On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Devon Nir, a research assistant at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the complexities of ensuring accountability for education savings accounts. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a study exploring the financial returns of various non-degree credentials and degree programs.

Recommended content:

• “The ‘à la carte education’ accountability conundrum”—Michael J. Petrilli and Devon Nir
• “Finding the sweet spot on accountability”—Dale Chu
• " When Only Some Kids Can Afford Summer Camp — Why We Must Close the ‘Enrichment Gap’” —Michael J. Petrilli
• Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Xueying Mei, Stephen Roll, More Money for Less Time? Examining the Relative and Heterogenous Financial Returns to Non-Degree Credentials and Degree Programs, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Sofoklis Goulas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Hamilton Project, joins Mike and David to discuss the Fordham report he just authored, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the effects of Zearn Math on third through fifth grade math performance in Louisiana.

Recommended content:

• Sofoklis Goulas, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (September 2024)
• “The case for closing underenrolled, low-performing schools” —Michael J. Petrilli
• “We need to prepare now for the school closures that are coming” —Tim Daly
• Shirin Hashim, Measuring the Efficacy of Zearn Math in Louisiana, AERA Open (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Michael Goldstein, co-founder of the Math Learning Lab in Boston, joins Mike and David to discuss the track record of high-dosage tutoring in mitigating pandemic learning loss. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the long-term effects of the METCO program, which aims to increase diversity and reduce racial isolation by busing students from Boston to surrounding suburbs.

Recommended content:

• Mike Goldstein and Bowen Paulle, The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring, Thomas B. Fordham Institute (March 2021)
• “Students aren’t benefiting much from tutoring, one new study shows” —JillBarshay
• Matthew A. Kraft, Danielle Sanderson Edwards, and Marisa Cannata, The Scaling Dynamics and Causal Effects of a District-Operated Tutoring Program, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (August 2024)
• Elizabeth Setren, Busing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the METCO Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of Color, NBER (2024)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.