “American schools would rather not tell parents just how badly behind their children are after the pandemic” —Fortune
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Marcus Winters et al., The Impact of Principal Attrition and Replacement on Indicators of School Quality, Education Finance & Policy (2023)
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Jeanette Luna at jluna@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new book, The Great School Rethink. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a Massachusetts study that found a connection between teachers’ scores on CTE licensure exams and the long-term earnings of their students.
Recommended content:
- “How can we liberate students from drudgery? It’s time for a Great Rethink” —Rick Hess
- “Education commentary is dominated by optimism bias” —Freddie deBoer
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Bingjie Chien et al., “CTE teacher licensure and long-term student outcomes,” Education Finance & Policy (March 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Deven Carlson of Oklahoma University joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new Fordham study on the outcomes of English learners who attend charter schools in Texas. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses the prevalence of stackable credentials in Ohio and Colorado.
Recommended content:
- Fordham’s new report: “Charter Schools and English Learners in the Lone Star State” —Deven Carlson and David Griffith
- “Thousands of families opt to join Texas’ growing charter school system” —Spectrum News 1 [South Texas]
- “San Antonio charter schools lifted student achievement prior to pandemic” —Greg Toppo
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Lindsay Daugherty et al., “Stackable Credential Pipelines and Equity for Low-Income Individuals,” RAND (2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Bellwether co-founder and Virginia Board of Education member Andy Rotherham joins Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Amber Northern to discuss Virginia’s newly-approved history and social science standards. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines how test-based and non-test-based measures of teacher quality affect student outcomes.
Recommended content:
- Virginia’s new standards: “Standards of learning for history & social science” —Virginia Department of Education
- Andy’s blog on education policy: Eduwonk
- “After months of controversy, Virginia approves new school history standards” —Washington Post
- Fordham’s most recent report on history and civics standards: “The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021,” by Jeremy A. Stern, Ph.D., Alison E. Brody, José A. Gregory, Stephen Griffith, and Jonathan Pulvers
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Benjamin Backes et al., “How to measure a teacher: The influence of test and nontest value-added on long-run student outcomes,” CALDER Working Paper (April 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Robert Pondiscio joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss a new study that shows that a curriculum rich in content knowledge can boost reading comprehension, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber looks at the impact of charter schools on private tutoring prevalence.
Recommended content:
- The study on Core Knowledge Charter Schools discussed in this episode: David Grissmer et al., “A kindergarten lottery evaluation of Core Knowledge Charter Schools: Should building general knowledge have a central role in educational and social science research and policy?” Annenberg Institute Ed Working Paper No. 23-755 (April 2023)
- “At long last, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. gets his due: New research shows big benefits from Core Knowledge” —Robert Pondiscio
- “Using a curriculum rich in arts, history, and science led to big reading improvements” —Education Week
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Edward J. Kim and Luke W. Miratrix, “The causal impact of charter schools on private tutoring prevalence,” Annenberg Institute Ed Working Paper No. 23-756(April 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Scott Marion of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the challenges of implementing through-course assessments, which would roll up two or three tests during the school year into a final score for accountability purposes. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner tells us about a new meta-analysis that finds how schools spend money is more important than how much they spend.
Recommended content:
- Through-year assessment: Ten key considerations —Nathan Dadey, Carla Evans, and Will Lorié
- “Through-year assessment: Are we asking too much?” —Catherine Gewertz
- “Through-year assessment: A unified solution to measure grade-level achievement and growth” —NWEA
- The study that Adam reviewed on the Research Minute: Danielle Handel and Eric Hanushek, “U.S. School Finance: Resources and Outcomes,” NBER Working Paper (December 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Gail Post joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how parents can support their gifted children and advocate for their educational needs. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber looks at a Dallas program that used salary bonuses to attract and retain highly effective teachers at hard-to-staff schools.
Recommended content:
- Gail’s new book: The Gifted Parenting Journey: A Guide to Self-discovery and Support for Families of Gifted Children
- Fordham’s Substack newsletter on gifted education: Advance
- “The wonderful but weighty challenges of parenting a gifted child” —Victoria McDougald
- “A formula for creating more equitable gifted and talented programs” —Wall Street Journal
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Andrew Morgan et al., “Attracting and retaining highly effective educators in hard-to-staff schools,” NBER Working Paper (March 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our producer Nathaniel Grossman at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Carole Basile and Brent Maddin from Arizona State University join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how a new team-based staffing model could be good for students and teachers. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner discusses how selective high school admissions could change if schools looked at more than just test scores.
Recommended content:
- Carole and Brent’s team-based teaching project at Arizona State University: Next Education Workforce
- The Next Education Workforce: Team-based staffing models can make schools work better for both learners and educators —Carole Basile and Brent Maddin
- “To improve student outcomes, ask teachers to do fewer things better” —Robert Pondiscio and Jessica Schurz
- “In one giant classroom, four teachers manage 135 kids—and love it” —Hechinger Report
- The study that Adam reviewed on the Research Minute: Marco Pariguana and Maria Elena Ortega-Hesles, “School Choice, Mismatch, and Graduation,” University of Western Ontario (November 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Griffith and Paul Bruno join Mike Petrilli to discuss David’s new Think Again brief on whether charter schools drain resources from traditional public schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses how academic mobility differs across student groups.
Recommended content:
- Think Again: Do charter schools drain resources from traditional public schools? —David Griffith
- “Charter school growth increases resources in district-run schools” —Patrick Wolf
- Robbers or Victims? Charter Schools and District Finances —Mark Weber
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Wes Austin et al., “Academic Mobility in U.S. Public Schools: Evidence from Nearly 3 Million Students,” CALDER Working Paper (March 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our producer Nathaniel Grossman at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Natalie Neris and Hal Woods of Kids First Chicago join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what Chicago’s mayoral run-off election between Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas means for the city’s schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber looks at the effects of mindfulness-based programs on student mental health and resilience.
Recommended content:
- “Chicago mayoral candidates offer divergent paths on declining enrollment and small schools” —Chalkbeat Chicago
- “In Chicago mayor’s race, two hopefuls reflect Democrats’ split” —AP News
- “The Chicago Teachers Union power play” —Wall Street Journal
- “A shifting mood on crime propelled Chicago’s leading candidate for mayor” —New York Times
- “Chicago school enrollment declines for eleventh year” —Illinois Policy Institute
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Jessica Mettler et al., “Mindfulness-based programs and school adjustment: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” Journal of School Psychology (April 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Crystal McQueen-Taylor of StudentsFirstNY joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the battle royale to lift the charter cap in New York City. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber looks at the effects of closing and restarting low-performing schools as charter schools in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Recommended content:
- “Charter school expansion faces tough fight in New York” —New York Times
- “Proof that charters benefit all public-school kids” —New York Post
- “Because they can: Governor Kathy Hochul’s charter school proposal is modest—so why are teachers’ unions and state legislators so determined to stop it?” —City Journal
- Still Rising: Charter School Enrollment and Student Achievement at the Metropolitan Level —David Griffith
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Whitney Bross, Douglas N. Harris, and Lihan Liu, “The effects of performance-based school closure and restart on student performance,” Economics of Education Review (June 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Michael Horn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what schools can do to protect kids’ mental health and whether social media is making it worse. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber explores why schools seem to make more progress on math tests than reading tests.
Recommended content:
- Michael Horn’s latest book, From Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)Creating School for Every Child
- “Teen girls report record levels of sadness, C.D.C. Finds” —New York Times
- “How to help young people limit screen time—and feel better about how they look” —NPR
- “Is politics making kids depressed?” —Wall Street Journal
- Jonathan Haidt’s Substack, After Babel
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Evan Riehl and Meredith Welch, “Accountability, Test Prep Incentives, and the Design of Math and English Exams,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (September 26, 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Scott Peters of NWEA joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss why eliminating honors classes and other advanced education opportunities in the name of equity is a mistake. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines the connection between public school choice and adult criminality.
Recommended content:
- “How one school district is balancing excellence and equity—and another isn’t” —Brandon L. Wright
- “To increase equity, school districts eliminate honors classes” —Wall Street Journal
- “Parents speak out against school canceling honors classes in the name of racial equity” —New York Post
- “One-size-fits-all education doesn’t work well, but diversity advocates are hitting the accelerator” —Real Clear Investigations
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Andrew Bibler et al., “Does School Choice Increase Crime?” NBER Working Paper (February 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dale Chu joins Mike Petrilli to discuss whether Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are focusing too much on divisive culture war issues in their education platforms. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber explains how higher test scores and college aspirations affected the long-term life outcomes of Massachusetts high schoolers.
Recommended content:
- “The GOP’s dubious ‘protect the children’ platform for 2024” —Dale Chu
- “Trump plays catch-up with GOP rivals on fights over race and gender in schools” —Washington Post
- “The Contradictions of Ron DeSantis” —Atlantic
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Preeya P. Mbekeani et al., “Understanding High Schools’ Effects on Longer-Term Outcomes,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kymyona Burk and Tom Greene of ExcelinEd join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how Ohio, Mississippi, and other states are implementing research-based literacy policies. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines virtual charter schools’ effect on student achievement in Pennsylvania.
Recommended content:
- The Mississippi study that Kymyona discussed on the show: “The Effect of Retention Under Mississippi’s Test-Based Promotion Policy” —Wheelock Education Policy Center
- “A new study confirms Mississippi’s promise: ensuring all students can read” —Jeb Bush and Kymyona Burk in the Magnolia Tribune
- “Gov. Mike DeWine enters the ‘reading wars’ with budget proposal to fund change to ‘science of reading’” —Cleveland.com
- “Concern over Tennessee’s third grade reading, retention law prompts flurry of bills” —Chattanooga Times Free Press
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Sarah A. Cordes, “Cyber versus Brick and Mortar: Achievement, Attainment, and Postsecondary Outcomes in Pennsylvania Charter High Schools,” Education Finance and Policy (February 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Ashley Berner of Johns Hopkins University tells us why education savings accounts are unlikely to lead to educational pluralism. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner discusses a study on remediation for middle school students that had very different short-term versus long-term effects.
Recommended content:
- “Will ESAs change America’s definition of ‘public education?’: An interview with Ashley Berner” —Rober Pondiscio
- “Partisanship and American education” —Ashley Berner
- “2 more states approve universal school voucher programs” —K-12 Dive
- “From School Choice to Parent Choice” —City Journal
- The study that Adam reviewed on the Research Minute: David N. Figlio and Umut Özek, “The Unintended Consequences of Test-Based Remediation,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper (January 2023).
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute tells Mike Petrilli and David Griffith why we should be happy that an increasing number of states are eliminating college degree requirements for many jobs. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber tells us about the effect of mandatory pass/fail grading on college student performance.
