On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jim Peyser, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education, joins Mike and David to discuss voters’ recent decision to eliminate the MCAS graduation requirement and what it means for the future of high school. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares reports exploring the changing landscape of homeschooling in America.

Recommended content:

• James A. Peyser, “Don’t Abandon Common High School Graduation Exams” Education Next (2024).
• Frederick M. Hess, “Why Did Massachusetts Just Pull the Plug on 30 Years of K–12 Success?” AEI (November 6, 2024).
• Angela R. Watson, Homeschool Participation: Post-Pandemic Persistence and Growth Trends, Journal of School Choice (2024)
• Alanna Bjorklund-Young and Angela R. Watson, The Changing Face of American Homeschool: A 25-Year Comparison of Race and Ethnicity, Journal of School Choice (2024) 

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dale Chu, a senior visiting fellow at the Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss how the election results could impact education and whether there’s reason for optimism. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining how geographic access to public colleges affects enrollment decisions across different races and socioeconomic groups.

Recommended content: 

• Matt Barnum, “Trump Gears Up for Assault on Wokeness With Education Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal (November 11, 2024).
• Alia Wong, “A push for school choice fell short in Trump’s first term. He may now have a more willing Congress,” Associated Press (November 8, 2024).
• Tim Daly, “We’re living through an education depression,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (November 1, 2024).
• Riley Acton, Kalena E. Cortes, and Camila Morales, Distance to Opportunity: Higher Education Deserts and College Enrollment Choices, Annenberg Institute (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jill Barshay, author of The Hechinger Report’s “Proof Points” column, joins Mike and David to discuss her recent article on the surprising effects of colleges eliminating remedial courses. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining the impact of Washington’s academic acceleration policies on high school students.

Recommended content: 

• Jill Barshay, “A decade of data in one state shows an unexpected result when colleges drop remedial courses,” The Hechinger Report (September 23, 2024).
• Michael J. Petrilli, “‘Kid, I’m Sorry, but You’re Just Not College Material’ Is exactly what we should be telling a lot of high school students,” Slate (March 18, 2014).
• Chester E. Finn, Jr., “What's the point of high school?” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 5, 2024).
• Megan Austin, Ben Backes, Dan Goldhaber, Dory Li, and Francie Streich, Leveling Up: An Academic Acceleration Policy to Increase Equity in Advanced High School Course Taking, American Educational Research Journal (2024).

 Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brandon Wright, Fordham’s Editorial Director and author of the latest Think Again brief, “Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitable?” joins Mike and David to explain why the answer to that question is “no” and why such programs are important. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study examining how individual teachers’ effectiveness shifted when instruction went from in-person to on-line during the 2020-21 school year.

Recommended content: 

• Brandon L. Wright, Think Again: Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitable? Thomas B. Fordham Institute (October 2024). 
• Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners: Final Report of the National Working Group on Advanced Education, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (June 2023). 
• Brandon L. Wright, “Hope and progress for gifted education,” Advance (July 5, 2022).
• Jonathan Plucker, “Do programs for advanced learners work?” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (June 24, 2020).
• M. Cade Lawson and Tim R. Sass, Teacher Effectiveness in Remote Instruction, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2024).

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marc Porter Magee, CEO and Founder of 50CAN, joins Mike and David to discuss “The State of Educational Opportunity in America," 50CAN’s new report based on a survey of over 20,000 parents from all 50 states and D.C. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining how teacher strikes affect compensation, working conditions, and student achievement.

Recommended content: 

• The State of Educational Opportunity in America, 50CAN (2024). 
• “Student enrollment is dropping. The charter sector should keep growing anyway.” —Michael J. Petrilli
• State of Educational Opportunity: Ohio Survey of Ohio Parents, Thomas B. Fordham Institute and 50CAN (2024).
• Melissa Arnold Lyon, Matthew A. Kraft, and Matthew P. Steinberg, The Causes and Consequences of U.S. Teacher Strikes, NBER (2024).

