The Education Gadfly Show

On this week’s show, Andrew Rotherham, cofounder and partner at Bellwether Education partners, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Glenn Youngkin’s election and what it means for education politics. He shared his thoughts about this on an interview for The 74, where he described the problem with Democrats ignoring parental concerns, in Virginia and nationally, about gifted education, Covid protocols, and how race is discussed in schools. But he also cautioned that Republicans shouldn’t misread the situation and overreach. After this discussion, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines a study  looking at the effectiveness of credit recovery courses.

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, Dale Chu, senior visiting fellow at Fordham and independent education consultant, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to make the case for K–2 standardized testing. He wrote about this same topic earlier this month, noting that widespread distaste for such assessments would make implementing this change challenging. But he argued that the alternative is to continue burying our heads in the sand about our children’s most formative years, which would be unfair to students and teachers. Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern discusses a CALDER study examining the effects of remedial English language arts courses in middle school on postsecondary outcomes.

Amber's Research Minute:

Umut Özek, “The Effects of Middle School Remediation on Postsecondary Success: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Florida,” CALDER Working Papers (September 2021).

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

On this week’s podcast, Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what the Democrats' still-in-the-works “social infrastructure” bill may mean for pre-K and childcare. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how differences in parental beliefs across socioeconomic backgrounds affect educational inequities.

Amber's Research Minute:

John A. List, Julie Pernaudet, and Dana Suskind, "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Shifting Parental Beliefs," NBER Working Paper #29394 (October 2021). 

Have questions or feedback about the podcast? Email [email protected].

On this week’s podcast, Tom Toch, director of Future Ed, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss D.C.’s teacher-hiring strategy, and why other districts can and should follow suit. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how teacher specialization in elementary schools affects student achievement.

Amber's Research Minute

NaYoung Hwang and Brian Kisida, "Spread Too Thin: The Effects of Teacher Specialization on Student Achievement," retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University (October 2021).

 On this week’s podcast, Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the last week’s worrisome NAEP results. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether stricter high school math requirements in the Nation at Risk era boosted college STEM attainment. 

On this week’s podcast, Brandon Wright, Fordham’s editorial director and coauthor of Failing Our Brightest Kids, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent move to overhaul gifted education in New York City. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the distribution of school resources in America, and what it means for disadvantaged students.

Amber's Research Minute

Kenneth Shores and Hojung Lee, "The Distribution of School Resources in The United States: A Comparative Analysis Across Levels of Governance, Student Sub-groups, And Educational Resources," Social Science Research Network (August 2021).

On this week’s podcast, education writer Richard Whitmire joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how boys’ education failure starts in the earliest grades. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines districts’ plans for remote learning during the pandemic.

 On this week’s podcast, Scott Imberman, professor at Michigan State University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the new study he conducted for Fordham exploring the inequitable outcomes for early high achievers in Ohio. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how admission to a high-quality charter school affects students’ voting patterns later in life. 

On this week’s podcast, Debbie Veney, Senior Vice President at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her new report on Covid-era enrollment trends in charter and traditional public schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the prevalence and use of industry-recognized-credential programs in high schools.

On this week’s podcast, John Bailey, nonresident senior fellow at AEI, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how students’ transition back into classrooms is going in the face of the Delta variant and battles over vaccine, mask, and quarantine policies. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the unique characteristics of gifted programs.

And check out our conversation with John earlier this summer about how schools were adapting to Covid!