Mike Petrilli is solo once again to revisit the college-for-all debate and consider whether the backlash has become an overcorrection. He considers the risks of steering academically underprepared students toward four-year degrees, the growing enthusiasm for career pathways, and whether today’s push away from college could discourage some students who might actually succeed there.

Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new study examining more than two decades of state pre-K expansion and what it reveals about balancing access, spending, and program design.

Recommended content:

• Has the pendulum swung too far away from college for all? —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
• Notice of Intent to Submit Federal Ed-Flex Waiver Requests— State of Alabama Department of Education
• Hey, Claude, should I go to college? —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Returns to Four-Year Higher Education —Doug Webber and Celeste K. Carruthers, Live Handbook of Education Policy Research
• Who should go to college? More students may benefit than we think —Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat
• Honest talk about who should go to college —Michael J. Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• 23 Years of State Pre-K Expansion: How States Balance Investment, Access, and Quality in the Modern Era —Casey Moran, Mindy L. Rosengarten, Eunho Cha, Jade M. Jenkins, Kenneth A. Dodge, Allison Friedman-Kraus, W. Steven Barnett, and Tyler W. Watts, EdWorkingPapers (2026)

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

Andrew Camp and Collin Hitt join Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss Moving Target: The Success and Failure of Missouri’s Charter School Funding Surge, a new Fordham report by David, Andrew, and Collin. They examine Missouri’s effort to close the charter funding gap, how schools used the additional money, and why true funding parity remained out of reach. They also discuss the effects on staffing, teacher retention, and student achievement.

Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews new research from Ohio on whether the threat of third-grade retention can improve reading achievement by prompting schools to provide struggling students with additional literacy support.

Recommended content:

• Moving Target: The Success and Failure of Missouri’s Charter School Funding Surge —Andrew M. Camp, Collin Hitt, and David Griffith, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• The Impact of Increasing Funding for High-Performing Ohio Charter Schools: The Quality Community School Support Fund, 2019–23 —Stéphane Lavertu, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier —Sheree Speakman, Chester E. Finn, Jr., and Bryan C. Hassel, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Why Ohio’s third-grade retention law worked (until lawmakers killed it) —Vladimir Kogan, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• The Effect of Retention Threat on Student Learning Gains: Evidence from Ohio —Sarah Souders and Robert Bifulco, EdWorkingPapers (July 2026)

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

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 federal funding might encourage stronger implementation of science-of-reading reforms, and whether literacy could help rebuild a bipartisan federal role in education policy without repeating the mistakes of past reforms.

Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new study on how adding AP courses may affect school enrollment, socioeconomic integration, and academic tracking.

Recommended content:

• Is the Senate’s READ Act a Reading First redux?— Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
• READ Act section-by-section summary—Senate HELP Committee
• From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report—David Griffith and Brian Fitzpatrick, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Can Uncle Sam help kids read? | Episode 1023 of The Education Gadfly Show
• Tracking to Retain Higher-Income Students: Evidence from the Addition of Advanced Courses—Farah Mallah, EdWorkingPapers (July 2026)

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