Gifted-student screenings often miss poor students who should qualify
Bich Thi Ngoc Tran, Jonathan Wai, Sarah McKenzieHigh-achieving students from low-income backgrounds are half as likely to be placed in a gifted program as their more affluent peers, according to our new study.
Can we revive standards-based reform?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Few people have done more to boost academic standards in U.S. schools than Michael Cohen and Laura Slover, coauthors of a new paper offering a bright vision for revitalizing them. But there are reasons to doubt the feasibility of its proposals.
Relinquishment or instructional coherence: What’s the right goal for districts?
Dale ChuThe “tripod” of standards, testing, and accountability has taken a real beating in recent years, following decades in which it was accepted dogma within reform circles.
Stop neglecting gifted students’ social and emotional needs
Susan Miller, Tom CoyneBack in February, Bloomberg’s Adrian Wooldridge published a column claiming that “America is facing a great talent recession.” He noted that, “today, demand for top talent in the corporate world and elsewhere is exploding just at a time when the supply is t
The Education Gadfly Show #828: Arizona’s expanded ESA: The big enchilada of school choice
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Matt Beienburg, Director of Education Policy
Hope and progress for gifted education
Brandon L. WrightThis is the first edition of “Advance,” a new Fordham Institute newsletter that will monitor the progress of gifted education. Here, Wright recounts recent developments that reinforce two truths: Gifted education is a clear and substantial good, and it can be much better.
The Education Gadfly Show #827: The debate over “no zeroes” grading policies
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Daniel Buck, a teacher and a Fordham senior visiting fellow, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss “
The Education Gadfly Show #826: Research Deep Dive: What we know about gifted education
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, we present the sixth edition of our Research Deep Dive series.
Do gifted and talented programs contribute to racial imbalances in elementary school?
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.The clatter that rose in late 2021 over New York City’s plan to phase out its gifted and talented (G/T) programs had much to do with the presumed negative effects of such programs on racial sorting.
How to narrow the excellence gap in early elementary school
Michael J. PetrilliIn recent weeks, I’ve dug into the “excellence gap“—the sharp divides along lines of race
The excellence gap opens early
Michael J. PetrilliLast week, I provided sobering evidence of the “excellence gap” among twelfth grade students—the sharp divides along lines of race and class in achievement at the highest levels.
Evidence, struggling math students, and California’s 2022 math framework
Tom LovelessThe proposed California Mathematics Framework generated a storm of controversy when the first draft was released in early 2021. Critics objected to the document’s condemnation of tracking and negative portrayal of acceleration for high-achieving students.
National Working Group on Advanced Education: Inaugural meeting summary of discussion
The Education GadflyNOTE: On March 7, 2022, seventeen members of the National Working Group on Advanced Education met in Washington, D.C., to get acquainted and to start identifying evidence-based practices to support the success of high-achieving students.
San Francisco’s detracking experiment
Tom LovelessEditor's note: This post was originally published on tomloveless.com.
Education Gadfly Show #811: How one district scouts for talent for its gifted programs
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, April Wells, Gifted Coordinator in Illinois School District U-46 and
Keep fighting for selective high schools
Brandon L. WrightIn cities across the country, selective high schools are facing increasing pressure to change their admissions policies to make their incoming student populations more socioeconomically and racially diverse. Closing these gaps is a laudable and important goal. But the most common strategies for accomplishing it are racially discriminatory, misguided, and ineffective.
Education Gadfly Show #809: Diversity, the law, and the future of selective-admission schools
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Fordham’s editorial director, Brandon Wright, joins Mike Petrilli
Attacking gifted education is bad policy and bad politics
Brandon L. WrightEducation for high achievers has come under siege in blue cities and states as the national focus has shifted to racial equity in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. But such attacks, even when well-intentioned, are misguided. They target a problem’s symptom rather than its cause, and in doing so, harm students and defy parents.
A descriptive look at the structure of gifted programs in Washington State
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.Gifted education has been a much-debated issue
Bill de Blasio is decimating gifted education in New York. Will Eric Adams save it?
Brandon L. WrightMayor de Blasio is axing New York City’s long-standing gifted education programs. He plans to replace them with something else, but his proposal is almost entirely wrong. Fortunately, Eric Adams, who’s almost certain to replace him in January, has a vision of gifted education that’s mostly right, and he’ll enter office in time to fix de Blasio’s blunders.
Education Gadfly Show #791: Is this the end of gifted education in New York City?
We are squandering the talents of too many low-income high achievers
Aaron Churchill , Michael J. PetrilliFar too many high-achieving children are drifting through middle and high school. Despite their potential, they don’t end up taking AP exams, achieving high marks on their ACTs, or going to four-year colleges. This limits their ability to move up the social ladder, threatens U.S. economic competitiveness, and derails our aspirations for a more just society. We must stop buying into the false assumption that high-achieving kids will do fine on their own.
Rigorous courses are a good thing—and good for equity
Brandon L. Wright“As a broader mechanism for equity, [Advanced Placement] has fallen short, unable to overcome the powerful structural forces that disadvantage far too many students,” writes Anne Kim in a recent long-form article in Washington Monthly titled “AP’s Equity Face-Plant.” “If the ultimate goal
Addressing constructive criticisms of Fordham’s report on state civics and U.S. history standards
David GriffithOur recent study of states’ U.S. history and civics standards attracted some constructive criticism from both the left and the right. It was, after all, explicitly bipartisan. Here are our responses to four critiques.
Using deeper learning to strengthen our democracy
Kent McGuireThe past eighteen months have been some of the most tumultuous in the history of our nation. The twin pandemics of Covid-19 and social injustice have highlighted how today’s students face very different expectations than students encountered in previous generations.
State civics and U.S. history standards are less politically biased than before. Let’s keep it that way.
Jeremy A. Stern, Ph.D.In 2020, as we began to look at state U.S. history standards for the first time since 2011, I was concerned about what we would find.
Boston is punishing its Asian American community for its educational success
Brandon L. WrightBoston just approved sweeping changes to the process by which students are admitted to its three highly-sought exam schools. The idea was to free up more seats for disadvantaged children, some of whom have long been underrepresented at the institutions. Yet in one important aspect, the plan may do exactly the opposite: It’s likely to significantly reduce the number of seats that go to low-income Asian American students.