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
- 505
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
#944: More equitable advanced education programs, with Brandon Wright
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Brandon Wright, Fordham’s Editorial Director and author of the latest Think Again brief, “Are Education Programs for High Achievers Inherently Inequitabl…
#943: How 20,000 parents view educational opportunity in America, with Marc Porter Magee
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marc Porter Magee, CEO and Founder of 50CAN, joins Mike and David to discuss “The State of Educational Opportunity in America," 50CAN’s new report based …
#942: The case for supply-side policies in career and technical education, with David Deming
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, David Deming, a professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School, joins Mike and David to discuss his article in The Atlantic arguing that it…
#941: Inside Denver’s education transformation, with Parker Baxter
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Parker Baxter, Director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado, joins Mike and David to discuss his new report on the …
#940: Navigating accountability for education savings accounts, with Devon Nir
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 educa…
#939: What to do about underenrolled and underachieving schools? with Sofoklis Goulas
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, Und…
#938: The disappointing results of high-dosage tutoring, with Michael Goldstein
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 …
#937: Is universal free lunch a good idea? with Paul Bruno
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul Bruno, an assistant professor of education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joins Mike and David to discuss the pros and cons of univ…
#936: How socioeconomic factors explain achievement gaps, with Eric Hengyu Hu and Paul L. Morgan
#936: How socioeconomic factors explain achievement gaps, with Eric Hengyu Hu and Paul L. Morgan
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, SUNY Albany’s Eric Hengyu Hu and Paul L. Morgan, authors …
#935: How the charter sector can thrive under Trump or Harris, with Starlee Coleman
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Starlee Coleman, newly named President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike and David to discuss how the charter secto…
#934: Reducing chronic absenteeism: Building trust versus getting tough, with Kelly James
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kelly James, a partner at Education First Consulting and Fordham’s 2024 Wonkathon winner, joins Mike and David to discuss how policymakers and practition…
#933 The nuts and bolts of banning cellphones in schools, with Othiniel Mahone
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Othiniel Mahone, the principal at GEO Academies 21st Century School in Gary, Indiana, joins Mike and David to discuss effective strategies for implementi…
#932: Yes, AP exams are getting easier, with Checker Finn
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Fordham’s Checker Finn joins Mike and David to discuss the changes in how the College Board is scoring Advanced Placement exams. Then, on the Research Mi…
#931: No, school closures aren’t racist, with Vlad Kogan
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Vlad Kogan, a professor at Ohio State University, joins Mike and David to discuss what role race, achievement, and enrollment play in a district’s decisi…
#930: What Vance and Harris mean for federal education policy, with Dale Chu
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Dale Chu, a senior visiting fellow at the Fordham Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss how Biden passing the torch and Trump picking J.D. Vance cou…
#929: Equity and school closures, with Francis Pearman
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Francis Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, joins Mike and David to debate the impact that budgets, enrollment, and race…
#928: Why the pandemic toddlers are struggling in school, with Kristen Huff
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kristen Huff, the vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, joins Mike and David to discuss the academic performance our younge…
#927: How to shrink schools and school districts as enrollment declines, with Marguerite Roza
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Marguerite Roza, the director of the Edunomics Lab and a research professor at Georgetown University, joins Mike and David to discuss how schools and sch…
#926: What “Young Sheldon” teaches about parenting, with Alina Adams
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alina Adams, a New York Times best-selling author, joins Mike and David to discuss the parenting lessons she learned from watching “Young Sheldon.” Then,…
#925: We need more curriculum oversight, with Robert Pondiscio
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at Fordham and the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss the lack of curriculum oversight in A…