The Education Gadfly Show

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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 Brown University (May 2022).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion, and co-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).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].

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.”

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at [email protected].