I think there is more ambiguity than this lets on about the pros/cons of some college, but I prefer looking at the net effect of "college entry" (which prices in non-completion) because you can't perfectly predict who will finish ex ante
Michael Petrilli
@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social
President of the Fordham Institute, executive editor of Education Next, proud father.
This thoughtful post by @mattbarnum.bsky.social @chalkbeat.org, pushing back on my contention that students with low grades and/or test scores shouldn't go to college because they are unlikely to complete a degree, is worth a read. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/who-should...
Who should go to college?
Prior studies suggest that even many students who struggle in high school benefit from a four-year college education.
cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org
Come for my WWE reference, stay for the thoughtful discussion of multilingual learning in K–12 schools.
Michael Petrilli@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social · yesterdayAnd here's what ed policy wonks think about language learning in U.S. schools: schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/scrap-worl... (including @conorpwilliams.bsky.social)
Via @pewresearch.org: What do Americans think about language learning in U.S. schools? www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
What do Americans think about language learning in U.S. schools?
Four-in-ten Americans say it is extremely or very important for children growing up in the U.S. to learn a language other than English.
pewresearch.org
Today in SCHOOLED: the Classic Learning Test comes under fire, James Traub lauds Texas’s reading list, the discipline debate returns, and pushback on my proposal to scrap foreign language instruction in America's high schools. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/scrap-worl...
Scrap world language requirements? Mon Dieu!
Plus, the Classic Learning Test comes under fire, James Traub lauds Texas’s reading list, and the discipline debate returns.
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
Hey, Claude, should I go to college? via @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...
Hey, Claude, should I go to college?
One of the more promising developments of recent decades in education has been the pendulum swing away from the “college for all” mindset.
fordhaminstitute.org
And very few of them consider community and technical colleges to be "college," which is frustrating. These are great pathways to skilled jobs!
The Army won't take you if you score at the 30th percentile or below on the ASVAB. Yet we're OK with colleges taking students (and their money, or the government's) who score at the 30th, or 20th, or 10th? Into degree-granting programs? Because "open access"? This is nuts!
I don't think they're pretending - I think there's been purpose drift. LOTE is to language/culture like PE is to bodies.
Michael Petrilli@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social · last wk.U.S. high schools should stop pretending to teach foreign languages Consider: Less than 1 percent of Americans became fluent in a 2nd language in school. Going through the motions contributes to the "bull-shittification" of the U.S. high school. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/us-high-sc...
I think this is the right perspective. Imagine if we never taught math until 8th grade, and then complained it was ineffective!
One of my deep frustrations with US K12 education is that we typically don't teach a second language until secondary school. This is backwards. Kids pick up languages so quickly when they are young. I'd gladly exchange 6 years of secondary language classes for 6 years of elementary. I'd prefer 12.
Michael Petrilli@michaelpetrilli.bsky.social · last wk.U.S. high schools should stop pretending to teach foreign languages Consider: Less than 1 percent of Americans became fluent in a 2nd language in school. Going through the motions contributes to the "bull-shittification" of the U.S. high school. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/us-high-sc...
i.e. we need the elementary grade commitments to justify the HS ones.
Probably the best answer is that our current system is expensive and ineffective, but that it could be useful if we made the elementary grade commitments as well.
. . . and why would any elementary student take it even if it were offered. It would be a bridge to nowhere.
Don't you think that if we implemented your modest proposal, all foreign language study in the US would starve? You are right that we should start earlier, but if we eliminate HS foreign language study, why would any school offer foreign language in elementary school . . .
U.S. high schools should stop pretending to teach foreign languages Consider: Less than 1 percent of Americans became fluent in a 2nd language in school. Going through the motions contributes to the "bull-shittification" of the U.S. high school. schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/us-high-sc...
U.S. high schools should stop pretending to teach foreign languages
Plus, new debates on accountability, career pathways, school start times, and more.
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
Take 1 minute to read this intuitive and incisive review of our study on the portability of teacher effectiveness by @nctq.bsky.social's Sarah Almy. Beautiful policy writing in my opinion. www.nctq.org/research-ins...
