The Education Gadfly Show
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 [email protected].
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 24 minutes
- Episodes
- 507
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
Trends in public opinion on choice, testing, and teacher salaries - 09/04/19
On this week’s podcast, Martin West, Harvard professor and editor-in-chief of Education Next, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the results of Ed Next’s annual survey of public opinion. On the Research …
Boosting student outcomes with end-of-course exams - 08/28/19
On this week’s podcast Mike Petrilli and David Griffith talk to Adam Tyner about the new Fordham report he co-authored with Matthew Larsen on end-of-course exams and student outcomes. On the Research…
The homecoming court edition - 08/21/19
On this week’s podcast, Jeremy Tate, CEO of the Classic Learning Test, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss what classical learning is and why it’s important. On the Research Minute, Amb…
Media literacy in our schools - 08/14/19
On this week’s podcast, Alice Huguet, an associate policy researcher at RAND, joins David Griffith and Adam Tyner to discuss whether and how K–12 schools should teach students media literacy. On the …
Should all students be prepared for both college and career? - 08/07/19
On this week’s podcast, Kate Blosveren Kreamer, deputy executive director of Advance CTE, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss whether we should change the conjunction in “college and ca…
Is it time to reform discipline reform? - 07/31/19
On this week’s podcast Mike Petrilli speaks with David Griffith and Adam Tyner about school discipline reform in America, and their new Fordham study of educators’ views on the issue.
What rural Americans think about charter schools - 07/24/19
On this week’s podcast, Danish Shakeel, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how information affects attitudes toward charters in ru…
One small step for man, one giant leap for our schools? - 07/17/19
On this week’s podcast, Fordham’s own Checker Finn joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss, during the week of Apollo 11’s fiftieth anniversary, how the moon landing related to American edu…
While the Democratic candidates debate the past, the future of education policy is in the hands of the states - 07/10/19
On this week’s podcast, Marc Porter Magee, CEO and founder of 50CAN, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss last month’s presidential debates, and the busy legislative sessions recently concluded in many sta…
Research, practice, and the feds - 06/26/19
On this week’s podcast, Elizabeth Albro, Commissioner of the IES National Center for Education Research, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss ways to increase the effect of evidence on c…
Getting wonky on the Democratic candidates’ education ideas - 06/19/19
On this week’s podcast, Conor Williams, a fellow at the Century Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the leading Democratic presidential candidates’ education proposals. On t…
Data-based decision-making is great, as long as data are not only test scores - 06/12/19
On this week’s podcast, Josh Boots, Founder and Executive Director of EmpowerK12, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how high-performing schools use all sorts of data—and not just test…
The benefits of having a same-race teacher - 06/05/19
On this week's podcast, Seth Gershenson, an associate professor at American University and author of Fordham's latest study, Student-Teacher Race Match in Charter and Traditional Public Schools, join…
Rural schools and the urban bleed - 05/29/19
On this week’s podcast, journalist Arielle Dreher joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the struggles of rural areas to hold on to their brightest residents. On the Research Minute, Amber…
Education leadership’s gender imbalance - 05/22/19
On this week’s podcast, Julia Rafal-Baer, chief operating officer at Chiefs for Change, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss her organization's recent report on the gender imbalances at …
Can we really transform district schools? - 05/15/19
On this week’s podcast, Donald P. Nielsen, program director of the Discovery Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the feasibility …
Should U.S. schools mandate foreign language instruction? - 05/08/19
On this week’s podcast, William Egginton, a professor of the humanities at Johns Hopkins University, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to make the case for foreign language instruction in Americ…
Preschool for children of immigrants - 05/01/19
On this week’s podcast, Erica Greenberg, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, joins David Griffith and Brandon Wright to discuss her research on the state of early childhood education fo…
Searching for “deeper learning”—and not finding it - 04/24/19
On this week’s podcast, Jal Mehta, an associate professor of education at Harvard, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new book about the lack of “deeper learning” in most American …
Will charter opposition come for D.C.? - 04/17/19
On this week’s podcast, Jessica Sutter, a newly elected member of the DC State Board of Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the politics of Washington’s ed reform scene. On t…