This week, Aneesh Sohoni, CEO of Teach for America, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss TFA’s impact in the classroom and beyond, why teaching is a compelling opportunity for Gen Z college graduates, what corps members are saying about AI in the classroom.

Then, on a special Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares findings from Who’s on Board? School Boards and Political Representation in an Age of Conflict, Fordham’s brand new report by David Houston and Michael Hartney surveying school board members across the country.

Recommended content:

• Could an AI-driven “job apocalypse” push the best and brightest into teaching? —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Who’s on Board? School boards and political representation in an age of conflict —David M. Houston and Michael T. Hartney for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (October 2025)

Upcoming webinar on October 14 at 3:00 PM ET:

• Are school boards out of touch with their constituents?

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

This week, Fordham’s president emeritus Checker Finn and Laura Hamilton of the Center for Assessment join us for a polite debate on whether school quality should be judged by more than test scores.

On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner unpacks a massive study of ten million students that tracks how gender gaps in math and reading develop from kindergarten through fifth grade—and what that means for the narrative about boys and school.

Recommended content

• The mixed blessing of new school measures —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham
• Our assessment systems should reflect the purposes of public education —Laura Hamilton, Center for Assessment
• #971: A “Quality Check” on school accountability, with Tom Toch and Lynn Olson —The Education Gadfly Show
• Do we know how to measure school quality? —Van Schoales, Education Week
• Gender Gaps in the Early Grades: Questioning the Narrative that Schools are Poorly Suited to Young Boys — Megan Kuhfeld and Margaret Burchinal, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2025)
• Redshirt the boys—Richard V. Reeves for The Atlantic

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

This week, Chandler Fritz, author of Harper’s Magazine’s cover story The Homemade Scholar, shares what he discovered when teaching in an ESA-funded micro-school—including a lackluster curriculum but undeniably joyful kids.

On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner unpacks California’s big school-spending surge—showing that despite major funding increases, starting teacher pay hasn’t risen and staffing levels have barely changed.

Recommended content

• The Homemade Scholar —Chandler Fritz, Harper’s Magazine
• The “à la carte education” accountability conundrum —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Student experience data is sending a message. Will we listen? —Dr. Deborah A. Gist for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Why I’m wary of universal education savings accounts —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Doing educational equity right: School finance —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham
• Teacher Staffing Trends in California: Assessing the Impact of Recent Spending —Julien Lafortune, Iwunze Ugo, and Brett Guinan, PPIC (2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

This week, Mike Petrilli digs into the latest NAEP results—and explores whether the rise of smartphones and social media might help explain them. It’s another solo episode, just Mike and the mic.

On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares a new REACH study showing that school voucher programs have boosted private school enrollment by just 3 percent so far—but are already putting upward pressure on tuition.

Recommended content

• The Best Takes on the Worst NAEP Scores Ever —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
• Schools, but not states, should ban phones —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
• Cellphone bans are not enough —Henry Seton for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Student Test Scores Keep Falling. What’s Really to Blame? —Martin R. West, Education Week
• Pay Attention, Kid!—Daniel T. Willingham, EducationNext
• The Effects of Universal School Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment: A National Analysis —Douglas N. Harris and Gabriel Olivier, REACH (2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

Ashley Jochim, principal at the Center on Reinventing Public Education and mom of four, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith on the Education Gadfly Show to continue our debate on private school choice and regulation. She also discusses how Democrats’ defense of public schools often clashes with families’ real experiences, and why clear, consumer-facing information is essential to making choice work.

On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner highlights a new NBER study from Chicago showing that giving principals more autonomy can boost student achievement— though effects vary widely depending on leadership capacity.

Recommended content

• Unfettered Choice Has Not Delivered on Promises to Milwaukee Families —Ashley Jochim, Education Next
• Innovation, regulation, and school choice, with Mike McShane | Episode 984 of The Education Gadfly Show
• Overregulated charter schools: Fact or fiction? —Michael J. Petrilli
• The mixed blessing of new school measures—Chester E. Finn, Jr.
• When decentralization works: Leadership, local Needs, and student achievement—C. Kirabo Jackson, NBER (2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

Mike McShane, Director of National Research for EdChoice, joins us on the Education Gadfly Show to debate tradeoffs when it comes to regulation and innovation in the charter school and private school choice sectors.

Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares a report from the Urban Institute looking at college and career indicators and how they relate to research on post-high school outcomes.

Recommended content:

On school choice:

Overregulated charter schools: Fact or fiction? —Michael J. Petrilli

School choice should take the road less traveled —Robert Enlow and Michael Q. McShane, Education Next

Charter school regulation means keeping the destination in sight —Thibaut Delloue

From the Research Minute:

Which college and career readiness standards best align with positive outcomes after high school? —Kristin Blagg, The Urban Institute (July 2025)

The vibes for career-tech programs are great. But they’re too rare. —Michael J. Petrilli

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Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

ERS president and managing partner Jonathan Travers joins Mike Petrilli on The Education Gadfly Show to talk about school district budgeting during uncertain times.

Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner shares a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality looking at district policies on pay bumps for teachers with master’s degrees, and how the money could be better spent.

Recommended content:

• The degree dilemma: School districts spend millions on ineffective master’s degree premiums —Katherine Bowser, National Council on Teacher Quality (August 2025)Close bad schools and expand good ones —Chad Aldeman
• When—and why—legislated school finance reforms don’t increase state education spending —Amber Northern and Jeff Murray
• An in-depth look at how Texas makes teacher merit pay work —Jessica Poiner
• The ESSER hangover is here —Marguerite Roza

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for our show? Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

On this week’s solo episode, Mike shares his thoughts on whether it’s ever okay to let schools opt out of state standardized tests and use nationally normed assessments instead.

Then, on a special Research Minute, Fordham’s own Adam Tyner and David Griffith share results from their brand new report about the pressure on teachers to give higher grades in the name of equity.

Recommended content:

Welcome to Lake Wobegon, Oklahoma —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

When private schools take public dollars: What's the place of accountability in school voucher programs? — Michael J. Petrilli, Chester E. Finn, Jr., Christina Hentges, and Amber M. Northern for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2009)

Evaluating the content and quality of next generation assessments —Nancy Doorey and Morgan Polikoff for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2016)

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“Equitable” grading through the eyes of teachers —David Griffith and Adam Tyner for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2025)

Grade inflation: Why it matters and how to stop it —Adam Tyner, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

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Don’t forget to sign up for a special webinar on equitable grading practices hosted by Jessica Grose of the New York Times on Wednesday, September 10 from 12-1 pm ET:

Does "equitable" grading lower expectations for students?

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Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? Send them to Alicia Anderson at aanderson@fordhaminstitute.org.