The Education Gadfly Show

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 Biden passing the torch and Trump picking J.D. Vance could affect U.S. school policy. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study that compares the academic impacts of urban versus suburban charter schools. Recommended content: Dale Chu, Fordham InstituteDaniel Buck, Fordham InstituteDiverse paths to college success: The impact of Massachusetts’ urban and nonurban charter schools on college trajectoriesFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Francis Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, joins Mike and David to debate the impact that budgets, enrollment, and race play in closing schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the efficacy of learning-loss-recovery interventions across eight districts. Recommended content: Francis Pearman, Education WeekMichael Petrilli, Wall Street JournalMichael Petrilli, Fordham InstituteImpacts of Academic Recovery Interventions on Student Achievement in 2022-23Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kristen Huff, the vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, joins Mike and David to discuss the academic performance our youngest students in the wake of the pandemic. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the demographic effects of test-optional policies at selective universities. Recommended content: New York TimesStudent growth in the post-COVID eraDaniel Buck, Fordham InstituteThink Again: Do College Admissions Exams Drive Higher Education Inequities?Exploring the relationship between test-optional admissions and selectivity and enrollment outcomes during the pandemicFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marguerite Roza, the director of the Edunomics Lab and a research professor at Georgetown University, joins Mike and David to discuss how schools and school systems can downsize in response to declining enrollment. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam examines a new study investigating the academic impacts of ESSER funding, the largest one-time federal investment in public schools in history. Recommended content: Marguerite Roza & Aashish Dhammani, The 74Michael Petrilli, Wall Street JournalMichael Petrilli, Fordham InstituteESSER and student achievement: Assessing the impacts of the largest one-time federal investment in K12 schoolsFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alina Adams, a New York Times best-selling author, joins Mike and David to discuss the parenting lessons she learned from watching “Young Sheldon.” Then, on the Research Minute, Adam examines a new study investigating the rigor (or lack thereof) of online credit recovery courses. Recommended content: Alina Adams, Education NextJonathan Plucker, Education NextAdam Tyner, Fordham InstituteFailing to learn from failure: The facade of online credit recovery assessmentsEducation Finance and PolicyFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at Fordham and the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the lack of curriculum oversight in American schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study of whether aspiring teachers’ professional references predict their later performance. Recommended content: Robert Pondiscio, The Free PressRobert Pondiscio, Fordham InstituteHow well do professional reference ratings predict teacher performance?Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Houston, an assistant professor at George Mason University, joins Mike and David to discuss how presidents polarize voters when they weigh in on education debates. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating whether performance incentives improve teacher skills and so the academic growth of their students. Recommended content: Kevin Mahnken, The 74Michael Petrilli, Fordham InstituteHow the engagement of high-profile partisan officials affects education politics, public opinion, and polarizationEmployee evaluation and skill investments: Evidence from public school teachersFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alex Spurrier, an associate partner at Bellwether, joins Mike and David to discuss whether schools in low-income neighborhoods receive less funding than their affluent counterparts. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating state finance reforms that secure lasting budget increases for districts. Recommended content: Leveling the landscape: An analysis of K–12 funding inequities within metro areas Adam Tyner, Fordham InstituteMichael Petrilli, Fordham InstitutePaying for school finance reforms: How states raise revenues to fund increases in elementary-secondary education expendituresFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dr. Katie Jenner, the Indiana secretary of education, joins Mike and David to discuss a proposed, alternative high school diploma in the Hoosier state. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating early indicators for college readiness. Recommended content: ChalkbeatMichael Petrilli, Fordham Institute Empowering educational leaders: On-track indicators for college enrollmentFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Daniel Buck, Fordham’s policy and editorial associate, joins Mike and David to discuss whether and how elementary schools should teach reading comprehension. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the short- and long-term impacts of school closures in the 1990s. Recommended content: Think again: Should elementary schools teach reading comprehension? Robert Pondiscio, Fordham InstituteTim Daly, Fordham InstituteThe long shadow of school closures: Impacts on students’ educational and labor market outcomesFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