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Deming, a professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School, joins Mike and David to discuss his article in The Atlantic arguing that it’s not enough for governments and the private sector to eliminate college-degree requirement for good-paying jobs. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study investigating the “fade-out effect” in early childhood education programs.

Recommended content: 

• “We need supply-side education policy” —David Deming
• “The vibes for career-tech programs are great. But they’re too rare.” —Michael J. Petrilli
• “What Kamala Harris should do on education and training” —Bruno V. Manno
• John A. List and Haruka Uchida, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Toward an Understanding of Fade-out in Early Childhood Education Programs, NBER (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Parker Baxter, Director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado, joins Mike and David to discuss his new report on the impact of Denver’s education reforms. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a RAND survey on teachers’ experiences with school violence and lockdown drills.

Recommended content: 

• Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, David Stuit, Margot Plotz, Todd Ely, and Paul Tesk, Systemwide and Intervention-Specific Effects of Denver Public Schools’ Portfolio District Strategy on Individual Student Achievement, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 2024)
• “Denver doesn’t spell doom for portfolio-style reform” —Paul T. Hill
• “With student enrollment plummeting, which schools should be considered candidates for closure?” —Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli
• Pauline Moore, Melissa Kay Diliberti, Brian A. Jackson, Teachers’ Experiences with School Violence and Lockdown Drills, RAND (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Devon Nir, a research assistant at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the complexities of ensuring accountability for education savings accounts. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study exploring the financial returns of various non-degree credentials and degree programs.

Recommended content: 

• “The ‘à la carte education’ accountability conundrum”—Michael J. Petrilli and Devon Nir
• “Finding the sweet spot on accountability”—Dale Chu
• " When Only Some Kids Can Afford Summer Camp — Why We Must Close the ‘Enrichment Gap’” —Michael J. Petrilli 
• Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Xueying Mei, Stephen Roll, More Money for Less Time? Examining the Relative and Heterogenous Financial Returns to Non-Degree Credentials and Degree Programs, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Hamilton Project, joins Mike and David to discuss the Fordham report he just authored, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the effects of Zearn Math on third through fifth grade math performance in Louisiana.

Recommended content: 

• Sofoklis Goulas, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 2024)
• “The case for closing underenrolled, low-performing schools” —Michael J. Petrilli
• “We need to prepare now for the school closures that are coming” —Tim Daly
• Shirin Hashim, Measuring the Efficacy of Zearn Math in Louisiana, AERA Open (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Michael Goldstein, co-founder of the Math Learning Lab in Boston, joins Mike and David to discuss the track record of high-dosage tutoring in mitigating pandemic learning loss. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the long-term effects of the METCO program, which aims to increase diversity and reduce racial isolation by busing students from Boston to surrounding suburbs.

Recommended content: 

• Mike Goldstein and Bowen Paulle, The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (March 2021)
• “Students aren’t benefiting much from tutoring, one new study shows” —JillBarshay
• Matthew A. Kraft, Danielle Sanderson Edwards, and Marisa Cannata, The Scaling Dynamics and Causal Effects of a District-Operated Tutoring Program, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (August 2024)
• Elizabeth Setren, Busing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the METCO Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of Color, NBER (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul Bruno, an assistant professor of education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joins Mike and David to discuss the pros and cons of universal free lunch. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber explores how mandating Advanced Placement course offerings and waiving AP exam fees impact student participation.

Recommended content: 

• “Should All School Meals Be Free?”—Tim Daly
• “Make School Lunches Great Again”—Max Eden
• Ian Callen and Christiana Stoddard, “Putting the ‘A’ in AP: The effect of advanced placement state policies on student participation and performance,” Economics of Education Review (2024)

Feedback Welcome: This week, we're trying something new on the Education Gadfly Podcast! After nearly 20 years of keeping our episodes short and snappy, we're experimenting with a longer format to explore topics in greater depth. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this change—whether you love it or hate it. If you enjoy the podcast, please share it with your friends and colleagues; your support helps us reach more listeners! 

Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].