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 o...
May 10, 2023•28 min•Ep. 869
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 ...
May 03, 2023•26 min•Ep. 868
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 ...
Apr 26, 2023•27 min•Ep. 867
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...
Apr 19, 2023•32 min•Ep. 866
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...
Apr 12, 2023•29 min•Ep. 865
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 Workf...
Apr 05, 2023•32 min•Ep. 864
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” — ...
Mar 29, 2023•26 min•Ep. 863
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” — C...
Mar 22, 2023•24 min•Ep. 862
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 kid...
Mar 15, 2023•27 min•Ep. 861
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 Yo...
Mar 08, 2023•29 min•Ep. 860
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 eli...
Mar 01, 2023•27 min•Ep. 859
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 ...
Feb 22, 2023•22 min•Ep. 858
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” — W...
Feb 15, 2023•26 min•Ep. 857
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 e...
Feb 08, 2023•27 min•Ep. 856
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 Colle...
Feb 01, 2023•30 min•Ep. 855
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”...
Jan 25, 2023•29 min•Ep. 854
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 Pa...
Jan 18, 2023•31 min•Ep. 853
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 S...
Jan 11, 2023•29 min•Ep. 852
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...
Jan 04, 2023•30 min•Ep. 851
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 “Ariz...
Dec 21, 2022•31 min•Ep. 850
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 o...
Dec 14, 2022•28 min•Ep. 849
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...
Dec 07, 2022•26 min•Ep. 848
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 Med...
Nov 30, 2022•29 min•Ep. 847
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: “Schoo...
Nov 16, 2022•27 min•Ep. 846
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...
Nov 09, 2022•38 min•Ep. 845
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 clima...
Nov 01, 2022•24 min
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 Choice...
Oct 25, 2022•29 min
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 pa...
Oct 18, 2022•19 min•Ep. 842
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 ...
Oct 12, 2022•25 min•Ep. 841
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. Recommende...
Oct 05, 2022•22 min
