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Thomas B. Fordham Institute

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is the nation's leader in advancing educational excellence.

08/27/2026

For decades, charter school families in Missouri were told to wait. Kansas City and St. Louis wouldn't share local funding, and a handful of state senators filibustered every fix.

What finally broke the logjam wasn't a demand for one policy. It was a demand for a conversation. Parents sat down with their own legislators and made plain that the students being shortchanged were overwhelmingly Black children — and that letting it continue was an injustice no one could defend. The breakthrough followed.

Jed's new CharterFolk essay, "The $500 Million Student," traces what happened next — the striking findings of a new Thomas B. Fordham Institute study of Missouri's fix, and how Colorado, with a nudge from the Colorado League of Charter Schools, just made that kind of conversation a required step before districts bring facilities bonds to voters.

Read the full piece at the link in the first comment.

08/20/2026

ICYMI: This week in The Education Gadfly Weekly

• Daniel Buck on whether charter schools can survive universal school choice.
• Dale Chu on education’s “ambulance-at-the-bottom” problem.
• Aaron Churchill on Ohio’s implementation of the science of reading.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/education-gadfly-weekly

08/12/2026

Head Start needs serious reform, says Chester E. Finn, Jr. But he argues the Trump team’s latest proposal is not the way to do it.

Rather than simply stripping away much of the program’s rulebook, Finn says policymakers should overhaul Head Start in service of a clearer goal: preparing severely disadvantaged children for success in school.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/trump-team-gives-head-start-doge-treatment

08/06/2026

ICYMI: This week in Education Gadfly Weekly

• Chester E. Finn, Jr. on why Head Start needs rebuilding, not just deregulating.
• Robert Pondiscio on how the reading crisis is changing the curriculum conversation.
• Daniel Buck on why classrooms should be orderly, purposeful, and less cluttered.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/education-gadfly-weekly

08/05/2026

Can literacy help revive federal education reform?

On the latest Education Gadfly Show, Congressman Josh Harder joins the show to talk about his effort to bring back the National Reading Panel and advance the READ Act.

They discuss whether federal funding can help states strengthen science-of-reading reforms without repeating the mistakes of past federal efforts.

Plus, Amber Northern reviews new research on AP courses, school enrollment, socioeconomic integration, and academic tracking.

Watch or listen: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/resources/reviving-federal-ed-reform-starting-literacy-episode-1029-education-gadfly-show

08/04/2026

Should every student be encouraged to go to college?

Mike Petrilli asks how we can push well-prepared students to pursue college, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, while also being honest with students who may not be ready and could end up wasting time and money.

If humans are hesitant to level with young people, maybe AI will.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/hey-claude-should-i-go-college

07/23/2026

Career and technical education is important, but it cannot solve every problem.

Dale Chu argues that states hoping to build stronger workforce and college pathways should start by making the high school diploma meaningful again. After all, it is the credential every graduate receives.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/how-make-high-school-diploma-mean-something-again

07/17/2026

ICYMI: This week in Education Gadfly Weekly

• Dale Chu on making the high school diploma mean something again.

• Kathleen Porter-Magee on religious liberty in education heading back to the Supreme Court.

• Mike Schmoker on why the learning recession may also be a teaching recession.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/education-gadfly-weekly

07/13/2026

Do America’s schools need an accountability vibe shift?

On the latest Education Gadfly Show, Michael Petrilli asks whether education leaders need to restore urgency around achievement, closing gaps, and putting students first.

Plus, Amber Northern reviews AEI's new report on chronic absenteeism: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/resources/accountability-vibe-shift-episode-1025-education-gadfly-show

07/03/2026

The latest NAEP results show real progress for lower-performing nine-year-olds. But America’s highest achievers are still struggling to regain ground.

Brandon L. Wright looks at why top-performing students have barely moved and why high-achieving thirteen-year-olds remain well below their pre-pandemic performance.

Read more: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/americas-high-achievers-are-stuck

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