Does great teaching travel from school to school? It’s complicated. - National Council on Teacher Quality
Do great teachers perform as well after switching schools? New research on a $20,000 transfer incentive program shows the answer is complicated—and prep matters.
nctq.org
I am biased, of course, but I do think outcomes based contracting can bolster mutual accountability between districts and service providers to 1) better target resources, 2) strengthen implementation, and 3) improve student outcomes. State policy can support this, e.g. accelerate.us/policy/obc-t...
2025 Model State Policy: Outcomes-Based Contracting for High-Dosage Tutoring
AccelerateRead more from 2025 Model State Policy: Outcomes-Based Contracting for High-Dosage Tutoring
accelerate.us
Not sure how well state bans and mandates would go over in states with less centralized funding or greater local control, but @barbarabiasi.com's research on teacher pay reforms in WI might be of interest www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
The Labor Market for Teachers under Different Pay Schemes
(August 2021) - Compensation of most US public school teachers is rigid and solely based on seniority. This paper studies the effects of a reform that gave school districts in Wisconsin full autonomy ...
aeaweb.org
Robert Pondiscio is right that schools didn't know how to respond to the accountability pressure of NCLB to improve instruction. But the law also tried to shift local politics. That didn't work so well either. Here's what would. fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...
Accountability is not just about improving instruction. It aims to shift local politics, too.
A few weeks ago, my colleague Robert Pondiscio argued convincingly that the accountability policies of the No Child Left Behind era did not work as effectively as they could have because schools did n...
fordhaminstitute.org
Really helpful summary of how public school spending: has evolved over time, varies betweens states and student groups, and does not all flow to teacher salaries (particularly in recent years).
Chad Aldeman@chadaldeman.bsky.social · 2w agoOne. Trillion. Dollars. Read my latest piece @the74.bsky.social on where that money is going --> www.the74million.org/article/amer...
Today's must-read, via John McWhorter A Test Isn’t Racist. Assumptions About Black Kids Can Be. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/o...
Opinion | A Test Isn’t Racist. Assumptions About Black Kids Can Be.
All students can be properly prepared to take this challenging admissions exam.
nytimes.com
If the House's permanent daylight savings time bill becomes law, it's going to force districts to move high school start times back--unless they want teenagers to be even more exhausted than they are now.
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 3w agoThe last time the U.S. had permanent daylight saving time, children used flashlights on the way to school. Commuters drove in the dark. Florida called a special session to try to change the clocks back. That attempt in the 1970s quickly became unpopular.
Are Chromebook carts the answer? (To the screen-time-in-schools question) schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com/p/are-chrome...
Are Chromebook carts the answer?
Plus, a debate about through-year assessments, and praise for Virginia and Texas.
schooledbymikepetrilli.substack.com
If you have experience as an educator in any capacity and love working with data, I hope you'll consider applying. We start reviewing applications on Monday.
Matthew A Kraft@matthewakraft.com · last mo.🚨 I'm hiring for a (Senior) Research Associate position to work with me on a broad research agenda focused on teacher labor markets. Great opportunity to be a part of the vibrant @annenberginstitute.bsky.social community of researchers at Brown University. Links in reply Please spread the word
I mean just read the part where the author identifies extremely obvious methodological issues with the survey data that underpin Gray’s entire argument and Gray seems totally surprised and says he’ll add a footnote, and then tell me this seems like a fair arbiter of the evidence.
Jon Becker@jonbecker.bsky.social · 4w agoMy bias is that Peter Gray > Jonathan Haidt, but I hope Gray's argument in his new book is considerably less centered on the Common Core than this article implies.
Sixteen years later, what did NYC’s small schools accomplish? via Amber Northern, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (cc: @michaelpetrilli.bsky.social) fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...
Sixteen years later, what did NYC’s small schools accomplish?
New York City’s Small Schools of Choice (SSC) program was one of a panoply of education reforms enacted in the early 2000s under then-mayor Michael Bloomberg and schools chief Joel Klein. The idea was...
fordhaminstitute.org
Hey folks, are we calling it the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit or the Education Freedom Tax Credit? @mattbarnum.bsky.social @danagoldstein.bsky.social @alexanderrusso.bsky.social @jenjennings.bsky.social