

The Education Gadfly Show
Thomas B. Fordham Institute
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 6, 2019 • 27min
How KIPP-DC develops and retains teachers - 03/06/19
On this week’s podcast, Susan Schaeffler, founder and CEO of KIPP DC, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the Capital Teaching Residency and other efforts to build an effective and sustainable teacher corps. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether targeted text messages to parents can improve literacy in pre-kindergarteners.

Feb 26, 2019 • 19min
Philadelphia’s brotherly love between charter, district, and parochial schools - 02/27/19
On this week’s podcast, Mark Gleason, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Schools Partnership, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the burgeoning, and surprisingly collaborative, school choice scene in the nation’s sixth largest city. On the Research Minute, Adam Tyner examines whether smarter teachers make smarter students.

Feb 20, 2019 • 21min
Out of commission - 02/20/19
On this week’s podcast, Mike Petrilli, Checker Finn, and David Griffith discuss Checker’s experience on Maryland’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, and its bold proposals for improving the state’s schools. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the benefits of arts education.

Feb 13, 2019 • 28min
The profit motive and education - 02/13/18
On this week’s podcast, Neal McCluskey, director of Cato's Center for Educational Freedom, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the appropriate role of for-profit entities in education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the effects tracking, instructional practices, and text complexity have on students who are struggling with reading in middle school.

Feb 6, 2019 • 23min
Millennial parents and education reform - 02/06/19
On this week’s podcast, Kristen Soltis Anderson, pollster and co-founder of Echelon Insights, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what millennial parents think about education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines how Florida’s tax credit scholarship program has affected participants’ college enrollment and degree attainment.

Jan 30, 2019 • 18min
Teacher strikes, Democrats, and ed reform - 01/30/19
On this week’s podcast, Shavar Jeffries, President of Democrats for Education Reform, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what teacher strikes and Democratic presidential candidates’ support for them mean for education reform. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether efforts to boost academic achievement in kindergarten hinder the development of social-emotional skills.

Jan 23, 2019 • 25min
The state of choice during National School Choice Week - 01/23/19
On this week’s podcast, Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change, and Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss National School Choice Week and the many hopeful developments on the charter schools front nationwide. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines whether schools of choice (both traditional and charter) “skim” students they perceive to be easier to educate or avoid those perceived harder to educate.

Jan 16, 2019 • 19min
School choice’s hopeful new year - 01/16/19
On this week’s podcast, Lindsey Burke, a director at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to explain why school choice is poised to have a good 2019, despite its many headwinds. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the relationship between automatic-college-admission policies and the college preferences of low- and high-income students.

Jan 9, 2019 • 22min
Federal education policy in 2019 - 01/09/19
On this week’s podcast, Andrew Ujifusa, an assistant editor for Education Week, and one-half of the Politics K-12 team, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to explain why we wonks shouldn’t completely ignore Washington in the coming year. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern counts down the five most influential education studies of 2018.

Dec 19, 2018 • 26min
Educational pluralism - 12/19/18
On this week’s podcast, Ashley Berner, assistant professor and deputy director of the Institute for Education Policy at Johns Hopkins, joins David Griffith and Adam Tyner to discuss pluralism in American education. On the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines the latest data on school spending, as well as high school dropout and completion rates from the Institute of Education Sciences.


