The Education Gadfly Show

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].