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© 2025 The Education Gadfly Show
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For more than 15 years, the Fordham Institute has been hosting a weekly podcast, The Education Gadfly Show. Each week, you’ll get lively, entertaining discussions of recent education news, usually featuring Fordham’s Mike Petrilli and David Griffith. Then the wise Amber Northern will recap a recent research study. For questions or comments on the podcast, contact its producer, Stephanie Distler, at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
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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...
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 Maga...
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, S...
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 t...
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 fictio...
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 pre...
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 Institut...
This week, Matthew Kraft, professor of education and economics at Brown University, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the intersection of education policy and climate change. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines whether an elite “exam school” led to better educational outcomes for its students. Recommended content: On education and climate change Education and climate change: Synthesizing the evidence to guide future research —Matthew Kraft, Sohil Malik, and Grace ...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Ben Austin, Founding Director of Education Civil Rights Now, joins us to discuss why the Democratic Party lost its way on education policy—and what it must do to rebuild credibility and improve its chances in national elections. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a new study on state takeovers of school districts, examining who benefits and how these interventions impact district finances. Recommended content: “Democrats have lost their way o...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Vlad Kogan—professor and director of undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University—joins us to discuss his forthcoming book, No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids (out August 21). Then, on the Research Minute, Adam highlights new findings from the National Bureau of Economic Research on the long-term benefits of participation in scholastic sports. Recommended content: “No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Ed...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Mike returns for another solo episode, reflecting on the role of regulation in school choice—is it stifling innovation or saving us from bad schools? Then, on the Research Minute, Adam covers a study looking at the relationship between timed math testing and anxiety among fourth- and fifth-grade students. Recommended content: “Democrats’ School Choice Dilemma” —Michael J. Petrilli, for the Wall Street Journal“Seizing educational dynamism” —Stéphane Lavert...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show, Brian Jodice, National Press Secretary for the American Federation for Children joins us for a lively debate on the federal school choice provision embedded in the newly enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill”—including its potential impact in blue states. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam reviews a new Education Next study showing that a low-cost college-planning course can boost success for high-achieving, low-income students. Recommended content: “Demo...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Doug Harris, director of the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH), joins us to discuss a new website aimed at advancing evidence-based education policy and supporting more effective decision-making in schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Meredith Coffey examines new data from Massachusetts that reveal lasting post-pandemic shifts in school enrollment, particularly in the middle grades and in higher-income di...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Mike flies solo to reflect on what’s happening across the education reform landscape—from the private school choice debate to the question of whether education reform has successfully scaled. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining four-day school weeks and their (paltry) impact on teacher recruitment and retention. Recommended content: “Maine Case Opens New Battleground for School Choice: The Right to Discriminate” —Linda Jaco...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Jon Valant —director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings—joins Mike to discuss his recent analysis of the federal tax credit scholarship initiative included in the Republican budget bill and its potential to open the door to waste, fraud, and discriminatory practices. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a Belgian study comparing the cognitive and non-cognitive effects of work-based l...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Linda Darling-Hammond and Anne Podolsky of the Learning Policy Institute—authors of our latest Think Again brief, “Do the Returns to Teacher Experience Fizzle Out?”—join Mike and David to discuss whether teachers really stop improving after just a few years on the job. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a study examining the extent of school board turnover and whether it is linked to school performance. Recommended content: “Think Aga...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, joins Mike to explain why charter school advocates keep winning in red states—and how others might follow Indiana’s lead. Then, on the Research Minute, Adam shares a new study documenting the sharp rise in teacher absences post-pandemic—and why it matters for schools and students. Recommended content: “Charter school advocates keep winning—at least in red states” —Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, for Thom...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Toch, director of FutureEd, and Lynn Olson, former deputy director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, join Mike and David to discuss Lynn’s new paper, “Quality Check: The New, Best Way to Measure School Performance.” Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the economic effects of Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, showing that UPK boosted workforce participation across nine states and cities. Recommended content: “Qualit...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Genevieve Collins, Texas State Director for Americans for Prosperity, joins us to discuss Texas’s newly passed Education Savings Account bill—an ambitious policy that could position the Lone Star State as a national leader in school choice. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a Michigan study showing that simply being flagged for third-grade retention can boost students’ reading scores—even if they aren’t actually held back. Recommended...
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Starlee Coleman, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike and David to discuss the religious charter schools case currently before the U. S. Supreme Court. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study out of Dallas on whether an automatic Algebra enrollment policy boosted participation among underserved students. Recommended content: “SCOTUS should mandate state support for religious education, ...
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