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 after the replication era. Drawing on their experience with closures and mergers in Indianapolis, they explain why authorizers and charter boards may need new approaches as enrollment declines and the sector matures.

Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on content rich reading instruction and finds that while teachers are using strong foundational skills curricula, students often get too few chances to build fluency and vocabulary.

Recommended content:

• Beyond Replication: What Responsible Charter Growth Looks Like Now —Jed Wallace, CharterFolk
• The 10-year test for durable schools —Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Do Authorizer Evaluations Predict the Success of New Charter Schools? — Adam Kho, Ph.D., Shelby Leigh Smith, and Douglas Lee Lauen, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Bridging the Divide: Connecting Word Recognition and Language Comprehension in Early Literacy —Anna Jennerjohn, Sara Rutherford-Quach, Lauren J. Cassidy, Katrina Woodworth, Sarah Dec, and Dan Reynolds, SRI (2026)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

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 federal government invest in advanced education. How much funding goes toward gifted education, AP, IB, and other advanced learning opportunities, and why is it so hard to track where those dollars go?

Then, on the Research Minute, Brian Fitzpatrick examines new research on Algebra I achievement gaps and finds that many are rooted as early as third grade and grew worse during the pandemic.

Recommended content:

• Broad support, barely funded: The paradox of advanced education in America —Jonathan Plucker, Alicia Anderson, Matthew Makel, and Shaun Dougherty for Advance
• The Leaky Pipeline: Assessing the college outcomes of Ohio’s high-achieving low-income students —Stéphane Lavertu, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Building a Wider, More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners —The National Working Group on Advanced Education
• Ohio’s Lost Einsteins: The inequitable outcomes of early high achievers —Scott Imberman, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• A Widening Chasm: The Divergent Paths of High- and Low-Achieving Students in Algebra I After the Pandemic—Benjamin Backes, Michael DeArmond, Elise Dizon-Ross, Dan Goldhaber, and Alejandra Salazar, CALDER (2026)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

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 union power. How influential are teacher unions today, where are they strongest, and what does a more crowded political landscape mean for education policy?

Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new research on the Common Core State Standards and their effects on achievement beyond math and English language arts.

Recommended content:

• A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026 —Melissa Arnold Lyon, Sandy Frost Waldron, and Rebecca Jacobsen, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison —Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Janie Scull, and Dara Zeehandelaar Shaw, Ph.D., Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Teachers’ Unions and Collective Bargaining —Bradley D. Marianno, Live Handbook: Education Policy Research, an initiative of AEFP
• The unintended effects of the Common Core State Standards on non-targeted subjects — Benjamin W. Arold, and M. Danish Shakeel, ScienceDirect (2026)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org