The Education Gadfly Show

After some good old-fashioned low-brow fun, Mike and Rick launch into an erudite conversation on teacher evaluations and Race to the Top, the political perils of tough-love school reform, and the correct role of education philanthropies. Amber finds benefit in gifted-education programs, and Chris tells overbearing parents to get off Facebook—and get a life.

Mike and Rick talk substantively (for a change) about: Clark County’s education blueprint, private special-education service providers, and utopian hopes for turnarounds. Amber geeks out with stats from the latest Condition of Education and Chris audibles for a Texas high school football stadium.

Mike’s back in the saddle; he and Janie fire off points on international comparisons and testing-for-evaluation in L.A. and NYC. Amber shoots holes in a new ACT study and Chris exercises his first amendment rights.

With Mike and Rick away this week, Janie and Daniela hold down the fort, discussing college rigor, the future of Georgia’s charter schools, and a new take on ESEA reauthorization. Amber digs into the weeds of Common Core and state-standards alignment, and Chris gets mad that no one asked him to the prom.

Smile. The magnanimous Dave DeSchryver guest hosts this week; he and Mike hash out the big takeaways from the common curriculum counter-manifesto and the Chamber of Commerce’s ESEA proposal before explaining what exactly is going down in Illinois. Amber dissects the branding of Catholic schools, and Marena is no slave to poor teacher judgment.

Mike and Rick are all sorts of punchy this week, talking civics lessons, philanthropic giving, and Arne Duncan’s teacher pandering. Amber breaks the piggy bank with a look at teacher-pension plans while Chris gets meta in the Big Apple.

Mike and Janie look into the crystal ball of edu-policy, making predictions on the sustainability of the local school board, potential backlash to reform, and the market’s role in education. Amber blows holes in the teacher-quality-gap line of reasoning and Chris gets salty about pepper spray.

Mike and Rick conjure up some crazy weather this week during Pardon the Gadfly: a hailstorm of ideas from Fordham’s new ESEA briefing book, the landfall of Hurricane Winerip, and the epic J.C. Brizard-snowpocalypse. Amber heats things up with an NBER paper on teacher evals, and Chris, well, he just thinks Canada is crazy.

Before embarking on a moral crusade, Mike and Rick laugh in the face of ESEA reauth and downplay the statistical importance of the SAT. Amber makes Third Way’s new report look silly and Chris applies for medical stress leave.

Mike and Janie ford the left-right gap in federal education policy, and find consensus on charter facilities and Race to the Top 2.0. Amber gives the 4-1-1 on the 2009 NAEP high-school-transcript report and Chris brown-bags his lunch.

Mike and Rick talk about what happens when the parent trigger misfires, raise serious questions about Florida’s teacher-reform law, and wonder whether expanding vouchers to the middle class will do much good. Amber knocks Gary Miron’s KIPP study down a few pegs, and Chris lobbies against state-mandated dress codes.

From the vault: The best of the podcast bloopers.

Mike and Rick explain the merits of student tracking, debate whether collective bargaining matters, and spar over ESEA reauthorization. Amber heads to the Land of Enchantment for a study on CBAs and student achievement. And Chris deplores drivers: Keep the cell phones in your pockets!

Mike and Rick unpack findings from Fordham’s latest report, scratch their heads about teacher reform, and pour one out for Detroit. Amber tears apart Roland Fryer’s new paper and Chris tells potty-mouths to pay up.

Mike and Rick get a verbal boxing workout as they discuss a potential national curriculum. To cool down, they talk about cheating teachers and the de-earmarked TFA. Amber explains the findings from Fordham’s most recent study—Yearning to Break Free—and Chris goes after the fine art of RIFing.