Recommended content:
- “Penn.’s New Governor Strikes a Blow Against the College-Industrial Complex” —Forbes
- “Busting the College-Industrial Complex” —National Affairs
- “Utah governor wants to eliminate the ‘paper ceiling’ of degree requirements” —The Center Square
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Kristin Butcher, Patrick McEwan, and Akila Weerapana, “Making the (Letter) Grade: The Incentive Effects of Mandatory Pass/Fail Courses,” National Bureau of Economic Research (December 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tim Daly of EdNavigator tells Mike Petrilli and David Griffith how districts should prepare for looming school closures. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber explains the effect of worker displacement on college enrollment.
Recommended content:
- “We need to prepare now for the school closures that are coming” —Tim Daly
- “America’s public schools are losing students” —Axios
- “Illinois public school enrollment continues to drop, preliminary numbers show” —Chalkbeat Chicago
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Veronica Minaya et al., “The effect of job displacement on public college enrollment: Evidence from Ohio,” Economics of Education Review (February 2023)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk with Nicole Garnett, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, about the Supreme Court decisions that could legalize religious charter schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a literature review about inclusion for special education students.
Recommended content:
- “Supreme Court Opens a Path to Religious Charter Schools” —Nicole Garnett
- “The Education Exchange: Will Supreme Court Pave Way For Religious Charter Schools?” —Education Next
- “Oklahoma’s Endorsement of Religious Charter Schools Could Alter Legal Landscape for Choice” —The 74
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Nina T. Dalgaard et al., “The effects of inclusion on academic achievement, socioemotional development and wellbeing of children with special educational needs,” Campbell Systematic Reviews (December 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk with Robert Pondiscio of the American Enterprise Institute about what schools should resolve to do better—and resolve to do less of—in 2023. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber tells us about the effect of school-based telemedicine clinics on student outcomes.
Recommended content:
- “Artificial intelligence is not the end of high-school English” —Robert Pondiscio
- Sold a Story —American Public Media
- The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021 —Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Sarah Komisarow and Steven Hemelt, “School-Based Healthcare and Absenteeism: Evidence from Telemedicine,” CALDER Working Paper (January 2023)
Feedback Welcome:Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our producer Nathaniel Grossman at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Griffith talks with Checker Finn about why we should still teach writing in the age of ChatGPT, a new AI-powered bot that can mimic human prose. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber tells us about the challenges of implementing academic Covid recovery interventions.
Recommended content:
- ChatGPT, the writing bot discussed in this episode
- “Why learn to write?” —Checker Finn
- “Artificial intelligence is not the end of high-school English” —Robert Pondiscio
- “Did a fourth grader write this? or the new chatbot?” —New York Times
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Maria V. Carbonari et al., The Challenges of Implementing Academic COVID Recovery Interventions: Evidence from the Road to Recovery Project, CALDER Working Paper (December 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s special, year-end Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli looks back on 2022’s most important education stories with 50CAN founder and CEO Marc Porter Magee. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber counts down the year’s top academic studies on education.
Recommended content:
- “Nation’s Report Card shows largest drops ever recorded in 4th and 8th grade math” —The 74
- “Gov. Bill Lee unveils new school funding formula aimed at focusing money directly on students” —Tennessean
- “Arizona’s school choice revolution” —Washington Examiner
- Emily Hanford’s podcast series, Sold a Story —American Public Media
Amber’s top five studies of the year:
- 5. Paul T. von Hippel and Ana P. Cañedo, “Is Kindergarten Ability Group Placement Biased? New Data, New Methods, New Answers,” American Educational Research Journal (2021).
- 4. Owen Thompson, “Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation” NBER Working Paper #29546 (December 2021).
- 3. Rune Vammen Lesner, Anna Piil Damm, Preben Bertelsen, and Mads Uffe Pedersen, “The Effect of School-Year Employment on Cognitive Skills, Risky Behavior, and Educational Achievement,” Economics of Education Review (March 2022); Alicia Sasser Modestino and Richard Paulsen, “School’s Out: How Summer Youth Employment Programs Impact Academic Outcomes,” Education Finance and Policy (January 2022).
- 2. Young Hwang and Cory Koedel, “Holding Back to Move Forward: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes,” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (December 2022)
- 1. Kenneth Shores, Hojung Lee, and Elinor Williams, “The Distribution of School Resources in The United States: A Comparative Analysis Across Levels of Governance, Student Sub-groups, And Educational Resources,” Social Science Research Network (August 2021).
Feedback Welcome:Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our producer Nathaniel Grossman at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk with the University of Colorado’s Parker Baxter on how Denver’s comprehensive school reform effort led to higher student achievement and graduation rates. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber brings us good news about a third grade retention policy in Indiana.
Recommended content:
- “The system-level effects of Denver’s portfolio strategy on student academic outcomes” —Parker Baxter
- A University of Colorado video on Parker Baxter’s study.
- “Denver Public Schools’ controversial reform strategy led to higher test scores and graduation rates, but not without costs” —Colorado Public Radio
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Young Hwang and Cory Koedel, “Holding Back to Move Forward: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes,” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (December 2022).
Feedback Welcome:Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our producer Nathaniel Grossman at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk with Juliet Squire, Senior Partner at Bellwether, about a new initiative called Assembly, which is a deep dive into the idea of unbundling education services for all students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discusses a Teach For America study that examines how teacher-turnover rates affect student achievement.
Recommended content:
- Bellwether’s Assembly
- “The Pandemic and the Great Unbundling (and Rebundling) of American Schools” —The Bulwark
- “The Unbundling Series: Five Services Public Education Should Do Differently” —EdChoice
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Virginia F. Lovison, “The Effects of High-performing, High-turnover Teachers on Long-run Student Achievement: Evidence from Teach For America,” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (November 2022)
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kymyona Burk, Senior Policy Fellow at ExcelinEd, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what states are doing to promote the science of reading and crack down on the snake oil salespeople still peddling bogus reading programs. Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how playing video games affects children’s cognitive performance.
Recommended content:
- Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong —American Public Media
- Emily Hanford’s keynote address and panel discussion from the National Summit on Education —ExcelinEd
- Comprehensive How-To Guide: Approaches to Implementing Early Literacy Policies —Kymyona Burk
- “The Noose Tightens Around Failed Reading Programs in Schools” —Robert Pondiscio
Feedback Welcome:
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Virginia Gentles, the director of the Education Freedom Center at the Independent Women’s Forum, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the results of the 2022 midterm elections and what they mean for the parents’ rights movement. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that finds that students from under-resourced schools perform worse on computer-based tests than on traditional paper ones.
Recommended content:
- “School Board Candidates Who Pushed ‘Parental Rights’ See Mixed Results” —Wall Street Journal
- “Still the Ones to Beat: Teachers’ Unions and School Board Elections”—Michael Hartney
- “DeSantis, conservatives score more Florida school board wins” —Politico
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: John Gordanier et al., “Pencils Down? Computerized Testing and Student Achievement,” Education Finance and Policy (Oct 2022).
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Education Gadfly Show #845: Why schools are wasting millions of dollars on ineffective online tutoring
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Bart Epstein, the president and CEO of EdTech Evidence Exchange, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the challenges that schools and districts face when implementing online “on-demand” tutoring programs for students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that examines the effects of state-mandated civics tests on youth voter turnout.
Recommended content:
- Bart's organization: EdTech Evidence Exchange
- The narrow path to doing it right: Evidence from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring —Mike Goldstein and Bowen Paulle
- "Many schools are buying on-demand tutoring but a study finds that few students are using it" —The Hechinger Report
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Jung, Jilli, and Gopalan, Maithreyi, "The Stubborn Unresponsiveness of Youth Voter Turnout to Civic Education: Quasi-experimental Evidence from State-Mandated Civics Tests," Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (Nov 2022)
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Seth Gershenson—professor at the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University and the author of Fordham’s new report, High Expectations in District and Charter Schools—to discuss its findings and why high teacher expectations translate into better outcomes for kids. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that examines teachers’ contributions to school climate and how it varies by student race and ethnicity.
Recommended content:
· Fordham’s new study by Seth Gershenson: “High Expectations in District and Charter Schools.”
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Benjamin Backes et al., Teachers and School Climate: Effects on Student Outcomes and Academic Disparities, CALDER Working Paper(October 2022).
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Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the 2022 NAEP results. Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that examines how instructional time differs between countries and offers suggestions on how U.S. schools can recover learning time lost to the pandemic.
Recommended content[BW1] :
· The 2022 NAEP results.· Checker Finn’s recent book about NAEP: “Assessing the Nation’s Report Card: Challenges and Choices for NAEP” (May 2022). · The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Matthew A. Kraft and Sarah Novicoff: “Instructional Time in U.S. Public Schools: Wide Variation, Causal Effects, and Lost Hours,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University(September 2022).Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org
[BW1]Should add mike and checker’s op-eds tomorrow after they’re published. Once Gadfly goes out, Lilly, please do so.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Quentin Suffren, Senior Advisor of Innovation Policy for ExcelinEd, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss industry-recognized credentials and why their impact has been muted so far. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that examines how college graduates’ earnings are influenced by the performance of their schools’ football teams.
Recommended content:
· Quentin’s recent Fordham article: “Credentials matter, but pathways matter more,” September 2022, which summarized the findings from “Credentials Matter,” a website created by ExcelinEd and Burning Glass Technologies.
· Our report on IRCs: Matt Giani, “How Attaining Industry-Recognized Credentials in High School Shapes Education and Employment Outcomes,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (August 2022).
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Monica Harber Carney, “College Football Performance, Student Earnings, and the Gender Wage Gap,” Education Finance and Policy (September 2022).
On This week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Carissa Miller, CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how state education agencies are spending the 10 percent of ESSER funds set aside for them. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how providing information about the likely financial outcomes of college and career paths affects high schoolers’ choices.
Recommended content:
· CCSSO’s analysis of how the relief dollars are being spent: “States Leading: How State Education Agencies are Leveraging the ESSER Set-Aside,” August 2022; and an accompanying webinar.
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Gabriele Ballarino et al., “The effects of an information campaign beyond university enrolment: A large-scale field experiment on the choices of high school students,” Economics of Education Review (December 2022).
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Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org
On this week’s Education Show podcast, Jennifer Alexander, Executive Director of the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss recent state-level education reform victories, including Tennessee’s school funding overhaul and Illinois’s new charter facilities financing law . Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study that examines the impact family structure has had on student achievement and discipline over time.
Recommended Content:
- PIE Network’s 2022 Eddie Awards Nominees: “Game Changer Campaign of the Year,” (August 2022).
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Nicholas Zill and Bradford Wilcox, “Strong Families, Better Student Performance: The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same,” Institute for Family Studies (August 2022)
- Jeff Murray’s Fordham Institute review of Zill and Bradford’s study: “Family structure and academic outcomes,” (September 6, 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Stéphane Lavertu and Long Tran, both professors at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University and the authors of Fordham’s new report, For-Profit Charter Schools: An evaluation of their spending and outcomes. They discuss findings from their new study and broader issues of so-called “for-profit” charter schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews an ambitious study that examines closure and restructuring rates in district, charter, and private schools nationwide.
