On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Genevieve Collins, Texas State Director for Americans for Prosperity, joins us to discuss Texas’s newly passed Education Savings Account bill—an ambitious policy that could position the Lone Star State as a national leader in school choice. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a Michigan study showing that simply being flagged for third-grade retention can boost students’ reading scores—even if they aren’t actually held back.

Recommended content:

• “A Texas-Sized Win for Families in the Trump Education Era” —Genevieve Collins, RealClear Policy
• “Jeb Bush: Texas’ Education Savings Account Victory Can Set Nationwide Standard” —Jeb Bush, The74
• “How Genevieve Collins, Americans for Prosperity, Are Shaping Texas’s Future” —Daily Caller
• “The Impacts of Grade Retention Policy With Minimal Retention” —Jordan S. Berne, Brian A. Jacob, Christina Weiland, Katharine O. Strunk. EdWorking Papers (May 2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Starlee Coleman, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike and David to discuss the religious charter schools case currently before the U. S. Supreme Court. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study out of Dallas on whether an automatic Algebra enrollment policy boosted participation among underserved students.

Recommended content:

• “SCOTUS should mandate state support for religious education, but not via charter schools”—Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Landscape for Charter and Religious Schools”—Mark Walsh, Education Week
• “The religious charter schools case is a bigger deal than you think”—Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “Why SCOTUS should—and will—approve faith-based charter schools”—Andy Smarick, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• “Closing the Gaps: An Examination of Early Impacts of Dallas ISD’s Opt-out Policy on Advanced Course Enrollment”—Daniel Vargas Castaño, Dareem K. Antoine, and Trey Miller, EdWorkingPapers (May 2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.

#968: Are school inspections the accountability tool we’ve overlooked? with Erik Robelen

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, former Education Week reporter Erik Robelen joins Mike and David to discuss school inspections—what they are, how they might fit into accountability systems, and who’s actually using them in U.S. schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber highlights a study on how AI tools can help middle school math teachers personalize their lessons.

Recommended content:

• Erik Robelen, “The Full Measure of a School,” Education Next (Spring 2025).
• Erik Robelen, “England’s School Inspections Get a Makeover,” Education Next (Spring 2025).
• Maryland State Department of Education, Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: Expert Review Team
• Colorado Department of Education, State Review Panel: School Review Protocol, SchoolWorks LLC (2024).
• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Charter School Site Visit Protocol, (2024)
• Rizwaan Malik, Dorna Abdi, Rose E. Wang, and Dorottya Demszky, Scaffolding Middle-School Mathematics Curricula With Large Language Models, EdWorking Papers (April 2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at sdistler@fordhaminstitute.org.