The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

New study finds improved college outcomes for Ohio’s EdChoice students

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 09:53

This week, the Urban Institute—a national think tank—released a study that examines the college outcomes of EdChoice scholarship students. The analysis includes students who participated in EdChoice during its early years of implementation (2008–14). It relies on statistical methods that ensure apples-to-apples comparisons of private- and public-school students from similar backgrounds. Key results include: EdChoice boosted college enrollment. Among scholarship recipients, 64 percent enrolled… Read More

Calculus, statistics, and the capstone course question

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 00:06

Are high school students better served by completing their math studies with calculus or statistics? This question has provoked lively debate in the education world, in the mathematics world, and in the college admissions world. But remarkably little is known for certain about what difference—if any—it actually makes. For years, selective college admissions offices have looked for calculus on applicants’ transcripts. In fact, 92 percent of admissions officers in 2024 said that “faculty places… Read More

The Department of Education meets “Office Space”

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 00:05

The U.S. Department of Education has been cut down to half its previous size. Over the past month, as more than a thousand former employees carted their belongings out of the building at 400 Maryland Avenue, they were greeted by protesters denouncing the clumsy cuts and callous execution. Social media provided a stark contrast, as Trump supporters cheered the paring of the federal bureaucracy. Me? I kept finding myself thinking of Mike Judge’s cult workplace comedy Office Space. (Amazon aptly… Read More

The ESSER hangover is here

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 00:04

Lately, I’ve been asking audiences (mostly comprised of public school district leaders) to rate ESSER. Thumbs up for success, down for disaster. The most common answer, by far, is a tepid something in between. I think that’s right. Had there been no relief funds, pandemic-era K–12 enrollment drops would have forced districts to downsize (and lay off staff) in the middle of trying to reopen. And often, students received essential emergency supports, like food or supplies for homeless students,… Read More

Can targeted communications boost student participation in opt-in tutoring?

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 00:03

Pandemic-era disruptions to education resulted in an unprecedented influx of federal funds to K–12 schools, some of which was used to address lost student learning. Summer school, one-to-one technology, academic enrichment, and virtual resources were among the myriad remedies deployed, but none was thought to hold more promise than tutoring. Studies indicate far less positive impact than hoped for from tutoring, particularly for those students who fell furthest behind. What happened? A new… Read More

Cheers and Jeers: April 24, 2025

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 00:02

Cheers Indiana passed a landmark property tax law that shifts hundreds of millions in school funding towards charter schools. —WFYI Indianapolis New Jersey Democrats have a rare chance to lead on education by backing advanced coursework, rewarding great teachers, and expanding strong charter schools—bold, sensible reforms that are too important to ignore. —Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring This week North Dakota became the 47th state to legalize charter schools, prioritizing choice and high… Read More

What we’re reading this week: April 24, 2025

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 00:01

Babies, toddlers, children, and teens are negatively impacted by parental device use; parents need to keep their own screen time to a minimum and put their phones down around their children. —The Dispatch One Montgomery County parent argues that the current Supreme Court case over religious freedoms and LGBTQ-themed books could have been avoided with a little grace. —Megan K. Stack, The New York Times The Supreme Court case concerning religious charter schools could split conservative… Read More

Gadfly Bites 4/23/25—Paying the bills…and the piper

Wed, 04/23/2025 - 09:16

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’. Color me slightly surprised that no Ohio outlets have yet found this new Urban Institute report newsworthy enough (as I write this) to cover its release yesterday. It is research that shows, among other things, that students using EdChoice Scholarships were substantially more likely to enroll in college than otherwise-similar peers who remained in public schools (with especially large… Read More

Calculus or Statistics: Does it Matter?

Wed, 04/23/2025 - 00:00

Foreword By Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli Are high school students better served by completing their math studies with calculus or statistics? This question has provoked lively debate in the education world, in the mathematics world, and in the college admissions world. But remarkably little is known for certain about what difference—if any—it actually makes. For years, selective college admissions offices have looked for calculus on applicants’ transcripts. In fact, 92 percent… Read More

Funding Career and Technical Education in Ohio: An overview and policy recommendations

Tue, 04/22/2025 - 01:01

Glossary and acronyms Career-technical planning districts (CTPDs) are responsible for planning and providing career-technical education (CTE) in elementary and secondary schools. Ohio has ninety CTPDs; forty-nine of them are led by JVSDs (see below), while forty-one are either comprehensive CTPDs (a single school district that provides its own CTE programs) or compacts (groups of districts that share responsibility for providing CTE without creating a JVSD). Every school district and public… Read More

Gadfly Bites 4/21/25—What in the eCampus are you talking about, you dinosaurs?