Recommended content:
· Fordham’s new study: Stéphane Lavertu and Long Tran, “For-Profit Charter Schools: An evaluation of their spending and outcomes,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 2022).
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Douglas N. Harris and Valentina Martinez-Pabon, “Extreme Measures: A National Descriptive Analysis of Closure and Restructuring of Traditional Public, Charter, and Private Schools,” Education Finance and Policy (2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Karega Rausch, President and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what—if anything—charter schools could have done to reopen sooner during the 2020-21 school year. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses the long-term impacts of requiring high school seniors to pass a science test to graduate.
Recommended Content:
· Karega’s essay for The 74: “High-Quality Charter Schools Can Help Drive Student Recovery from COVID — If They’re Allowed to Grow and Expand” (April 2022).
· Marc Porter Magee on the devastating learning loss of DC’s charter schools: “The New Reality Roundup | Week 132,” (September 2022)
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Ann Mantil, John Papay, Preeya Pandya Mbekeani, and Richard J. Murnane, “Increasing High School Students’ Preparation and Interest in STEM Fields: Does a Graduation Requirement Make a Difference?” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (September 2022)
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Karega Rausch, President and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what—if anything—charter schools could have done to reopen sooner during the 2020-21 school year. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses the long-term impacts of requiring high school seniors to pass a science test to graduate.
Recommended Content:
· Karega’s essay for The 74: “High-Quality Charter Schools Can Help Drive Student Recovery from COVID — If They’re Allowed to Grow and Expand” (April 2022).
· Marc Porter Magee on the devastating learning loss of DC’s charter schools: “The New Reality Roundup | Week 132,” (September 2022)
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Ann Mantil, John Papay, Preeya Pandya Mbekeani, and Richard J. Murnane, “Increasing High School Students’ Preparation and Interest in STEM Fields: Does a Graduation Requirement Make a Difference?” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (September 2022)
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show Podcast, Elliot Regenstein joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new book, which calls for changes in three areas of education policy: accountability, teacher pay, and school choice. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a paper that identifies common transportation challenges for cities with lots of charter schools and other forms of school choice.
Recommended content:
· Elliot’s new book: Education Restated: Getting Policy Right on Accountability, Teacher Pay, and School Choice(Rowman & Littlefield, August 2022).
· Amber’s article that she reviewed on the Research Minute: Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, “Student Transportation in Choice-Rich Districts: Implementation Challenges and Responses,” Education Finance and Policy (April 2022).
Feedback Welcome!
Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show Podcast, John Bailey, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss what schools are likely to do—and what they should do—if hit by more Covid waves this year. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that examines whether private schools that participate in voucher programs “cream skim” high achieving students and/or push out more challenging ones.
Recommended Content:
- Bree Dusseault: “School Mask, Vaccine Mandates Are Mostly Gone. But What if the Virus Comes Back?” (September 2022).
- Amber’s article that she reviewed on the Research Minute: Joseph Waddington, Ron Zimmer, and Mark Berends, “Cream Skimming and Pushout of Students Participating in a Statewide Private School Voucher Program,” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (August 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Houston, assistant professor at George Mason University and survey director of the Education Next Poll, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the relationship between political partisanship and public opinion on education issues. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on the impact of the Broad Superintendents Academy, a program that trains non-educators to lead urban school systems.
Recommended content:
· David Houston’s co-authored Education Next article with Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West: “Partisan Rifts Widen, Perceptions of School Quality Decline” (August 2022)
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Thomas S. Dee , Susanna Loeb, and Ying Shi., “Public-Sector Leadership and Philanthropy: The Case of Broad Superintendents,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, (August 2022)
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· Have ideas on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Nathaniel Grossman and Lilly Sibel at ngrossman@fordhaminstitute.org and lsibel@fordhaminstitue.org
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Matt Giani, a professor and researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of Fordham’s new report, How Attaining Industry-Recognized Credentials in High School Shapes Education and Employment Outcomes. They discuss some takeaways of the first-of-its-kind study. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a paper examining whether schools where students make rapid academic progress in grades 3–5 also help their students do so in grades K–2.
Recommended content:
· Fordham’s new study: Matt Giani, “How Industry-Recognized Credentials in High School Shape Students’ Education and Employment Outcomes,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (August 2022).
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Walter Herring, “The Other Half of the Story: Does Excluding the Early Grades from School Ratings Matter?” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (August 2022).
· Dale Chu on why states should start annual testing earlier: “The case for K–2 testing,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (October 28, 2021).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his article (co-authored with Rick Hess) in National Affairs about the bipartisan history—and uncertain future—of school reform. Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how politicized issues like Covid-19 safety measures and Critical Race Theory are affecting principals and teachers.
Recommended content:
· Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Frederick M. Hess’s article: “The End of School Reform?” National Affairs (Summer 2022).
· Michael J. Petrilli’s article on education reform: “Education reform is alive and well, even if the Washington Consensus is dead for now,” August 11, 2022.
· Daniel Buck’s article on the new education consensus: “The new education consensus is conservative, and that’s a good thing,” August 11, 2022.
· The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Ashley Woo et al., “Walking a Fine Line—Educators’ Views on Politicized Topics in Schooling,” RAND Corporation (2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show Podcast, Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss whether the “teacher shortage” is real, what might be causing it, and whether lowering barriers to entry to the classroom is a good idea. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study that examines demographic disparities in students identified for gifted services, and whether a school-wide curricular intervention for early elementary can help.
Recommended content:
- Heather Peske’s opinion piece: “We wouldn’t lower standards for pilot licenses—so why teachers?” National Council on Teacher Quality (July 2022).
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Angel H. Harris, Darryl V. Hill, and Matthew A. Lenard, “Promises, Pitfalls, and Tradeoffs in Identifying Gifted Learners: Evidence from a Curricular Experiment,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (July 2022).
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Our host Mike Petrilli is on vacation this week, so we're republishing our most popular podcast episode for three years running. With over one thousand downloads, “The impact of urban charter schools,” will be our topic of discussion for today. We'll be back to our regular schedule next week.
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Have any feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producers Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org or Lilly Sibel at lsibel@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show Podcast, Lindsay Dworkin and Karyn Lewis, senior vice president of policy and advocacy and director of the center for school and student progress at NWEA, respectively, join Mike Petrilli to discuss Karyn’s co-authored research brief on student achievement following Covid-19. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a survey of district administrators on teacher shortages, student and staff mental health, and pandemic-connected learning loss.
Recommended content:
- Meghan Kuhfeld and Karyn Lewis’s Collaborative for Student Growth brief, “Student achievement in 2021-22: Cause for hope and continued urgency,” July 2022.
- Mike Goldstein’s podcast feature on learning losses from Covid-19, “Education Gadfly Show #825: Learning loss may get worse before it gets better.”
- Thomas Kane’s learning recovery tracker, “Equitable Recovery: Addressing Learning Challenges after COVID,” May 2022.
- Melissa Kay Diliberti and Heather L. Schwartz,“Districts Continue to Struggle with Staffing, Political Polarization, and Unfinished Instruction,” RAND Corporation (2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Cohen, former president of Achieve, and Laura Slover, CEO of CenterPoint Education Solutions, join Mike Petrilli to discuss their paper on the future of standards-based school reform, as well as Chester Finn’s and Dale Chu’s responses to it. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how different concentrations in high school career-technical programs affect participants’ college majors.
Recommended Content:
- Michael Cohen and Laura Slover’s FutureEd paper, “Unfinished Agenda: The Future of Standards-Based School Reform,” released June 2022.
- Chester E. Finn, Jr.’s critique of Cohen and Slover’s article: “Can we revise standards-based reform?”
- Dale Chu’s review: “Relinquishment or instructional coherence: What’s the right goal for districts?”
- Zeyu Xu and Ben Backes, “Linkage Between Fields of Concentration in High School Career-Technical Education and College Majors,” CALDER (July 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Matt Beienburg, Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss a new Arizona law that allows any school-aged child to use a taxpayer-funded savings account to pay for private school—or any other educational expense. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on whether a content-rich literacy intervention improves third graders’ reading comprehension.
Recommended Content:
- Matt Beienburg, “In Arizona’s Historic ESA Expansion, a Blueprint for Educational Freedom,” The 74 (July 2022).
- James S. Kim, Patrick Rich, and Ethan Scherer, “Long-Term Effects of a Sustained Content Literacy Intervention on Third Graders’ Reading Comprehension Outcomes,” EdWorkingPaper: 22-600, retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (July 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Daniel Buck, a teacher and a Fordham senior visiting fellow, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss “no zeroes” grading policies and why he thinks they’re the worst of all worlds. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how high-stakes testing affects teacher turnover and the distribution of teachers across grades and schools.
Recommended content:
•Daniel Buck’s first Fordham post arguing against these policies, which launched a subsequent debate: “A ‘no zeroes’ grading policy is the worst of all worlds,” June 16, 2022.
•Douglas Reeves’s response to Buck: “Revisiting ‘The Case Against the Zero’: A response to Daniel Buck,” June 23, 2022.
•And finally, Daniel Buck reply to Reeves: “Let’s not get reckless with grading: Replying to Douglass Reeves,” June 23, 2022.
•The study Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Dillon Fuchsman, Tim R. Sass, and Gema Zamarro, “Testing, Teacher Turnover and the Distribution of Teachers Across Grades and Schools,” Education Finance and Policy (April 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, we present the sixth edition of our Research Deep Dive series. Jonathan Plucker, professor at Johns Hopkins University and past president of the National Association for Gifted Children, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how gifted education has become a hot political topic, how to identify students who need gifted services, what those services should look like, the debate over tracking versus ability grouping, and the research on exam schools. Also check out our other deep dives on teacher effectiveness, school discipline, school closures, urban charters, and school voucher programs.
Recommended studies referred to in this episode are available on the site.
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike Goldstein, founder of Match Education in Boston, a college prep charter school with an embedded Graduate School of Education, discusses his prediction that learning losses will continue without a bold plan to reengage students, teachers, and parents, and address misbehavior. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how developmental outcomes are affected by gender differences in how children spend their time.
Recommended content:
- Mike Goldstein’s Fordham op-ed: “The coming ‘second wave’ of learning loss in 2023 and 2024.”
- Our episode with Doug Lemov on the related issue of rebuilding school culture: “Education Gadfly Show #817: Doug Lemov on rebuilding school culture amid a mental health epidemic.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Ha Trong Nyogen et al., “Gender differences in time allocation contribute to differences in developmental outcomes in children and adolescents,” Economics of Education Review (May 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dr. Dana Suskind, a pediatric surgeon and founder of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago, discusses how social supports for low-income and working-class parents equalize opportunities for their young children later in life. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews two studies on whether there’s bias in ability grouping within kindergarten classrooms.
Recommended content:
- Dr. Suskind’s new book, Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child’s Potential, Fulfilling Society’s Promise.
