The Education Gadfly Show

Mike and Rick are manifestoed out, and instead talk shop on election implications, campaign contributions, and color-blind admissions. Amber jazzes up the pension reform debate, and Chris asks which witch is which.

Mike and Rick answer life’s mysteries as they pertain to the election, OCR overreach, and publically-available teacher ratings. And if that’s not enough, Amber questions character education and Chris brings in the dogs.

Mike and Janie discuss Fordham's new paper on Common Core implementation and governance, and get into the sort-of good, the oh-so-bad, and the ugly truth of teachers unions. Amber shows how great Montgomery County is, and Amanda admires the Maine outdoors.

Mike and Janie argue over bipartisanship, explain findings from our recent report on ed schools, and second-guess President Obama. Amber messes with Texas, and Remmert counts slowly in Rate that Reform.

Mike and Rick talk shop about The Pledge to America, Mark Zuckerberg, and Arne's quixotic quest to hire more teachers. Amber takes a closer look at the Vanderbilt merit pay study and Stafford votes to fine truants for her final Rate that Reform.

Mike and Stafford debate the long-term merits of Waiting for "Superman," throw down about standards for virtual education, and see eye-to-eye on inclusion. Amber dissects a meaty study on value-added metrics and Rate that Reform goes dumpster diving.

This week, Mike and Rick get serious about the D.C. and DE elections and also dissect school suspension rates. Then Amber tackles high school reading programs and Rate that Reform transforms into a 3-D optical illusion.

Mike and Rick tackle public employee pensions, the forthcoming blockbuster "Waiting for Superman," and the two winning "race to the test" consortia. Amber then compares K-8 to middle schools and Rate that Reform takes out the recycling (on a school that didn't do its homework!).

This week, Mike Petrilli and Rick Hess explain why everyone's wrong about Race to the Top, go tit-for-tat over the L.A. Times, and ponder life in D.C. after Michelle Rhee. Then Amber Winkler disses Education Next and Kyle Kennedy explores a different kind of tracking.

This week, Mike and Rick discuss Race to the Top's round 2 winners, Fordham's latest report on cities' education "reform-friendliness," and the sensational LA Times story on value-added data. Then Amber gives us the scoop on the ACT's latest stats and Rate that Reform picks academics over aesthetics.

This week, Mike and Janie discuss the November implications of edujobs, the i3 winners, and what Atlanta's cheating scandal might mean for standards. Then Amber tells us about a new reading intervention—even Britney Spears’s biography can combat summer learning loss—and Stafford wonders: Would you throw yourself down the stairs to get out of a job evaluation? One teacher from New York would.

Rick and Mike bring the heat this week as they discuss extending the school year, the Congressional teacher-jobs bailout that simply won't die, and Michelle Rhee's D.C. teacher layoffs. Amber's off this week, so we skip straight to Rate that Reform, which appraises Newark's impending "Teacher Village." Is a charter school-residential-retail complex a good idea?

This week, Mike and Rick discuss whether national standards are "conservative," if Obama has expended his political capital on education policy, and what civil rights "accountability" in private schools could possibly look like. Then Amber considers whether paying students raises NAEP scores, and Janie tells Hawaii: letting kids take the state test more than once might not be such a bad idea.

Don't miss Janie's inaugural turn in the co-host spot, as she and Mike debate: our new report, NJ's supe salary cap, and Wake County's re-segregation woes. Then Amber dives into the Brown Center report on the Harlem Children's Zone, and Rate that Reform gives effort an F.

The podcast team comes down with a case of World Cup fever, as Mike and Stafford discuss whether Gates is too powerful, teachers' union charter authorizers, and dropout recovery program accountability. Then Amber tells us about NCES' charter impact study and Daniela makes a film in a school bathroom.