Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Thomas B. Fordham Institute

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

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Education reform in red versus blue states 01/24/2025

Sadly, there’s only one party of education reform today, writes Mike Petrilli. As red and blue states continue to go in different directions, Republicans are embracing it and Democrats are running away from it.

Education reform in red versus blue states Is the conventional wisdom right that both parties have abandoned education reform? The evidence indicates that it’s mostly fair when it comes to Democrats, but not so fair when it comes to the GOP—at least if we look beyond Washington to the states.

#953: From Biden to Trump: Rank punditry, with Rick Hess 01/23/2025

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss education reform under former President Biden and what we might expect from President Trump. Watch or listen now.

#953: From Biden to Trump: Rank punditry, with Rick Hess 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.

Arkansas’ effort to make Advanced Placement courses universally accessible 01/22/2025

A new report looks at Arkansas’s efforts to improve underrepresented students’ access to the Advanced Placement program.

Arkansas’ effort to make Advanced Placement courses universally accessible The Advanced Placement (AP) program, celebrating its seventieth anniversary this year, has largely lived up to the promise of encouraging and rewarding ambitious high school students looking to prepare themselves for college rigor. Students who participate in AP courses generally have better chances...

New York is the supernova of education reform 01/22/2025

New York is the supernova of education reform, writes Danyela Souza Egorov. And charter school growth is the light of that supernova. But there's a solution: Lift the charter school cap.

New York is the supernova of education reform “A supernova is what happens when a star has reached the end of its life and explodes in a brilliant burst of light. Supernovas can briefly outshine entire galaxies and radiate more energy than our sun will in its entire lifetime.” —Nancy Taylor Tillman, Space.com

How much blame does the federal government deserve for America’s mediocre schools? 01/21/2025

Trump picked Linda McMahon for secretary of education and promised again to eliminate the US Department of Education. An important question, though, is whether abolishing the agency would actually make things better for students, writes Mike Petrilli.

How much blame does the federal government deserve for America’s mediocre schools? In announcing his nomination of former SBA director Linda McMahon as the next secretary of education, President Trump promised yet again to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. An important question is whether abolishing the agency—and its programs, policies, and regulations—would actuall...

How college AP and IB policies make it harder to graduate early 01/17/2025

College AP and IB policies are making it harder to graduate early. Checker Finn explains why and how.

How college AP and IB policies make it harder to graduate early Once upon a time, such as when I entered college in 1962, it was possible—correction: it was relatively easy—to graduate in three years with the help of Advanced Placement scores that you submitted upon arrival.

#952: Unpacking the impact of Wisconsin's Act 10 on teacher pay, with Barbara Biasi 01/16/2025

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. Watch or listen now!

#952: Unpacking the impact of Wisconsin's Act 10 on teacher pay, with Barbara Biasi 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.

A system designed to preserve the status quo: New York City Public Schools’ kindergarten choice program 01/15/2025

A report examines how NYC's centralized enrollment and school matching system—arguably the largest and most complex in the nation—works in practice, with a focus on which families get their kindergarten preference in the school system and which don’t.

A system designed to preserve the status quo: New York City Public Schools’ kindergarten choice program Allowing families to express their preferences for various schools—whether inside or beyond their geographically-zoned building or district—sounds good in theory. Indeed, we’ve been hearing for decades that a zip code should never determine the quality of a child’s education. But does allowi...

#951: The future of federal education policy under Trump, with Alyson Klein 01/15/2025

On the latest Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alyson Klein, assistant editor at Education Week, joins Mike Petrillo and David Griffith to discuss how President Trump could weaken the U.S. Department of Education without dismantling it entirely.

#951: The future of federal education policy under Trump, with Alyson Klein 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.