- The studies that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Paul T. von Hippel and Ana P. Cañedo, “Is Kindergarten Ability Group Placement Biased? New Data, New Methods, New Answers,” American Educational Research Journal (2021); Ana P. Cañedo and Paul T. von Hippel, “Bias in Kindergarten ability group placement: Does parental lobbying make it worse? Do formal assessments make it better?” retrieved from Annenberg Institute at BrownUniversity (May 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Kane, Harvard economist and director of its Center for Education Policy Research, explains the latest research on the disastrous—and inequitable—impact of remote learning on America’s students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on whether Black and Hispanic children with disabilities are placed in special education classrooms at greater rates than their peers.
Recommended content:
- Kane’s op-ed in The Atlantic: “Kids Are Far, Far Behind in School.”
- Kane’s report, coauthored with scholars from AIR, Dartmouth, Harvard, and NWEA: “The Consequences of Remote and Hybrid Instruction During the Pandemic.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Paul L. Morgan et al., “Which Students With Disabilities are Placed Primarily Outside of U.S. Elementary School General Education Classrooms?” Journal of Learning Disabilities (2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Checker Finn, the Fordham Institute’s president emeritus and a distinguished senior fellow, discusses recommendations for the National Assessment of Educational Progress from his new book, Assessing the Nation’s Report Card. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how a performance-based teacher pay policy in the U.K. impacted personnel decisions and student outcomes.
Recommended content:
- Checker’s new book, Assessing the Nation’s Report Card: Challenges and Choices for NAEP.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Simon Burgess, Ellen Greaves, and Richard Murphy, “Deregulating Teacher Labor Markets,” Economics of Education Review (March 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera discusses Governor Glenn Youngkin’s and her vision for education outlined in a state report titled Our Commitment to Virginians: High Expectations and Excellence for All Students. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on efforts to improve the identification of gifted students in rural communities.
Recommended content:
- The policy paper referenced: Our Commitment to Virginians: High Expectations and Excellence for All Students.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Carolyn M. Callahan et al., “Consequences of Implementing Curricular-Aligned Strategies for Identifying Rural Gifted Students,” Gifted Child Quarterly (2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Robert Pondiscio, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and senior visiting fellow here at Fordham, discusses his wariness about social-emotional learning but rebuts the claim that it’s a “Trojan horse” for critical race theory. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study on how well teachers understand their pension plans.
Recommended content:
- Robert’s piece on SEL: “No, social and emotional learning is not a “Trojan horse” for CRT.”
- Nathanial Grossman’s piece: “Schools have no choice but to teach social and emotional skills.”
- Fordham’s parent survey: How to Sell SEL: Parents and the Politics of Social-Emotional Learning.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Dillon Fuchsman, Josh B. McGee, and Gema Zamarro, Teachers’ Knowledge and Preparedness for Retirement: Results from a Nationally Representative Teacher Survey, Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research Working Paper (January 20, 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Ashley Jochim, a principal at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss her research on pandemic learning pods, what parents and educators liked about them, and whether they might outlive the Covid emergency. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study of how New York City’s charter schools are affecting diversity in traditional public schools.
Recommended content:
- Ashley’s February 2022 report: Crisis Breeds Innovation: Pandemic Pods and the Future of Education.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Sarah A. Cordes & Agustina Laurito, “Choice and Change: The Implications of Charter School Expansion for School and Neighborhood Diversity in NYC,” retrieved from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University (April 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kate Walsh, who just finished a twenty-year run leading the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), joins Mike Petrilli to discuss America’s progress (and the lack thereof) on the teacher effectiveness front over the past two decades. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study finding that an AI-capable chatbot improved student college course performance, especially for first-generation students.
Recommended content:
- Kate’s reflections on her time at NCTQ: “In gratitude - A final message from Kate Walsh.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Katharine Meyer et al., “Let’s Chat: Chatbot Nudging for Improved Course Performance” Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (April 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion, andco-managing director of the organization of the same name, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss his forthcoming book, Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, And Belonging. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a study in Tennessee providing fresh evidence that high-performing schools can raise housing prices.
Recommended content:
- Doug’s forthcoming book: Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, And Belonging.
- Via The Acceleration Imperative: “How to instill positive school culture.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Courtney A. Collins & Erin K. Kaplan, “Demand for School Quality and Local District Administration” Economics of Education Review (June 2022).
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jing Liu, Assistant Professor in Education Policy at the University of Maryland College Park and author of our latest study, Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss its findings, the notion of “attendance value-added,” and how improving school safety could help keep kids in class. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern looks at what happened when Massachusetts labeled half its students as “advanced” in mathematics.
Recommended content:
- Jing Liu’s study: Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism.
- The study Mike referenced that also examined “attendance value-added”: C. Kirabo Jackson, et al., “School effects on socioemotional development, school-based arrests, and educational attainment,” American Economic Review: Insights 2, no. 4 (2020): 491–508.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Christopher Avery & Joshua Goodman, “Ability signals and rigorous coursework: Evidence from AP Calculus participation” Economics of Education Review (June 2022).
- Amber’s previous research review of an ability-signaling intervention: “How students react to news of their AP potential.”
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On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul Hill, founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education and emeritus professor at the University of Washington Bothell, joins Mike Petrilli and Checker Finn to debate recent reform setbacks in Denver, and whether they prove that portfolio districts are doomed. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern shares good news from a study examining the intersection of gifted education and segregation.
Recommended content:
- Checker’s case for why these types of reforms are not politically resilient: “Denver’s cautionary tale for the ‘charter-lite’ strategy.”
- Paul’s response: “Denver doesn’t spell doom for portfolio-style reform.”
- Paul’s book on innovation schools referenced during the podcast, Strife and Progress: Portfolio Strategies for Managing Urban Schools.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Owen Thompson, “Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation” NBER Working Paper #29546 (December 2021).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Christy Wolfe, vice president for policy and planning at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how new regulations proposed by the Biden administration could stunt the growth of charter schools across America. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a survey of student reading habits in grades K–12.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Christy’s piece criticizing the proposed regulations: “Biden administration’s proposed rules for Charter School Program empower districts at the expense of communities.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Yangsook Choi et al., “What Kids Are Reading: 2022 Edition,” Renaissance Learning, Inc. (2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
This week’s Education Gladfly Show podcast is a Research Minute–only special! Amber Northern examines a survey of district and charter network leaders about staffing challenges they’ve faced this school year—and true to the segment’s name, tries her mightiest to do so in under sixty seconds. Will she succeed? Listen to find out. (April Fools episode!)
Related Content
- “Young Cattle Auctioneer Champion,” America’s Heartland, YouTube (December 12, 2012).
- “Talking Fast With a Record-Setting Speed Talker,” Great Big Story, YouTube (October 25, 2017).
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Heather L. Schwartz and Melissa Kay Diliberti, “Flux in the Educator Labor Market: Acute Staff Shortages and Projected Superintendent Departures,” RAND Corporation (2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Rick Hess, Senior Fellow and Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the cohost of the “Common Ground” podcast, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how to advance an ed reform agenda in the midst of ongoing culture wars. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study on housing affordability’s impact on student outcomes.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Rick Hess’s plan for post-pandemic schooling in The Dispatch, “Schools Are Exiting the Pandemic. What Now?”
- Rick’s podcast, “Common Ground,” which he cohosts with Pedro Noguera on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Jennifer Jellison Holme, “Growing Up as Rents Rise: How Housing Affordability Impacts Children,” Review of Educational Research (March 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Victoria McDougald discuss Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education, a new book that Mike edited with Kathleen Carroll and Barbara Davidson. They talk about the promise of evidence-based practices, the importance of elementary education, and the centrality of high-quality instructional materials. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study on how employment during high school impacts student outcomes.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Mike’s book, co-edited with Kathleen Carroll and Barbara Davidson: Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education.
- Mike’s pieces from previous years addressing elementary education and the importance of research-based practices: “An ode to elementary schools” and “Can evidence improve America's schools?”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Rune Vammen Lesner et al., “The Effect of School-Year Employment on Cognitive Skills, Risky Behavior, and Educational Achievement,” Economics of Education Review (March 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), April Wells, Gifted Coordinator in Illinois School District U-46 and author of Achieving Equity in Gifted Programming: Dismantling Barriers and Tapping Potential, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how her district scouts for talented students early on, and from all backgrounds. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a survey of district and charter network leaders about staffing challenges they’ve faced this school year.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- A 2021 Hechinger Report piece on April’s district and how it reformed its approach to gifted education: “An Illinois district proved gifted programs can be racially diverse.”
- April’s 2019 book: Achieving Equity in Gifted Programming: Dismantling Barriers and Tapping Potential.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Heather L. Schwartz and Melissa Kay Diliberti, “Flux in the Educator Labor Market: Acute Staff Shortages and Projected Superintendent Departures,” RAND Corporation (2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds, Vice President of Policy for ExcelinEd, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the pros and cons of the college-for-all movement. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study on how winning public-school-choice lotteries affects public school enrollment.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Mike’s post on reforming high school for the many students who won’t go to or aren’t prepared for a four-year college: “We all agree that college isn’t for everyone. We should start acting like it.”
- Arthur Samuels’ concurring piece, which focuses on how principals can support students aiming for entering a career instead of college: “A principal explains how to repair the harm of ‘college for all’.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Susha Roy, “Public School Choice, Outside Options, and Public School Enrollment,” retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Fordham’s editorial director, Brandon Wright, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about the shifting landscape of highly-selective high schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study on teacher morale during the pandemic.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Brandon’s piece from 2021, which discusses Boston’s exam school policies: “Boston is punishing its Asian American community for its educational success.”
- A 2020 Chicago study finding that the city’s approach to diversifying selective-high-school admissions had null-to-negative effects on the academic achievement of admitted disadvantaged students: Lisa Barrow, Lauren Sartain, and Marisa de la Torre, “Increasing Access to Selective High Schools through Place-Based Affirmative Action: Unintended Consequences,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (October 2020).
- The federal district court ruling on admissions-policy changes at Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, Virginia: Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board,No. 1:21cv296-CMH-JFA (E.D. VA February 25, 2022).
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Gema Zamarro et al., “Understanding Teacher Turnover Intentions During the COVID-19 Pandemic” retrieved from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Daniel Buck, Fordham senior visiting fellow and English teacher at Holy Spirit Middle School in Appleton, Wisconsin, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to argue that the educational harms of face masks now outweigh their benefits. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study on whether alternative pathways to graduation benefit students who fail exit exams.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Dan’s piece, which cites studies and European and World Health Organization’s policies on masking children to make his case: “End school mask mandates.”
- A great read in The Atlantic by Emily Oster making a similar case: “Kids-Last COVID Policy Makes No Sense.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Jane Arnold Lincove, Catherine Mata, and Kalena E. Cortes, “A Bridge to Graduation: Post-Secondary Effects of an Alternative Pathway for Students Who Fail High School Exit Exams,” retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Thomas Toch, director of FutureEd, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the ways schools are spending $123 billion in federal Covid relief. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study of how leaders are investing in the teacher workforce, and whether that aligns with the preferences of educators.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- FutureEd’s analysis of more than two thousand local spending plans: “How Local Educators Plan to Spend Billions in Federal Covid Aid.”