In a special National Charter Schools Week Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brian Kisida, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, joins Mike and David to discuss whether charters have impeded racial integration in American schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating if intensive English learner programs benefit students. Recommended content: Carrie Spector, Stanford EducationThe effect of charter schools on school segregationThe effects of a newcomer program on the academic achievement of English LearnersJournal of Policy Analysis and ManagementFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marian Tupy, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the founder and editor of HumanProgress.org, joins Mike and David to discuss the incredible progress that humanity has made over millennia, and what schools might do to better teach kids that our past, present, and future is not all doom and gloom. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating if education savings accounts increase tuition costs at private schools. Recommended content: Ten global trends every smart person should know: And many others you will find interestingMarian Tupy and Ronald BaileyRonald Bailey, Reason MagazineMichael Petrilli, Fordham InstituteEduwonkette, Education WeekThe effect of taxpayer-funded education savings accounts on private school tuition: Evidence from IowaFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Tyner, Fordham’s national research director, joins Mike and David to discuss his latest study on advanced education policies across the country. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines new research on how the decentralization of teacher accountability under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act affected student achievement. Recommended content: The broken pipeline: Advanced education policies at the local levelAdam Tyner, Fordham InstituteBuilding a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners The National Working Group on Advanced Education, Fordham InstituteTim Daly, Fordham InstituteESPNBalancing federalism: The impact of decentralizing school accountabilityFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Joshua Dunn, Executive Director of the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee, joins Mike and David to discuss how public schools will be affected by the end of the Chevron deference—the judicial doctrine in which courts defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new paper criticizing the famous STAR class size study. Recommended content: Joshua Dunn, Education NextWall Street JournalDavid Martin, Washington PostHeterogeneity and endogenous compliance: Implications for scaling class size interventionsFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at Fordham and the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the state of curricular reform. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines new data from the Institute of Education Sciences’ Condition of Education Report. Recommended content: Robert Pondiscio, The 74Robert Pondiscio, Fordham InstituteReport on the Condition of Education 2023Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Derrell Bradford, the president of 50CAN, joins Mike and David to discuss a new coalition called No More Lines that seeks to end residency requirements for public schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining whether ESSER funding influenced spending on school personnel. Recommended content: Jo Napolitano, The 74Michael Petrilli and Janie Scull, Fordham InstituteESSER funding and school system jobs: Evidence from job posting dataFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss his new book, Getting Education Right. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining how civics educators taught about and framed the 2020 election. Recommended content: Frederick Hess and Michael McShaneFrederick Hess and Michael McShane, Fordham InstituteHow and Why Teachers Taught About the 2020 U.S. Election: An Analysis of Survey Responses From Twelve StatesFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Lorén Cox, the policy director for the Education and Society program at the Aspen Institute, and Karen Nussle, the founder and CEO of Ripple Communications, join Mike and David to discuss how cross-partisanship—both sides agreeing on the same conclusion for disparate reasons—benefits education. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining how college achievement and retention is affected by “corequisite” remedial classes—meaning those taken at the same time as, not before, the course requiring the remediation. Recommended content: Lorén Cox and Karen Nussle, Aspen InstituteMichael Petrilli, Fordham InstituteDoes corequisite remediation work for everyone? An exploration of heterogeneous effects and mechanismsFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Kho, an assistant professor at the Rossier School of Education, and Alex Quigley, the executive director of the Durham Charter School, join Mike and David to discuss whether charter authorizers can determine the quality of prospective charter schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining the effects of including parental preferences in algorithms that assign students to schools in New York City. Recommended content: Adam Kho, Shelby Leigh Smith, and Douglas Lee Lauen, Fordham InstituteAnna Nicotera & David Stuit, Fordham InstituteConstrained Agency and the Architecture of Educational Choice: Evidence from New York CityFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rebecca Sibilia, the executive director of EdFund, joins Mike and David to debate whether we’ve fixed school funding in America. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining the effects of school shootings on survivors’ test scores, attendance, and long-term health. Recommended content: Greg Toppo, The 74Adam Tyner, Fordham InstituteMax Eden, Fordham InstituteEdFund WebsiteThe consequences of high-fatality shootings for surviving studentsJournal of Policy Analysis and ManagementFeedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at dbuck@fordhaminstitute.org.