Mon, 04/21/2025 - 10:07

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’. Not much catching the attention of your humble clips compiler today, but I’m never sad when I get to talk about College Credit Plus, so let’s just do an entire edition about that topic. First up, Dayton’s Sinclair Community College reports a record number of high school students receiving associate degrees via CCP this year. That’s 89 kids, but more than 90 honors because three students have… Read More

To improve academic outcomes, Ohio needs to get early identification right

Fri, 04/18/2025 - 11:28

It’s state budget season, which means Ohioans are being inundated with an abundance of confusing numbers. Most have dollar signs attached. But here are a few that don’t, courtesy of Ohio’s results on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In reading, just 32 percent of fourth graders achieved proficiency. Only 31 percent were proficient in eighth grade. In math, less than half of fourth graders (43 percent) were proficient. In eighth grade, only 32 percent met the… Read More

Ohio Charter News Weekly – 4.18.25

Fri, 04/18/2025 - 11:26

Stories featured in Ohio Charter News Weekly may require a paid subscription to read in full. Haven’t we been here before? As we have noted so many times before, charter school opponents will use every tool at their disposal to try and stop the establishment and growth of charters—especially bureaucracy and red tape. In suburban Milwaukee, county officials recently launched a task force to investigate potential uses for the former satellite campus of the University of Wisconsin there, now… Read More

Gadfly Bites 4/18/25—Wake up!

Fri, 04/18/2025 - 10:07

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’. A portion of a blog post by Fordham’s school funding guru Aaron Churchill, expertly supporting the case for the end of funding guarantees for school districts losing student population, is quoted ever so briefly in this piece. The rest of it is filled up with quotes from the leaders of Loveland Local Schools, emotionally manipulating the general public to rise up against…[checks notes]…… Read More

Power plays in federal education: Three flashpoints, three branches

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 00:05

Three emerging issues—each unfolding in a different branch of government—offer a telling snapshot of where federal education policy could be headed. On their own, each represents a flashpoint. Taken together, they provide a rare glimpse into the full machinery of federal influence—and a timely reminder that education policymaking in Washington still matters. In 2025, all three branches are asserting themselves on major K–12 issues, each shaping policy from a different perch of federal power.… Read More

Meeting the moment: A response to Robert Pondiscio’s essay on AFT’s "American Educator"

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 00:04

In this time of uncertainty and divisiveness, I’ll begin by thanking Robert Pondiscio for lifting up the AFT’s magazine, American Educator. We are proud that it has been publishing cutting-edge research—and articles focused on strengthening democracy here and abroad—for forty-nine years. While I’m glad he values our articles on curriculum and instruction, I find it odd that he singles out my one-page “Where We Stand” column as detracting from a union-sponsored magazine. This one-page space is… Read More

Answering Randi Weingarten

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 00:03

I appreciate and admire Randi Weingarten’s willingness to engage in a discussion about American Educator and the American Federation of Teacher’s role in education. I share her admiration of the journal’s nearly half-century legacy and thank her for her leadership in programs like Reading Universe, and the union’s generosity in giving away books to schools and families. However, her response misses the core of my critique. My piece didn’t question how American Educator uses its pages; its focus… Read More

Cheers and Jeers: April 17, 2025

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 00:02

Cheers Montgomery County, Maryland schools are tightening grading rules to raise standards and end years of confusion over effort-based policies. —Bethesda Magazine “Charter schools to benefit from new Indiana tax law…” —WFYI Indianapolis Jeers Freddie deBoer argues that the school reform “abundance agenda” tells a story of sweeping change in schools but doesn’t do enough to deal with the hard limits of what policy can actually do. —Freddie deBoer, Substack

What we’re reading this week: April 17, 2025

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 00:01

The Education Department under the Trump administration has adopted a more aggressive civil rights enforcement strategy, marked by rapid investigations, funding threats, and a focus on LGBTQ+ and antisemitism issues. —K-12 Dive Declining literacy and reasoning skills—fueled by excessive screen time and cultural disengagement from intellectual effort—have eroded Americans’ capacity for sound judgment, as exemplified by the irrationality of Trump’s new tariff policy. —David Brooks, The New York… Read More

Gadfly Bites 4/16/25—Greed, ego, and foolishness

Wed, 04/16/2025 - 09:46

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’. Let’s start today with three quick-hit pieces of ridiculousness, with the unifying theme of “Does anyone care about the actual students and their education?”. First up: Lots of adult greed, ego, and foolishness appear to be on display in these court documents related to the ongoing financial mismanagement and ultimate closure of Doan Community High School in Cincinnati. (Cincinnati… Read More