Fordham’s Michael Petrilli: Manufacturing “Emotion” for Common Core

I am sitting in my easy chair on this Saturday afternoon, and I am trying not to write any posts. I know that I need a rest. Sure enough, though, I come across Common Core State Standards (CCSS) promotional slant from the brand-spanking new, non-teacher-practitioner president of the Gates-funded Fordham Institute, dedicated think tanker Michael […]

Fordham’s Mike Petrilli: Selling Common Core in States with Better Standards

This post is about the for-profit “reform”-promoting think tank, the Fordham Institute. The Fordham Institute likes to grade. Mind you, Fordham doesn’t bother to grade itself. But it does promote the grading of teacher training programs via an entity it birthed in 2001, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), and it also promotes the grading of […]

Common Core Salesman Michael Petrilli: *Economics Affect NAEP, but Stay the Ed-Reform Course*

On October 15, 2019, I read a report produced by Thomas B. Fordham Institute (TBF) president, Michael Petrilli, entitled, “Fewer Children Left Behind: Lessons from the Dramatic Achievement Gains of the 1990s and 2000s.” This 2019 report builds on a 2017 report by Petrilli in a TBF commentary piece prior to release of the 2017 […]

Richard Phelps’ Deep Dive Into the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation/Institute, and More

On September 16, 2018, researcher and consultant Richard Phelps sent me an email; in the subject line, he wrote, “your work is cited, referenced, and mentioned throughout.” The body of the email included a single link, Common Core Collaborators: Six Organizational Portraits, which leads to the following five reports: The Organization Named Achieve: Cradle of Common […]

Will Fordham Institute Tenure Die?

On April 19, 2017, former president and board member emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham (TBF) Institute, Chester Finn, published a piece entitled, “Will Teacher Tenure Die?” Below is an excerpt: Tenure arrived in K–12 education as a trickle-down from higher ed. Will the demise of tenure follow a similar sequence? Let us earnestly pray […]

Petrilli and Wright’s Porous Article on Mediocre Test Scores

In November 2015, Fordham Institute’s Michael Petrilli and Brandon Wright published an article entitled, “America’s Mediocre Test Scores,” which is slated to appear in the Winter 2016 issue of Education Next. The article has a number of limitations worthy of note. For starters, the article lacks links to references supporting the authors’ assertions. They open by referring […]

Petrilli’s Common Core “North Star” for Atheistic, “Choice” Moms

Fordham Institute President Michael Petrilli sells the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for a living. Petrilli has a bachelors degree in political science. He is not a teacher. He is a guy who landed on the soft fluffery of a think tank living. He has testified in CCSS’ favor before lawmakers in Tennessee, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas. His Fordham […]

AIR and Fordham Institute Grade Standards; Common Core Wins!

This is the story of two organizations that took diverging roads to grading state standards: American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Fordham Institute. Let’s start with AIR. In a report released September 2014, AIR has “internationally benchmarked” state education standards. Now, this is not to be confused with the famed-yet-elusive “international benchmarking” of the Common […]

NY Common Core Debate: Dissecting Pro-CC Petrilli and Martin

On September 9, 2014, Intelligence Squared hosted a debate on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which it entitled, Embrace the Common Core. The title is based upon the position that the organization assumes on the issue. In this post, I consider CCSS support connected to the Intelligence Squared debate as well as address given statements by both pro-CCSS debaters. The […]

The Fordham Strong Arm of Letter Grades for State Standards

In my previous post, The Importance of Common Core for Nationally-pervasive Ed Reform, I cite the 2009 Broad Foundation report in which a number of major reformer “participants” told America of the reforms it might expect to be in place in 2012– one of which is the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Among the list of […]