Common Core Watch
The Common Core emphasis on "close reading" challenges teachers to focus reading on actually reading.
Choice Words
As the recent ALEC report card on American K-12 education shows, it's been a brazen year for school reform.
Flypaper
It turns out that many in the education world want to change federal policy in theory but not in reality.
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Publications
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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 ... -
The latest installment of Fordham's Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series investigates one of the more controversial aspects of digital learning: How much does it cost? In this paper, ... -
With the tenth anniversary of NCLB fast approaching, that law’s legacy continues to be fiercely contested. This new analysis of NAEP scores—focusing on Texas and on the entire nation—by former ... -
In this policy brief, Public Impact’s Joe Ableidinger and Julie Kowal examine the merits of the incubation model, outline specific strategies for supporting it, and profile organizations around the U.S. ... -
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 ... -
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is pleased to share its latest annual Sponsorship Accountability Report, Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. The sixth of its kind, the report reflects on ... -
Will the move toward virtual and “blended learning” schools in American education repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement, or will it learn from them? The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, with ... -
Will the move toward virtual and “blended learning” schools in American education repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement, or will it learn from them? The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, with ... -
When it comes to public-sector pensions, writes lead author Mike Lafferty in Fordham's newest report, "A major public-policy (and public-finance) problem has been defined and measured, debated and deliberated, but ... -
Representatives from twenty states are hard at work developing Next Generation Science Standards--and using as their starting point the National Research Council???s recently released Framework for K-12 Science Education. This ... -
Fordham's latest study, "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," is the first to examine the performance of America's highest-achieving children over time at the individual-student ... -
Any number of organizations are offering advice about what to teach schoolchildren about the events of September 11, 2001, yet (unlike that day's murderous pilots) most sorely miss the mark. ... -
Ohio adopted the Common Core standards in ELA and math last year, but now stands at a crossroad in making sure statewide assessments are aligned to those standards. Ohio is ... -
Each year, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute conducts an analysis of student achievement in Ohio's Big 8 urban districts and charter schools. This year's analysis looks at performance, growth (as ... -
To what extent have Ohio's leaders met the challenges and opportunities before them in K-12 education? What needs to happen next? ... -
Will the move toward virtual and “blended learning” schools in American education repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement, or will it learn from them? The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, with ... -
In this new "Ed Short" from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Amanda Olberg and Michael Podgursky examine how public charter schools handle pensions for their teachers. Some states give these ... -
In this new Fordham Institute paper, analysts examine public data and find that the proportion of students with disabilities peaked in 2004-05 and has been declining since. At the state ... -
Political leaders hope to act this year to renew and fix the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind). In this important new paper, ... -
The latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) garnered all the usual headlines about America's lackluster performance and the rise of competitor nations. And to be sure, ... -
Statewide survey of Ohio school district superintendents (and other education leaders) on the most critical issues facing K-12 education in the Buckeye State, including budgets, school effectiveness, and troublesome laws. ... -
Presidents' Day 2011 is right around the corner, but George Washington would be dismayed by the findings of this new study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Reviewers evaluated state ... -
This new policy brief lists fifteen concrete ways that states can "stretch the school dollar" in these difficult financial times. It is written by Marguerite Roza, senior data and economics ... -
This study from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute finds that low-performing public schools-both charter and traditional district schools-are stubbornly resistant to significant change. After identifying more than 2,000 low-performing charter ... -
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is pleased to share our 2009-10 Sponsorship Accountability Report. The report, Renewal and Optimism: Five Years as an Ohio Charter Authorizer, contains a year in ... -
In this policy brief, Fordham gives its advice to Governor-elect Kasich and the incoming leaders of the Ohio House and Senate as it relates to the future of K-12 education ... -
This Fordham Institute publication--co-authored by President Chester E. Finn Jr. and VP Michael J. Petrilli--pushes folks to think about what comes next in the journey to common education standards and ... -
The Fordham Institute's new national survey of education school professors finds that, even as the U.S. grows more practical and demanding when it comes to K-12 education, most of the ... -
In this new volume, a diverse group of experts--scholars, educators, journalists, and entrepreneurs--offer wisdom and advice on how schools and districts can cut costs, eliminate inefficient spending, and better manage ... -
Each year the Thomas B. Fordham Institute conducts an analysis of urban school performance in Ohio. Analysis of 2009-10 school year results will be updated here after the August 27 ... -
This new study tackles a key question: Which of thirty major U.S. cities have cultivated a healthy environment for school reform to flourish (and which have not)? Nine reform-friendly locales ... -
Our new study weighs current state education standards against the Common Core education standards. The findings? The Common Core standards are clearer and more rigorous than today's English language arts ... -
Fordham has been both an advocate of choice and an authorizer of charter schools serving some of Ohio's neediest students. This book describes and analyzes our efforts, successes and failures, ... -
How should the "common core" state standards be governed? Who will "own" these standards (and related assessments) 20 years from now? To stir smart thinking about important aspects of these ... -
The typical U.S. charter school lacks the autonomy it needs to succeed, once state, authorizer, and other impositions are considered. For some schools--in some states, with some authorizers--the picture is ... -
Despite the overall dismal performance of schools serving Ohio's poor, urban youngsters, there are a handful of schools that buck these bleak trends and achieve significant results for their students. ...
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