- Marguerite Roza’s paper that explores tradeoffs in school spending: “The ‘Would You Rather?’ Test,” from the book Getting the most bang for the education buck, eds. Frederick M. Hess and Brandon L. Wright (Teachers College Press, 2020).
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Virginia S. Lovinson and Cecilia H. Mo, “Investing in the Teacher Workforce: Experimental Evidence on Teachers’ Preferences,” retrieved from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University (February 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Robert Pondiscio, Mike Petrilli, and David Griffith discuss a school board’s controversial removal of a holocaust book from its district’s curriculum, and whether states should create a Parents’ Bill of Rights. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study of summer employment’s effect on the academic outcomes of low-income, urban high schoolers.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Robert’s piece about the school board’s decision: “The Maus that roared: Who do you want to decide what’s best for kids?”
- Dale Chu’s piece on Parents’ Bill of Rights: “The curriculum transparency trap.”
- The middle-school English curriculum mentioned during the podcast: EL Education.
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Alicia Sasser Modestino and Richard Paulsen, “School’s Out: How Summer Youth Employment Programs Impact Academic Outcomes,” Education Finance and Policy (January 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Checker Finn, Mike Petrilli, and David Griffith discuss whether American education should stop trying to send every student to college, and what that may mean for high school course requirements. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study on how universal school breakfasts affect disadvantaged student’s academic outcomes.
Recommended content:
- Mike’s piece that sparked the conversation: “We all agree that college isn’t for everyone. We should start acting like it.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Rahi Abouk and Scott Adams, “Breakfast After the Bell: The Effects of Expanding Access to School Breakfasts on the Weight and Achievement of Elementary School Children,” Economics of Education Review(January 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Fordham’s latest charter school study, Still Rising, and how school choice helps students in traditional public schools, too. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study of how pandemic-related school disruptions affect children’s mental health.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms.
Recommended content:
- The report authored by David: Still Rising: Charter School Enrollment and Student Achievement at the Metropolitan Level.
- The tool for parents that Andrew mentions: “School Choice by State.”
- The study that Amber reviews on the Research Minute: Anna Gassman-Pines, Elizabeth Ananat, John Fitz-Henley II, and Jane Leer, “Effects of Daily School and Care Disruptions During the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Mental Health,” NBER Working Paper #29659 (January 2022).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, John Bailey, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Omicron’s impact on schools and whether the virus will soon be endemic. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study about the most in-demand college majors.
Recommended content:
- John Bailey’s daily Covid-19 policy updates on Substack and his March 2021 review of public health research on schools for AEI, “Is it safe to reopen schools? An extensive review of the research.”
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Steven W. Hemelt et. al., “College Majors and Skills: Evidence from the Universe of Online Jobs Ads,” NBER Working Paper #29605(December 2021).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Erica Green, national education reporter at the New York Times, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss schools’ struggle to support teens’ mental health and respond to increasing misbehavior. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study on whether improving access to dual-enrollment courses raises participation.
Recommended content:
- Erica Green’s New York Times piece about students at Liberty High: “The Students Returned, but the Fallout From a Long Disruption Remained”
- Mike Petrilli’s thoughts on the federal response to this issue in The Dispatch: “Now Is Not the Time to Meddle in School Disciplinary Policy”
- Fordham’s 2019 teacher survey on discipline policies: Discipline Reform through the Eyes of Teachers
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Steven W. Hemelt and Tom Swiderski, “College Comes to High School: Participation and Performance in Tennessee’s Innovative Wave of Dual-Credit Courses,” Center for Education Policy Analysis (November 2021).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Checker Finn, Fordham’s senior fellow and president emeritus, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the big education issues of the past year and look ahead to 2022. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study showing that Black and Hispanic students are less likely to major in lucrative fields.
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jennifer Frey, associate professor at the University of South Carolina and a regular guest writer for Fordham’s Flypaper blog, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss why and how we should incorporate virtue education in classrooms. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern runs down the best education research of 2021.
You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.
Recommended content:
- Jennifer’s ongoing Flypaper blog post series on virtue education:
- “Reconnecting knowledge and virtue”
- “What is virtue and why does it matter?”
- “Teaching gratitude beyond Thanksgiving”
- “Civility, democracy, and education”
- Amber’s list of the top six studies she reviewed this past year on the Research Minute.
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Elliot Regenstein, partner at Foresight Law + Policy and former member of Illinois’s Early Childhood Funding Commission, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how the Build Back Better plan would affect pre-k and child care. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern covers a study that examines why students of color benefit from having teachers of the same race and ethnicity.
Amber's Research Minute:
David Blazar, “Teachers of Color, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Student Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from the Random Assignment of Teachers to Classes,” Annenberg Institute at Brown University (December 2021).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Tyner, Fordham’s Associate Director of Research, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss our new analysis, America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality, some of which may surprise you. And on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effectiveness of efforts to diversify the teacher workforce.
Recommended content:
- Fordham’s new report at metro.fordhaminstitute.org.
- More of our work on metro areas:
- What You Make Depends on Where You Live: College Earnings Across States and Metropolitan Areas.
- How Aligned is Career and Technical Education to Local Labor Markets?
- The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Dan Goldhaber and Etai Mizrav, “The Prospective Teacher Pipeline: Simulation Evidence on Levers to Influence Teacher Diversity,” CALDER Working Papers (December 2021).
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Sandi Jacobs, Principal at EdCounsel and former Senior Education Program Specialist for Reading First at the U.S. Department of Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss why reading programs based on debunked science persist in schools. Her answer: It’s complicated. Educators, in part, may struggle with the idea that they’ve been teaching something incorrectly. And strong, evidence-backed replacements programs can lack hefty marketing budgets. After this discussion, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study on how dual-language education affects math and reading outcomes.
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s show, Andrew Rotherham, cofounder and partner at Bellwether Education partners, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Glenn Youngkin’s election and what it means for education politics. He shared his thoughts about this on an interview for The 74, where he described the problem with Democrats ignoring parental concerns, in Virginia and nationally, about gifted education, Covid protocols, and how race is discussed in schools. But he also cautioned that Republicans shouldn’t misread the situation and overreach. After this discussion, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines a study looking at the effectiveness of credit recovery courses.
Feedback welcome!
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dale Chu, senior visiting fellow at Fordham and independent education consultant, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to make the case for K–2 standardized testing. He wrote about this same topic earlier this month, noting that widespread distaste for such assessments would make implementing this change challenging. But he argued that the alternative is to continue burying our heads in the sand about our children’s most formative years, which would be unfair to students and teachers. Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a CALDER study examining the effects of remedial English language arts courses in middle school on postsecondary outcomes.
Amber's Research Minute:
Umut Özek, “The Effects of Middle School Remediation on Postsecondary Success: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Florida,” CALDER Working Papers (September 2021).
Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s podcast, Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what the Democrats' still-in-the-works “social infrastructure” bill may mean for pre-K and childcare. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how differences in parental beliefs across socioeconomic backgrounds affect educational inequities.
Amber's Research Minute:
John A. List, Julie Pernaudet, and Dana Suskind, "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Shifting Parental Beliefs," NBER Working Paper #29394 (October 2021).
Have questions or feedback about the podcast? Email penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.
On this week’s podcast, Tom Toch, director of Future Ed, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss D.C.’s teacher-hiring strategy, and why other districts can and should follow suit. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how teacher specialization in elementary schools affects student achievement.
Amber's Research Minute
NaYoung Hwang and Brian Kisida, "Spread Too Thin: The Effects of Teacher Specialization on Student Achievement," retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (October 2021).
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the last week’s worrisome NAEP results. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether stricter high school math requirements in the Nation at Risk era boosted college STEM attainment.
On this week’s podcast, Brandon Wright, Fordham’s editorial director and coauthor of Failing Our Brightest Kids, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent move to overhaul gifted education in New York City. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the distribution of school resources in America, and what it means for disadvantaged students.
Amber's Research Minute
Kenneth Shores and Hojung Lee, "The Distribution of School Resources in The United States: A Comparative Analysis Across Levels of Governance, Student Sub-groups, And Educational Resources," Social Science Research Network (August 2021).
On this week’s podcast, education writer Richard Whitmire joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how boys’ education failure starts in the earliest grades. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines districts’ plans for remote learning during the pandemic.
On this week’s podcast, Scott Imberman, professor at Michigan State University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the new study he conducted for Fordham exploring the inequitable outcomes for early high achievers in Ohio. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how admission to a high-quality charter school affects students’ voting patterns later in life.
On this week’s podcast, Debbie Veney, Senior Vice President at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her new report on Covid-era enrollment trends in charter and traditional public schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the prevalence and use of industry-recognized-credential programs in high schools.
On this week’s podcast, John Bailey, nonresident senior fellow at AEI, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how students’ transition back into classrooms is going in the face of the Delta variant and battles over vaccine, mask, and quarantine policies. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the unique characteristics of gifted programs.
And check out our conversation with John earlier this summer about how schools were adapting to Covid!
On this week’s podcast, Patrick Wolf, Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith on the fifth edition of our Research Deep Dive series to discuss the impact of voucher programs—both on participating students and on kids in nearby public schools.Also check out our other deep dives on teacher effectiveness, school discipline, school closures, and urban charters.
On this week’s podcast, Peter Warren Singer, strategist and senior fellow at New America and defense policy expert, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Cyber Citizenship Initiative, which helps build students’ resilience to digital misinformation. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how different teacher preparation programs impact graduates’ classroom effectiveness.
On this week’s podcast, Alyson Klein, assistant editor and education writer at Education Week, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss why some students thrived in virtual schooling and what brick-and-mortar schools might learn from that. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how school reopening decisions affect enrollments.
On this week’s podcast, Daniel Buck, a teacher and Fordham’s newest senior visiting fellow, joins Amber Northern and Brandon Wright to discuss the importance of a strong curriculum, the inherent value in school choice, why he teaches, and more. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the connection between college applicants’ essay topics and their household incomes and SAT scores.
On this week’s podcast, Adam Tyner and David Griffith discuss the Fordham report Adam just authored on parental attitudes toward and the politics of social and emotional learning. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how school-based mentoring affects academic success and post-secondary attainment.
On this week’s podcast, Ron Rice, senior director of government relations at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the House’s recently passed spending bill.
On this week’s podcast, Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss NCTQ’s new analysis on teacher licensure tests. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the importance of informational text, be it oral, written, or visual.
On this week’s podcast, Bree Dusseault, practitioner-in-residence at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how large school systems are spending their federal pandemic aid dollars. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how much remote learning harmed students socially, emotionally, and academically.
On this week’s podcast, John Bailey, a nonresident senior fellow at AEI, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Delta variant’s likely impact on school reopenings this fall. On the Research Minute, Olivia Piontek examines how stand-alone technical high schools affect students’ short- and long-term outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Chad Aldis, Fordham’s vice president for Ohio policy, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the big ed reform victories this past legislative session on private school choice, charter schools, and accountability. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how parents use education savings accounts.
