Education Gadfly Weekly

February 16, 2012

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Rethinking Governance

This ambitious strand of work freshly examines the basic structures of public education, seeking ways to make them work better and boost the impact and durability of choice- and standards-based reforms. We’re ready to rethink school boards and districts, America’s traditional notions of education federalism and local control, and the barriers that discourage innovation, thwart change, and place entrenched adult interests ahead of children’s.

Recent Publications

Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning

John E. Chubb / February 14, 2012

In this paper, John Chubb examines how local school district control retards the widespread use of instructional technologies. He argues that the surest way to break down the system’s inherent resistance to technology is to shift control from the local district—and thus the school board—and put it in the hands of states. Download the paper to read the ten steps Chubb argues will get us to this brave new governance system.

The Louisiana Recovery School District: Lessons for the Buckeye State

January 17, 2012

By Nelson Smith

Is it time for Ohio to take bolder steps toward turning around its most troubled schools and districts? If so, what might the alternatives look like? In looking for alternatives to simply doing more of the same, Ohio policymakers are looking to the experiences of other states. Among the boldest and most interesting of these is Louisiana’s Recovery School District (RSD), which is accomplishing both significant gains in student achievement and consequential impacts on district-level standards. In this recent report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute author Nelson Smith ask if and how the RSD concept might be a model for Ohio.


Rethinking Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century

December 1, 2011

School reforms abound today, yet even the boldest and most imaginative among them have produced—at best—marginal gains in student achievement. What America needs in the twenty-first century is a far more profound version of education reform. Instead of shoveling yet more policies, programs, and practices into our current system, we must deepen our understanding of the obstacles to reform that are posed by existing structures, governance arrangements, and power relationships. Yet few education reformers—or public officials—have been willing to delve into this touchy territory.

Recent Articles

‘Twas the night before de-regulation

December 24, 2011
Why the free market belongs in education.

Zuckerberg 2.0: Cami Anderson and Newark

May 5, 2011

Zen and the art of school board maintenance

September 13, 2011

You???d be crazy to see SB5???s defeat as rejection of Ohio school reform

November 10, 2011
A vote of support for first responders

Yawning in Colorado

April 22, 2011