Our Most Recent Charter School Studies 01/14/2025

As the charter sector grows, we conduct and commission rigorous studies to explore their performance, impact on nearby public schools, and success with disadvantaged students. Discover best practices, challenges, and opportunities in our latest research:

Our Most Recent Charter School Studies With the charter sector’s steady expansion comes the need for a deeper understanding of these schools’ performance, their effects on traditional public schools in their vicinity, and the potential reasons for their success with students—including those from disadvantaged communities. To suppor...

Who and what you know: The impact of middle school diversity on New York’s high school choice program 01/14/2025

In theory, choice within the public school system has the potential to break down racial segregation and provide underserved students with better opportunities. A recent study explores whether that theory plays out in reality in NYC’s high schools.

Who and what you know: The impact of middle school diversity on New York’s high school choice program De facto segregation persists in schools across the United States, leading many Black and Hispanic students to attend lower quality schools with fewer

Why teachers don’t use the high-quality instructional materials they’re given 01/13/2025

An increasing number of districts across America are rightly procuring high-quality instructional materials for use in their schools. But telling teachers to just use these materials—“teach the darn curriculum”—isn’t working, says David Steiner.

Why teachers don’t use the high-quality instructional materials they’re given An increasing number of districts across America are rightly procuring so-called high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) for use in their schools. These English language arts and math materials meet grade-level state standards for skills and knowledge and are thus rated “green” (fully meets ...

01/11/2025

Watch the Education Gadfly Show!

#951: The future of federal education policy under Trump, with Alyson Klein

Education reform in red versus blue states 01/10/2025

Sadly, there’s only one party of education reform today, writes Michael Petrilli. As red and blue states continue to go in different directions, Republicans are embracing it and Democrats are running away from it.

Education reform in red versus blue states Is the conventional wisdom right that both parties have abandoned education reform? The evidence indicates that it’s mostly fair when it comes to Democrats, but not so fair when it comes to the GOP—at least if we look beyond Washington to the states.

#951: The future of federal education policy under Trump, with Alyson Klein 01/09/2025

Exciting news! The Education Gadfly Show podcast is now available on YouTube!

Tune in to watch this week’s episode, where Alyson Klein, assistant editor at Education Week, joins Mike and David to explore how President Trump could weaken the U.S. Department of Education without dismantling it entirely.

Watch now:

#951: The future of federal education policy under Trump, with Alyson Klein 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 wea...

The state of global education in a post-pandemic world 01/08/2025

In the wake of the pandemic, global education systems face significant setbacks, as revealed by international assessments, which show alarming declines in student performance. Nuno Crato and Harry Anthony Patrinos explain ways leaders can address this.

The state of global education in a post-pandemic world The recently released results from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023 highlight a concerning decline in U.S. students’ performance in science and mathematics, with the country falling further behind peer countries. But it isn’t just America. The post-pandemic educ...

Will Trump eliminate the federal role in education or weaponize it? 01/08/2025

Under Trump, is the federal role in education slated for elimination or expansion? Is Secretary-designate Linda McMahon’s mandate to get rid of her agency or to empower it? There’s no way to be sure today, writes Checker Finn.

https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/will-trump-eliminate-federal-role-education-or-weaponize-i

Will Trump eliminate the federal role in education or weaponize it? Perhaps you’ve been wondering why many recent articles, predictions, and speculations about Trump’s plans for the U.S. Department of Education focus on its abolition, while others predict that it will be forcefully deployed to reshape what schools teach. Consider the Washington Post’s excellen...

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Videos (show all)

#951: The future of federal education policy under Trump, with Alyson Klein
Podcast #923
#925
#924
Podcast Episode #921
PODCAST #920: Integration and charter schools, with Brian Kisida
#918: The broken pipeline of advanced education, with Adam Tyner
Podcast #918
#917: The end of Chevron deference, with Joshua Dunn
On this episode of the Education Gadfly Show, Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at Fordham and the American Enterprise I...
#913: Advancing cross-partisan education policies, with Lorén Cox and Karen Nussle
Education Gadfly Show #912

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