On this week’s podcast, Morgan Polikoff, Associate Professor of Education at USC, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new book, Beyond Standards: The Fragmentation of Education Governance and the Promise of Curriculum Reform. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how the spread of universal free meals affects students’ perceptions of safety.
On this week’s podcast, Jeremy Stern, coauthor of Fordham's new report, The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021, joins Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Checker Finn to discuss what the analysis found.
On this week’s podcast, Brian Gill, senior fellow at Mathematica and director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith for the fourth installment of our Research Deep Dive series, this one focusing on the impact of urban charter schools on student outcomes—for those in both the charter and traditional public schools.
On this week’s podcast, Derrell Bradford, newly appointed president of 50CAN, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether New York City and other major districts should still offer a virtual option this fall. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how well Arkansas’s middle and high school postsecondary-readiness metrics predict college outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the current kerfuffle over the NAEP reading assessment. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether alternative certification policies increase the number of new teachers of color.
On this week’s podcast, Chad Aldeman, policy director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the latest trends in school district spending of federal relief funds. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how learning acceleration can recover learning loss.
On this week’s podcast, Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up for Students, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the potential impact of and lessons from Florida’s new school choice expansion. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how users engage with professional learning that takes place online.
On this week’s podcast, Howard Husock, adjunct scholar in Domestic Policy Studies at AEI, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new report, “The case for breaking up big urban school systems.” On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines children’s learning outcomes when they read on paper versus digital devices.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Checker Finn, and David Griffith discuss President Biden’s proposal for universal preschool. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how school board size affects charter schooling and teacher salaries.
On this week’s podcast, Clarice Schillinger, founder of Keeping Kids in School PAC, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her experience leading the movement for five-day-a-week, in-person instruction for Pennsylvania public school kids. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the reading skills of fourth graders who perform at low levels on NAEP.
On this week’s podcast, Dale Chu, Mike Petrilli, and David Griffith discuss the Biden Administration’s flawed decision-making on testing waivers. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how investments in local libraries affect communities and children.
On this week’s podcast, Chris Brewster, president of the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how a recently settled lawsuit will boost charter school funding in the Sooner State. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how math and ELA gender gaps change between childhood and young adulthood.
On this week’s podcast, John Schilling, president of the American Federation for Children, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss a string of school choice victories in this year’s state legislative sessions. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how some privileged parents discussed their local school system on an online parent forum.
On this week’s podcast, Eric Hirsch, founding executive director of EdReports, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how teachers are increasingly gaining access to high-quality instructional materials. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how better truancy notifications to parents reduced student absences.
On this week’s podcast, David Steiner, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to explain why schools should embrace acceleration over remediation when addressing students’ unfinished learning. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines efforts to reliably measure teacher quality at scale.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Michael Goldstein, founder of Match Education in Boston, and Bowen Paulle, a faculty member at the University of Amsterdam, to discuss the new Fordham paper they co-authored, The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a recent and rapid rise in private tutoring centers.
On this week’s podcast, Scott Winship, resident scholar and director of poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the expanded and fully refundable child tax credit that’s included in President Biden's Covid-19 relief bill—and why it should give conservatives pause. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how special education affects the odds that students with disabilities face school discipline.
On this week’s podcast, education policy wonk Karen Vaites joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her experience leading a return-to-school movement in New York City. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how the admissions policies of Boston’s exam schools affect racial diversity.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Dale Chu debate whether President Biden’s soft touch will succeed in getting schools in blue districts to reopen. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the unintended effects of test-based accountability on students in untested grades.
On this week’s podcast, Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how to leverage parents’ newfound awareness of their children's academic struggles during the pandemic. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether in-person schooling contributes to the spread of Covid-19.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Mark Weber, a special analyst for education policy at the New Jersey Policy Perspective, to discuss the new report he authored for Fordham, Robbers or Victims? Charter Schools and District Finances. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a poll of parents’ opinions on Covid-19 and their children’s’ schooling.
On this week’s podcast, Vic Klatt, a principal of Penn Hill Group, joins David Griffith and Checker Finn to discuss what the latest proposed federal stimulus package would mean for America’s schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how school district consolidation affects student achievement.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, which is this week, to discuss how the school choice movement has been altered by the pandemic. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines parents’ demand for childcare quality.
On this week’s podcast, Patricia Levesque, chief executive officer of ExcelinEd, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what’s on the ed reform agenda in state legislative sessions nationwide. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether schools of choice are able to pull high-performing students from traditional public schools and push out low performers.
On this week’s podcast, Eric Parsons, associate teaching professor of economics at the University of Missouri and co-author of our new report “Bridging the Covid Divide,” joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what he and his fellow researchers learned about measuring student achievement growth in the absence of 2020 test scores. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of a single virtual charter school on student achievement, controlling for student mobility.
On this week’s podcast, Subira Gordon, executive director of Connecticut’s ConnCAN, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss President-elect Biden’s education secretary nominee, Miguel Cardona, and his work in the Nutmeg State. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern runs down the best research of 2020.
On this week’s podcast, Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director at AASA, the School Superintendents Association, and Emily Oster, Professor of Economics at Brown University, join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether the vaccines will allow schools to reopen nationwide this school year. On the Research Minute, Matthew Steinberg discusses the study he and Haisheng Yang just conducted for Fordham on teacher effectiveness and improvement in charter and traditional public schools.
On this week’s podcast, Katharine Stevens, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss President-elect Biden’s childcare and pre-K plans. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how college instructors’ attractiveness affect their student evaluations.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Checker Finn, who discusses Senator Lamar Alexander’s K–12 education legacy. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines research on why efforts to boost student motivation may be misguided.
On this week’s podcast, ExcelinEd’s Matthew Joseph and The Education Trust’s Zahava Stadler join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how states can protect schools and disadvantaged students from budget cuts. On the Research Minute, Victoria McDougald examines the effects of absenteeism on cognitive and social-emotional outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Paul Hill, founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss why, thanks to the pandemic, the politics of public schools will never be the same. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the benefits of out-of-school services for disadvantaged students.
On this week’s podcast, Charles Barone, VP of K-12 Policy at Democrats for Education Reform, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what the election means for charter schools, accountability, and other reform issues. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether students with disabilities are relegated to classrooms with lower-quality teachers.
On this week’s podcast, Karen Hawley Miles, CEO and president of Education Resource Strategies, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her chapter in Getting the Most Bang for the Education Buckon how school districts can cope with budgetary consequences of declining enrollments—a growing problem because of Covid-19. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the academic effects of reclassifying English language learners as English proficient.
On this week’s podcast, Fordham’s Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the growing, misguided war on selective-admissions high schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how community college credentials affect graduates over time.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith are joined by Doug Lemov and Erica Woolway, co-managing director and chief academic officer, respectively, of the Teach Like a Champion team at Uncommon Schools. They talk about their timely new book, "Teaching in the Online Classroom: Surviving and Thriving in the New Normal." On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a new RAND survey of teachers about social and emotional learning.
On this week’s podcast, Fordham’s Adam Tyner joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the new study that he coauthored, “Social Studies Instruction and Reading Comprehension: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.” On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of merit aid for low-income college students.
On this week’s podcast, Aaron Daly, COO of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the network’s innovative reopening recommendations. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the long-term ramifications of the Covid-19 crisis.
On this week’s podcast, Brandon Wright joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his and Rick Hess’s new edited volume, Getting the Most Bang for the Education Buck. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether community crime monitoring can improve student attendance.
On this week’s podcast, Timothy Daly, co-founder and CEO of EdNavigator, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Camp Kinda, a free online summer resource that was designed to keep students engaged and curious while they were stuck at home. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the different effects Republican and Democratic legislatures have on education finance and outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Colin Sharkey, executive director of the Association of American Educators, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the state of teachers unions two years after Janus v. AFSCME, the Supreme Court case that prevents unions from charging agency fees to non-members. On the Research Minute, Olivia Piontek examines how well elementary school test scores predict high school outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss why politics seems to be a bigger factor in some school reopening decisions than science. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how school finance reforms and test-based accountability have affected student outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Gregg Vanourek joins Mike Petrilli to discuss Fordham’s new report that Gregg authored, Schooling Covid-19: Lessons from leading charter networks from their transition to remote learning. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the firmly established benefits of acceleration for gifted children.
On this week’s podcast, Tressa Pankovits, associate director of Reinventing America's Schools at the Progressive Policy Institute, joins Mike Petrilli and Olivia Piontek to discuss education platforms in the presidential election campaign. On the Research Minute, Olivia Piontek examines efforts to improve low-performing schools in the U.S.
On this week’s podcast, Erin Einhorn, a national reporter for NBC News, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about her recent piece on outdoor classrooms. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how online classes have affected high schools’ curricular options.
On this week’s podcast, David Osborne, director of the Reinventing America’s Schools Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, joins Checker Finn and David Griffith to talk about how schools can be given autonomy to adapt to students’ varying needs and to external events. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether standardized test feedback to parents can boost students’ math outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Rob Kremer, director of government relations at Pearson, owner of Connections Academy, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether school districts should be trying to build online schools on their own or should outsource the role to companies like his. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how charter school growth has affected local teacher quality and student composition.
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn and David Griffith discuss the flawed effort to revamp NAEP’s reading framework. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern and David Griffith examine how inequality has affected families’ engagement with online learning during the pandemic.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith discuss whether and how schools should reopen in the fall. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether the least educated population groups experienced the worst mortality trends during the 21st century.
On this week’s podcast, Mora Segal, CEO of Achievement Network, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the organization’s latest guidance on assessments for states and districts when school resumes in the fall. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected college students’ graduation, job offers, and future economic expectations.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Amber Northern, Tran Le, and David Griffith discuss Fordham’s new case study on data-driven instruction in Washington, D.C. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines little interruptions’ big effect on classroom learning.
On this week’s podcast, Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her new AEI paper, “A constitutional right to a high-quality public education.” On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effect of virtual classes on high schoolers’ access to advanced courses.
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn, Mike Petrilli, and David Griffith discuss what it takes for real change to happen in America. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether student outcomes improve when college faculty engage with students more often.
On this week’s podcast, Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, talks with Mike Petrilli and David Griffith about how well school districts handled remote learning this spring. On the Research Minute, Olivia Piontek joins Mike and David to examine data on academic growth affects parents’ perception of school quality.
On this week’s podcast, Michael McShane, the director of national research at EdChoice, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how Catholic schools are weathering the pandemic and economic downturn and what public policy can do to help. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of a quarter century of school finance reforms.
This week’s podcast guest is John V. Winters, Ph.D., associate professor of economics at Iowa State University and author of Fordham’s new report, What You Make Depends on Where You Live.He joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the report’s findings and implications. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines educators’ strong record in detecting and reporting child mistreatment, and how training and support could help them be even more effective.
