On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Paul Hill, founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education and emeritus professor at the University of Washington Bothell, joins Mike Petrilli and Checker Finn to debate recent reform setbacks in Denver, and whether they prove that portfolio districts are doomed. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern shares good news from a study examining the intersection of gifted education and segregation.

Recommended content:

• Checker’s case for why these types of reforms are not politically resilient: “Denver’s cautionary tale for the ‘charter-lite’ strategy.”
• Paul’s response: “Denver doesn’t spell doom for portfolio-style reform.”
• Paul’s book on innovation schools referenced during the podcast, Strife and Progress: Portfolio Strategies for Managing Urban Schools.
• The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Owen Thompson, “Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation” NBER Working Paper #29546 (December 2021).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.