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:

• “Democrats’ School Choice Dilemma” —Michael J. Petrilli, for The Wall Street Journal
• “Federal school choice skeptics are tilting at windmills” —Shaka Mitchell, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “College Counseling in the Classroom” —Joshua Hyman, Education Next
• “#974: The Risks of the Educational Choice for Children Act, with Jon Valant” —Education Gadfly Show, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Education Gadfly Show #974: The Risks of the Educational Choice for Children Act, with Jon Valant
• Education Gadfly Show #963: All about the Educational Choice for Children Act, with Jim Blew

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, 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 districts.

Recommended content:

• “AEFP Live Handbook of Education Policy Research” —Association for Education Finance & Policy (AEFP)
• “School Enrollment Shifts Five Years After the Pandemic” —Abigail Francis and Joshua Goodman, EdWorkingPapers (June 2025)
• “Analyzing homeschooling demographics and families’ definitions of student success” —Jeff Murray, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “Fixing IES” —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham Institute

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, 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 Jacobson, The 74
• “What Betsy DeVos should say about vouchers, LGBT rights, and religious liberty” —Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “John Arnold’s Instructive Retreat from Ed Reform” —Mike Goldstein, Education Next
• “Fewer Children Left Behind: Lessons From the Dramatic Achievement Gains of the 1990s and 2000s” —Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “The Effects of the Four-Day School Week on Teacher Recruitment and Retention” —Andrew M. Camp, J. Cameron Anglum, Cory Koedel, Se Woong Lee, and Tuan D. Nguyen, CALDER (2025)

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