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 sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.
Episodes
549 episodes
Reviving federal ed reform, starting with literacy | Episode 1029 of The Education Gadfly Show
Congressman Josh Harder joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss his push to revive the National Reading Panel and advance the READ Act. They consider whether a new panel could update the evidence base on reading instruction, how feder...
Transforming school systems | Episode 1028 of The Education Gadfly Show
Mike Miles, superintendent of Houston Independent School District, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about his new book, By Des...
What’s behind the backlash against i-Ready? | Episode 1027 of The Education Gadfly Show
Tyrone Holmes, chief impact officer at Curriculum Associates, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss the growing parent backlash against education technology and why i-Ready has become one of its most visible targets. They unpack the...
Can schools escape the digital delusion? | Episode 1026 of The Education Gadfly Show
David Griffith talks with neuroscientist and educator Jared Cooney Horvath, author of The Digital Delusion, about whether schools have put too much faith in classroom technology. They discuss what the evidence says about screen-based i...
The accountability vibe shift | Episode 1025 of The Education Gadfly Show
Mike Petrilli takes the mic to consider whether America’s schools need a renewed sense of urgency around raising achievement and closing gaps. He revisits the test-based accountability era, debates whether its biggest contribution may have been...
Beyond fireworks: America 250 and civic renewal | Episode 1024 of The Education Gadfly Show
Stefanie Sanford, president of Civic Ventures at Alithi Consulting and Humanitae Philanthropy Advisors and a trustee of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how America’s 250th anniversary could help renew civic life....
Can Uncle Sam help kids read? | Episode 1023 of The Education Gadfly Show
Charles Barone of the National Parents Union joins Mike Petrilli to debate the Senate’s bipartisan READ Act. Would additional federal funding help states strengthen teacher preparation and expand evidence-based reading instruction, or could a l...
Better NAEP news than you think | Episode 1022 of The Education Gadfly Show
Mike Petrilli flies solo to discuss the latest Long-Term Trend NAEP results and why the bounce-back among nine-year-olds deserves more attention. While America’s education recovery is far from complete, especially for older students, Mike argue...
Closures, mergers, and charter growth | Episode 1021 of The Education Gadfly Show
Patrick McAlister, principal of PM Strategies and former director of the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, and Shaina Cavazos, the office’s current director, join The Education Gadfly Show to discuss charter growth a...
Only pennies for advanced learners | Episode 1020 of The Education Gadfly Show
Jonathan Plucker, a research professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Education, and Fordham’s own Alicia Anderson, policy and editorial associate, join The Education Gadfly Show to discuss new research on how little states and the fed...
The state of teacher union power | Episode 1019 of The Education Gadfly Show
Melissa Arnold Lyon joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss Fordham’s new report, A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026, and what has changed in state education politics since Fordham’s 2012 analysis of teacher un...
Should blue states opt into Trump’s education tax credit? | Episode 1018 of The Education Gadfly Show
On this week’s solo episode of The Education Gadfly Show, Mike Petrilli discusses President Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit, including how it works, why he has concerns about its design, and why he still thinks states, including blue state...
Can Arkansas make teaching great again? | Episode 1017 of The Education Gadfly Show
Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the sweeping Arkansas LEARNS reforms, from early literacy and teacher pay to career pathways, parent empowerment, and new approaches to teacher prepara...
From schools to systems: Rethinking improvement | Episode 1016 of The Education Gadfly Show
Christy Wolfe, director of K–12 policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss a new report on the American workforce—and what it means for K–12 education. As policymakers call for a clearer national talent s...
A Science of Reading reality check: Not there yet | Episode 1015 of The Education Gadfly Show
On this week’s episode, Mike Petrilli is joined by David Griffith and Brian Fitzpatrick to discuss Fordham’s latest report, From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of...
The “genome” of a great elementary school | Episode 1014 of The Education Gadfly Show
On this week’s solo episode, Mike Petrilli explores a big question: What would it look like to define an evidence-based model for American elementary schools—and could AI help us get there? Drawing on his long view of school reform, he consider...
College or career? The credential tradeoff | Episode 1013 of The Education Gadfly Show
Jay Plasman of The Ohio State University joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss Fordham’s latest report on industry-recognized credentials—and whether they actually deliver for students. As Ohio has pushed more high schoolers to earn these ...
AI in schools: Promise or pitfall? | Episode 1012 of The Education Gadfly Show
Jean-Claude Brizard, president and CEO of Digital Promise, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss the promise—and the pitfalls—of artificial intelligence in education. Drawing on what he’s seen in classrooms abroad, Brizard makes the case t...
Too many A’s, not enough honesty? | Episode 1011 of The Education Gadfly Show
Bibb Hubbard, founder and CEO of Learning Heroes, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss grade inflation and the disconnect between what parents think report cards are telling them and how students are actually performing. As families rely ...
Can we agree on teacher diversity? | Episode 1010 of The Education Gadfly Show
Mike Petrilli takes a solo turn to tackle teacher diversity, a topic at the center of today’s debates over DEI. Should schools recruit teachers whose backgrounds reflect those of their students? What does the research say about how shared life ...
Can schools keep up with AI? | Episode 1009 of The Education Gadfly Show
Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, joins the Education Gadfly Show to discuss the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and what it could mean for schools. As AI tools grow more powerful, do schools need to...
What the fadeout effect means for testing, accountability, and school choice | Episode 1008 of The Education Gadfly Show
Drew Bailey, professor at the University of California, Irvine, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the fadeout effect across education interventions. Why do early treatment effects shrink over time, and what does that mean for judging p...
When state curriculum lists go bad | Episode 1007 of The Education Gadfly Show
Karen Vaites, founder of The Curriculum Insight Project, joins us to discuss the evolving debate over curriculum reviews and state adoption policies. As more states look to third-party evaluations to guide decisions—and some consider mandating ...
Mike gives easy A’s a big ole F | Episode 1006 of The Education Gadfly Show
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, Mike Petrilli goes solo to talk about grade inflation—what it means, how it’s changed over time, and why tougher grading standards help students learn more. He argues that easier grades don’t serve studen...
Can states build coherent early childhood systems? | Episode 1005 of The Education Gadfly Show
This week on The Education Gadfly Show, we’re joined by Elliot Regenstein, partner at Foresight Law + Policy and author of Readiness: Preparing State Early Childhood Systems for a Brighter Future, to talk about early childhood educatio...