This week we're hosting "Teacher to Chief," a special episode with members of Chiefs for Change on their pathways to education leadership. The discussion is tied to a new multimedia report designed to spark teachers’ interest in the chief role. Elizabeth Green, founder of Chalkbeat, also moderates a candid conversation with aspiring, current, and former chiefs about what the job is really like.
On this week’s podcast, Paul DiPerna, vice president of research and innovation at EdChoice, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his organization’s new monthly Public Opinion Tracker. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how superior social skills improve the performance of groups.
On this week’s podcast, John Bailey, visiting fellow at AEI, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss AEI’s new Blueprint for Back to School. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern and special guest Paul von Hippel, associate professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, talk about Paul’s recent work on year-round school calendars and their many effects, including those on summer learning and achievement.
On this week’s podcast, Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director of advocacy and governance at AASA, the School Superintendents Association, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the complexities that school systems must consider when reopening schools, especially if social distancing is required. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines which news sources social studies teachers find credible, and how that depends on their own ideological leanings.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Robert Pondiscio, and David Griffith debate how much we can expect districts to do during the current crisis, whether student work should be graded right now, and if schools will return to normal in the fall. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the wide variation of substitute teaching across the country.
On this week’s podcast, Diane Tavenner, co-founder and CEO of Summit Public Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to offer advice on how schools can help meet students’ individual needs when they return after lengthy closures. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether social-emotional learning is improving students’ self-efficacy, self-management, and social awareness.
On this week’s podcast, Deven Carlson, assistant professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith for the third installment of our Research Deep Dive series, this one focusing on the impact school closures, due to poor performance or under-enrollment, on student outcomes—both the students whose schools are shuttered and their classmates at their new schools.
On this week’s podcast, Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss district innovation in the face of country-wide school closures. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether Teach For America corps members still improve student outcomes even after a major national scale-up.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and Checker Finn discuss Betsy DeVos’s quick and laudable U-turn on distance learning and mull what “accountability” might look like over the next three months. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the role work experience plays in helping those without bachelor’s degrees find jobs.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Checker Finn, and David Griffith discuss Mike and Checker’s new edited volume, *How to Educate an American: The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow’s Schools*. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether the nationwide rise in high school graduation rates is real, and whether high-stakes school accountability played a role.
On this week’s podcast, Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Trump administration’s proposal to block-grant the federal Charter Schools Program. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether instructors who teach several sections of the same universe course improve with repetition.
On this week’s podcast, William Johnston, associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the positive impacts of New York City’s community schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how expanding private school choice in Florida helped public school students.
On this week’s podcast, Ed Trust’s Ary Amerikaner and Kayla Patrick join Mike Petrilli to discuss why students of color lack access to gifted programs and advanced coursework, and ways to help fix that. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how peer suspensions affect non-suspended students’
learning trajectories.
On this week’s podcast, Seth Gershenson, associate professor at American University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Fordham study he authored this month, Great Expectations: The Impact of Rigorous Grading Practices on Student Achievement. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how gender affects the ability of college students to receive favorable grade changes.
On this week’s podcast, Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether affluent suburban kids deserve vouchers too. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the extent to which older siblings affect college-going behavior.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss National School Choice Week. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how teachers who specialize instead of teaching all subjects affect elementary school outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Matthew Steinberg, associate professor of education policy at George Mason University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith for the second installment of our Research Deep Dive series, this one focusing on school discipline reform.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Robert Pondiscio, and David Griffith discuss the latest news from the 2020 election debate and what it portends for our schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how air quality (yes, air quality) affects student achievement.
On a special all-Research-Minute podcast, Amber Northern, Mike Petrilli, and David Griffith discuss the best research studies of 2019.
On this week’s podcast, Daniel Showalter, associate professor of math at Eastern Mennonite University and author of "Why Rural Matters," joins Mike Petrilli and Victoria McDougald to talk about the many challenges facing rural schools in America. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how local labor market downturns affect college-going.
On this week’s podcast, Morgan Polikoff, associate professor of education at USC, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about Fordham’s new report that he coauthored, The Supplemental Curriculum Bazaar. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a study on ways to sustain effective teacher evaluation.
On this week’s podcast, Kristina Zeiser, senior researcher at American Institutes for Research, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about the long-term impact of early college high school programs. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern breaks down the latest results from the Program for International Student Assessment.
On this week’s podcast, Kim Marshall, author of The Best of the Marshall Memo, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about the challenge of spreading evidence-based practices in schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how performance-based scholarships affect the ways college students use their time.
On this week’s podcast, Sarah Sparks, a reporter and data journalist for Education Week, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about the possible link between students’ screen time and reading scores. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether we learn more from failure or success and what that could mean for students.
On this week’s podcast, Carrie Gillispie, senior analyst in P–12 policy at The Education Trust, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about the state of early childhood education for students of color. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the long-term impacts of special education.
On this week’s podcast, Marty West, a Harvard professor of education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about last week’s NAEP results and their relationship to the Great Recession. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how graduation requirements affect arrest rates.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk to Checker Finn about Senator Warren’s flawed education proposal. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines improvements to the student teaching experience that can help candidates feel more prepared for success in the classroom.
On this week’s podcast, Megan Kuhfeld, a research scientist at NWEA, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss her recent, sobering findings about the reading and math skills of children entering kindergarten. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how “stereotype threat” affects the results of cognitive ability tests.
On this week’s podcast, Doug Harris, director of the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the progress, and recent plateauing, of NOLA’s ed
reforms. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how earning college credit in high school via AP exams affects postsecondary course-taking.
On this week’s podcast, Dan Goldhaber, the director of CALDER, joins Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Amber Northern on the first edition of our research deep dive series to discuss what rigorous research says about identifying, developing, and retaining effective teachers.
On this week’s podcast, Nina Rees, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter School, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about David’s new Fordham study
of how charter market share affects student achievement for kids in both charter and district schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how the geographic isolation of K–12 schools affects education policies.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk with Robert Pondiscio about his new book on Success Academy. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether providing more
information to college admissions officers boosts the acceptance odds for low-income students.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli talks with Checker Finn and Andrew Scanlan about their new book on the past, present, and future of Advanced Placement. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern explores why Texas’s fracking boom was a bust for its schools.
On this week's podcast, Patrick Corvington, executive director of DC School Reform Now, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to offer advice on how parents can play a role in improving their kids' schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the academic effects of early interventions for children born at a low birth-weight.
On this week’s podcast, Martin West, Harvard professor and editor-in-chief of Education Next, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the results of Ed Next’s annual survey of public opinion. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether video technology can improve teacher evaluations.
On this week’s podcast Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk to Adam Tyner about the new Fordham report he co-authored with Matthew Larsen on end-of-course exams and student outcomes. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines efforts to improve the college application process.
On this week’s podcast, Jeremy Tate, CEO of the Classic Learning Test, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what classical learning is and why it’s important. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether popular children have an outsized influence on their peers.
On this week’s podcast, Alice Huguet, an associate policy researcher at RAND, joins David Griffith and Adam Tyner to discuss whether and how K–12 schools should teach students media literacy. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the effects of flipped classrooms.
On this week’s podcast, Kate Blosveren Kreamer, deputy executive director of Advance CTE, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether we should change the conjunction in “college and career readiness” to “or.” On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how teachers and principals view social and emotional learning.
On this week’s podcast Mike Petrilli speaks with David Griffith and Adam Tyner about school discipline reform in America, and their new Fordham study of educators’ views on the issue.
On this week’s podcast, Danish Shakeel, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how information affects attitudes toward charters in rural America. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the impact of Boston’s charter schools on students with disabilities and English language learners.
On this week’s podcast, Fordham’s own Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss, during the week of Apollo 11’s fiftieth anniversary, how the moon landing related to American education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how restorative justice affects racial disproportionality in school discipline.
On this week’s podcast, Marc Porter Magee, CEO and founder of 50CAN, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss last month’s presidential debates, and the busy legislative sessions recently concluded in many states. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how socioeconomic status affects students’ growth mindsets.
On this week’s podcast, Elizabeth Albro, Commissioner of the IES National Center for Education Research, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss ways to increase the effect of evidence on classroom practice. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how charter schools in North Carolina affect long-term outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Conor Williams, a fellow at the Century Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the leading Democratic presidential candidates’ education proposals. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how student academic growth data affects parents’ choice of districts.
On this week’s podcast, Josh Boots, Founder and Executive Director of EmpowerK12, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how high-performing schools use all sorts of data—and not just test scores—to improve their instruction and outcomes. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines recent increases in college completion rates.
On this week's podcast, Seth Gershenson, an associate professor at American University and author of Fordham's latest study, Student-Teacher Race Match in Charter and Traditional Public Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss that research. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how the actions of turnaround schools affect teacher mobility.
On this week’s podcast, journalist Arielle Dreher joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the struggles of rural areas to hold on to their brightest residents. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how different post-secondary pathways affect the ability of disadvantaged students to attain credentials with labor market value.
On this week’s podcast, Julia Rafal-Baer, chief operating officer at Chiefs for Change, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her organization's recent report on the gender imbalances at the very top levels of educational leadership. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how closing chronically underperforming schools affects neighborhood crime.
On this week’s podcast, Donald P. Nielsen, program director of the Discovery Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the feasibility of empowering school administrators, and whether its feasible in district schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines efforts in Boston to scale up successful charter schools.
On this week’s podcast, William Egginton, a professor of the humanities at Johns Hopkins University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to make the case for foreign language instruction in America’s schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a new analysis of Career and Technical Education course-taking by AEI’s Nat Malkus.
On this week’s podcast, Erica Greenberg, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, joins David Griffith and Brandon Wright to discuss her research on the state of early childhood education for the sons and daughters of immigrants. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines teacher pay, staff size, and student outcomes in states with strong and weak unions.
On this week’s podcast, Jal Mehta, an associate professor of education at Harvard, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new book about the lack of “deeper learning” in most American high schools. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the long-term effects of peer characteristics on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Jessica Sutter, a newly elected member of the DC State Board of Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the politics of Washington’s ed reform scene. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how Philadelphia school closures affect academic and behavioral outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new paper with Rick Hess on how the social and emotional learning movement can avoid going off the rails. On the
Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the big new RAND study on principal pipelines.
On this week’s podcast, Cameron Sublett, associate professor of education at Pepperdine University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the findings of Fordham’s newest report, How Aligned is Career and Technical Education to Local Labor Markets?, that he and Griffith coauthored. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how the New Leaders' Aspiring Principals Program prepares school leaders for success.
On this week’s podcast, Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab and a research associate professor at Georgetown University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to remind schools to prepare for a rainy day, which is likely coming soon. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines students’ reading habits, and which books are most popular from K to 12.
On this week’s podcast, Celine Coggins, executive director at Grantmakers for Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss philanthropy’s shift to the left on education policies. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines America’s persistent achievement gaps.
On this week’s podcast, veteran education writer Richard Whitmire joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his forthcoming book, The B.A. Breakthrough. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether private school choice improves student character.
