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
#886: Achievement gaps among advanced students, with Adam Tyner
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Adam Tyner, Fordham’s national research director, joins Mike to discuss disparities by race and socioeconomic status among America’s highest achieving st…
#885: Virtual teachers are back, with Linda Jacobson
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Linda Jacobson, a senior writer at The 74, joins Mike to discuss why more students are attending in-person classes with a virtual teacher. Then, on the R…
#884: Texas takes over Houston’s schools, with William McKenzie
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, William McKenzie, a senior editorial advisor at the George W. Bush Institute, joins Mike to discuss the state takeover of Houston ISD and its crusading n…
#883: The student behavior crisis, with Daniel Buck
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Daniel Buck, Fordham’s editorial and policy associate, joins Mike and David to discuss the behavioral chaos in American schools post-pandemic. Then, on t…
#882: Defending Mississippi’s literacy gains, with Rachel Canter
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rachel Canter, the executive director of Mississippi First, joins Mike to debunk the allegations that her state fudged its notable gains in reading achie…
#881: School choice, the science of reading, and other wins in Ohio, with Aaron Churchill
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Aaron Churchill, Fordham’s Ohio research director, joins David to discuss how the Buckeye State’s latest omnibus bill benefits education. Then, on Resear…
#880: Everything wrong with California’s math framework, with Tom Loveless
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Loveless, a former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, joins Mike to discuss the problematic practices and research in California’s new mathe…
#879: Chatting about evidence-based chatbots, with Perpetual Baffour
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Perpetual Baffour, the research director at the Learning Agency Lab, joins Mike to discuss her creation of an AI Chatbot designed to give teachers and sc…
#878: Our “savage inequalities” are no more, with Adam Tyner
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Fordham’s Adam Tyner joins Mike to discuss his latest report on the inequalities or lack thereof in education funding. Then, on the Research Minute, Ambe…
#877: Don’t overpromise on learning loss, with Jim Peyser
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Jim Peyser joins Mike to discuss education reform’s tendency to overpromise, and how we can avoid that in the…
#876: The chronic absenteeism crisis, and what to do about it, with Alia Wong
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Alia Wong of USA Today joins Mike and David to discuss what’s causing chronic absenteeism and ways to fix it. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber discuss…
#875: Charter schools that help students earn college credentials, with Kevin Teasley
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kevin Teasley, of the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss his charter high schools where students take dual-enro…
#874: How to build a continuum of advanced learning opportunities, with Nick Colangelo
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Nick Colangelo of the University of Iowa joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the recommendations in the new report from the National Workin…
#873: Private and charter school teachers are thriving, with Paul DiPerna
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul DiPerna of EdChoice joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the results from the EdChoice survey on teacher satisfaction and wellness acro…
#872: The religious charter school debate, with Kathleen Porter-Magee
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Kathleen Porter-Magee of Partnership Schools—a network of Catholic schools in New York City and Cleveland—joins Mike Petrilli to discuss the debate over …
#871: The severity of pandemic learning loss, with Tom Kane
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Kane of Harvard University joins Mike Petrilli to discuss his findings from The Education Recovery Scorecard Project. Then, on the Research Minute, A…
#870: The Great School Rethink, with Rick Hess
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new book, The Great School Rethink. Then, on the Res…
#869: Strong long-term outcomes for English learners in Texas charter schools, with Deven Carlson
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Deven Carlson of Oklahoma University joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his new Fordham study on the outcomes of English learners who atte…
#868: Virginia’s new history and social science standards, with Andy Rotherham
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Bellwether co-founder and Virginia Board of Education member Andy Rotherham joins Mike Petrilli, David Griffith, and Amber Northern to discuss Virginia’s…
#867: How Core Knowledge schools boost students’ reading comprehension, with Robert Pondiscio
On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Robert Pondiscio joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss a new study that shows that a curriculum r…