On this week’s podcast, Susan Schaeffler, founder and CEO of KIPP DC, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Capital Teaching Residency and other efforts to build an effective and sustainable teacher corps. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether targeted text messages to parents can improve literacy in pre-kindergarteners.
On this week’s podcast, Mark Gleason, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Schools Partnership, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the burgeoning, and surprisingly collaborative, school choice scene in the nation’s sixth largest city. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines whether smarter teachers make smarter students.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Checker Finn, and David Griffith discuss Checker’s experience on Maryland’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, and its bold proposals for improving the state’s schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the benefits of arts education.
On this week’s podcast, Neal McCluskey, director of Cato's Center for Educational Freedom, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the appropriate role of for-profit entities in education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects tracking, instructional practices, and text complexity have on students who are struggling with reading in middle school.
On this week’s podcast, Kristen Soltis Anderson, pollster and co-founder of Echelon Insights, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what millennial parents think about education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how Florida’s tax credit scholarship program has affected participants’ college enrollment and degree attainment.
On this week’s podcast, Shavar Jeffries, President of Democrats for Education Reform, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what teacher strikes and Democratic presidential candidates’ support for them mean for education reform. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether efforts to boost academic achievement in kindergarten hinder the development of social-emotional skills.
On this week’s podcast, Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change, and Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss National School Choice Week and the many hopeful developments on the charter schools front nationwide. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether schools of choice (both traditional and charter) “skim” students they perceive to be easier to educate or avoid those perceived harder to educate.
On this week’s podcast, Lindsey Burke, a director at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to explain why school choice is poised to have a good 2019, despite its many headwinds. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the relationship between automatic-college-admission policies and the college preferences of low- and high-income students.
On this week’s podcast, Andrew Ujifusa, an assistant editor for Education Week, and one-half of the Politics K-12 team, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to explain why we wonks shouldn’t completely ignore Washington in the coming year. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern counts down the five most influential education studies of 2018.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On this week’s podcast, Erin Lockett, a senior policy analyst at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her organization’s recent report on access to rigorous coursework in high school. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of a free-college initiative on graduation rates in New Mexico.
On this week’s podcast, Andy Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education Partners, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the midterms’ effects on education policy. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how voucher regulations impact program participation and school quality.
On this week’s podcast, Russ Whitehurst, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and founding director of the Institute of Education Sciences, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss early childhood education and whether we expect too much from it. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines an alternative approach to remedial education in Tennessee.
On this week’s podcast, Stephani Wrabel, an associate policy researcher at RAND, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss states’ ESSA-driven school report cards. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines Kentucky’s school turnaround efforts in the late NCLB period.
On this week's podcast, Madeline Mavrogordato, an associate professor at Michigan State University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the relationship between English language learners and school choice. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines how New Orleans’s choice-based system affects students’ commute times.
On this week's podcast, Halli Faulkner, national policy director at the American Federation for Children, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her organization’s annual school choice guidebook. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines whether better student supports in elementary school can reduce high school dropout rates.
On this week’s podcast, Seth Gershenson, associate professor at American University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Fordham study he recently authored on high school grade inflation. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the impact of principal effectiveness on teacher turnover.
On this week’s podcast, Emily Hanford, a senior education correspondent and producer at APM Reports, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her recent documentary on the sad state of reading instruction. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines TNTP’s new report about the inferior academic experiences of disadvantaged students.
On this week’s podcast, Donna Bahorich, Chair of the Texas State Board of Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how to encourage students to take ownership of their educational journeys. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether encouraging more students to retake the SAT would narrow college enrollment gaps.
On this week's podcast, Adam Peshek, a managing director at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether new IRS regulations will harm tax credit scholarship programs. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the academic effects of longer school days.
On this week's podcast, literacy expert Tim Shanahan joins Robert Pondiscio and David Griffith to discuss his review of states’ English language arts standards for Fordham’s new report, “The State of State Standards Post-Common Core.” On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the results of the 2018 Education Next poll.
On this week's podcast, Sekou Biddle, a vice president at UNCF, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss African American youth’s near-universal aspirations to go to college, but frustration at an education system that is not preparing them for success. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern covers a new comprehensive look at America’s colleges of education.
On this week’s podcast, Gisèle Huff, executive director of the Jaquelin Hume Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the use of technology in education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern covers Fordham’s recent study on reading and writing instruction in America's schools.
On this week's podcast, Carlos Marquez, a senior vice president at the California Charter Schools Association, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the state’s charter school politics. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines the effects of the Investing in Innovation Fund.
On this week’s podcast, Jim Shelton, who is about to step down from the helm of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s education efforts, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the whole-child approach to personalized learning. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how coaching programs affect teachers’ instructional practices and student achievement.
On this week’s podcast, Matthew Chingos, director of the Urban Institute’s Education Policy Program, joins Mike Petrilli and Brandon Wright to discuss what high schools should be doing to address the college completion crisis. On the Research Minute, David Griffith examines the impact of New Orleans’s post-Katrina education reforms on short-term and long-term academic outcomes.
On this week’s podcast, David Griffith, Adam Tyner, and Brandon Wright discuss New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to revamp the admissions process for the city’s selective high schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines why ELL kids are doing better than we think on NAEP.
On this week’s podcast, Andy Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education Partners, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how schools can prevent mass shootings without turning themselves into bunkers. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how warm weather affects student learning.
On this week's podcast, Ben Castleman, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia, and Ethan Fletcher, a managing director at ideas42, join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Ben and Ethan’s collaborative project to improve college access and completion, Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern looks at nudges, too, in this case the role of information and incentives in getting students to fill out their FAFSA forms.
On this week’s podcast, Dale Chu, education consultant and Indiana’s former assistant superintendent for innovation and improvement, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss what went wrong with Hoosier State school reform. On the Research Minute, David Griffith examines how school improvement grants in Ohio affected achievement and school administration.
On this week's podcast, Paul Morgan, Professor of Education and Demography at Penn State University, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss the evidence on racial disparities in special education identification and services. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effect of online versus paper tests on student achievement.
On this week's podcast, Bibb Hubbard, founder and president of Learning Heroes, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss better ways to communicate students’ academic progress (or lack thereof) to parents. On the Research Minute, David Griffith examines the recent AEI study that questioned the relationship between test scores and long-term outcomes.
On this week's podcast, Paolo DeMaria, Ohio's State Superintendent of Public Instruction, joins Mike Petrilli and Brandon Wright to discuss the state’s new strategic plan for education, which Fordham’s gadflies find disappointing. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the access, perseverance, and outcomes of first-generation college students.
On this week’s podcast, Rebecca Kockler, Louisiana’s assistant superintendent of academic content, joins Mike Petrilli and Robert Pondiscio to discuss her state’s curriculum initiative. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how career and technical education affects students’ noncognitive skills.
On this week's podcast, Bruno Manno, Senior Advisor to the Walton Family Foundation’s K–12 Education Reform Initiative and a Trustee Emeritus at Fordham, joins Mike Petrilli and Checker Finn to discuss this week’s NAEP results in the context of the thirty-fifth anniversary of A Nation at Risk. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how accountability metrics related to student subgroups affect teacher turnover and attrition.
On this week’s podcast, Hanna Skandera, former New Mexico education chief, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss next week’s NAEP score release and why we’ve seen so little progress in recent years. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how NCTQ’s ratings affect teacher education programs.
On this week's podcast, Carissa Moffat Miller, the new executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss CCSSO’s campaign to highlight innovative state education policies. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of the National Heritage Academies chain of for-profit charter schools.
On this week’s podcast, Jessica Shopoff and Chase Eskelsen, employees of K12, Inc. and winners of Fordham’s 2018 Wonkathon, join Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss their ideas for reimagining American high school. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines race and gender biases in online higher education.
On this week's podcast, Roberto Rodríguez, president and CEO of Teach Plus, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss race and poverty in education. During the Research Minute, David Griffith examines whether authorizers are making it harder for people of color to win charter contracts.
On this week’s podcast, Aimee Rogstad Guidera, president and CEO of the Data Quality Campaign, joins Alyssa Schwenk and Brandon Wright to discuss what ed reform’s decades of progress portend for the future. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines career-tech’s effect on human capital accumulation.
On this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli, Chad Aldis, and Alyssa Schwenk discuss what it will take to get gubernatorial candidates to embrace ed reform. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the cost effectiveness and return on investment of charter schools in eight American cities.
On this week's podcast, Howard Fuller, renowned civil rights activist and education reformer, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss school segregation. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines ways to help bachelor’s degrees better facilitate professional success.
On this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli, Alyssa Schwenk, and Brandon Wright discuss what the recent graduation rate scandals say about the state of the American high school. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how parents rank public and private schools in New Orleans’s post-Katrina system of choice.
On this week's podcast, Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change, and Nina Rees, CEO and president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, join Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss where the choice movement stands on the occasion of National School Choice Week. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a study on school discipline reform in Philadelphia, complete with a jaw-dropping teacher survey.
On this week's podcast, Margaret Horn, an executive at CenterPoint Education Solutions, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how policymakers and philanthropists can help educators implement high standards. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines public preferences for universal and targeted preschool.
On this week’s podcast, Benjamin Boer, deputy director at Advance Illinois, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss how a coalition of advocates succeeded in getting the Land of Lincoln to overhaul its inequitable school funding formula. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the relationship between high school value added and students’ college success.
On this week's podcast, special guest Chris Minnich, who is stepping down after five years at the helm of the Council of Chief State School Officers, joins Mike Petrilli and Alyssa Schwenk to discuss the future of state education policymaking in the ESSA era. During the Research Minute, Amber Northern highlights the best research studies of 2017.
On this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli, Ian Rowe, and Alyssa Schwenk discuss whether and how schools should teach the “success sequence.” During the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the cross-subject effects of English language arts instruction.
AMBER’S RESEARCH MINUTE
Benjamin Master et al., “More Than Content: The Persistent Cross-Subject Effects of English Language Arts Teachers’ Instruction,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (February 2017).
The Washington State Supreme Court's attack on charters, New York State’s Common Core review, mindfulness in education, and charter schools' impact on Georgia property values.
Amber's Research MinuteSOURCE: Carlianne Patrick, "Willing to Pay: Charter Schools’ Impact on Georgia Property Values," Fiscal Research Center, Georgia State University (August 2015).
Education in New Orleans, school governance, Common Core-aligned assignments, and charter school openings in NYC.
Amber's Research Minute
SOURCE: Andrew Saultz, Dan Fitzpatrick, and Rebecca Jacobsen, "Exploring the Supply Side: Factors Related to Charter School Openings in NYC," Journal of School Choice: International Research and Reform, vol. 9 no. 3 (August 2015).
Education on the campaign trail, an appetite for gifted schooling, racial opinion gaps on testing, and how teacher expectations vary by race.
Amber's Research Minute
SOURCE: Seth Gershenson, Stephen B. Holt, and Nicholas Papageorge, "Who Believes in Me? The Effect of Student-Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations," Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Working Paper 231 (July 2015).